Little
Bear
Peak

Little Bear Peak most likely takes its name from Little Bear Creek on its slopes, though some accounts trace it instead to a nearby lake of the same name; older maps also labeled it West Peak, for its position west of Blanca. Albert Ellingwood, climbing it in the early 20th century, recorded finding a small, rough cairn already at the summit — evidence that someone had reached it before him without leaving a name behind. No documented first ascent exists, and it likely fell to a prospector, rancher, or surveyor working the Sierra Blanca massif sometime in the 1800s.

The standard route climbs the west ridge from Lake Como to the Hourglass, a 300-foot chute of water-polished granite that funnels rockfall from above onto anyone below; falls and rockfall there have killed multiple climbers over the years, and the Denver Gazette and other Colorado outlets regularly call it the state's most dangerous fourteener route. A companion ridge traverse to neighboring Blanca Peak is rated harder still and offers no easy retreat once committed.