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| La Plata Peak |
Overview
La Plata
Peak is the 5th highest mountain in Colorado and the 8th highest in the contiguous
U.S. The peak is located in the Sawatch Range of Colorado. This was my first
ascent of La Plata, though I have attempted twice in the winter, never getting
above 11,900 feet. I have climbed multiple peaks near La Plata including Elbert,
and Massive
to the north and Belford/Oxford,
Harvard/Columbia
and Yale
to the south. This was the first 14er I’ve climbed since my ascent of Longs in
2016. The 14ers are overcrowded and I was reminded of this by seeing near 100
people on the route throughout the day. These peaks have advantages for
newcomers to the sport as most routes have well cut in trails leading to their
summits. On the other side, people like me tend to love the solitude of the
mountains, and this will not be found on any 14er during the summer months in
Colorado. We still climb them though, because they offer us the chance to test
our endurance in an environment that we know has limited technical exposures,
but offers a beautiful summit experience assuming we are physically fit and are
willing to get up before the rest of the crowd does. I hope you enjoy this trip
report and find it helpful in planning your next adventure in the hills.
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| Trail entrance from forest road |
Directions/Trailhead Information
The La Plata Gulch Trailhead is located at—latitude
39.067824°, longitude -106.504950°. There is a parking area that will
accommodate about a dozen vehicles. I arrived at 4:40 am, and there were only a
couple spots left. A lot of people sleep in their cars or stay at a nearby camp
ground for this hike. There are no restrooms at the trailhead. From the Denver,
head towards the mountains on I-70 W. Take exit 195 onto CO-91 S heading
towards Leadville. Drive through Leadville, heading south for about 15 miles, taking
CO-82 W for roughly 15 miles to the TH. Parking will be on the south
side of the road. The road to the TH is paved and is accessible for all
vehicles. Note that these mileages are approximates, not exact distances.
The Climb
A solo climb
up a Colorado 14er is never really a solo climb. Even though I headed out solo,
I ended up climbing with 100 of my most distant friends. I took off from my
place south of Denver around 2:30 am and arrived at the TH about 4:40 am. I
prefer the sleep in my bed prior to climbs like this, even if it is for only
3-4 hours. Unfortunately, this is a sign of my aging. I had to squeeze my car
into one of the last parking spots at the TH, where I could see many people
still fast asleep in their vehicles. The nice part about being by myself was I
am operating on my schedule so I can leave as early as I want and I didn’t have
to hassle with pick-ups or drop-offs. I didn’t waste any time at the TH, I put
my boots on and was on the trail by 4:50 am.
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| Stairs from hell |
Since I have
attempted this mountain on two other occasions, I have a good understanding of
the area. There are a few spots early on, that if you aren’t paying attention you
may miss the trail, especially if you are starting in the dark. This time of year,
there is enough light around 5:30 am to hike without a headlamp, but anytime
before then plan on having illumination. There are three bridge crossings, all
of different varieties, and one stairway from hell to be found in the first
segment of the Northwest
Ridge Route. There is a solid trail most of the route, so just make sure
you don’t miss the start of it from the forest road in the first quarter mile.
Shortly
after getting onto the trail and off the forest road the is the first hikers
bridge crossing. This is an impressive sight that you should take in on your
way back when the sun lights up the rock. Then the trail meanders a bit, not
gaining much elevation bringing you to the log bridge crossing. This is a simple
crossing as there are may small-medium sized logs to walk across rather than a
single large log. After this crossing you will start gaining elevation
gradually, leading you to the stairs from hell. These stairs are quite large,
and I assume are the root of many climbers’ knee problems. I’m not sure the
total elevation they climb, maybe a couple hundred feet, but they are more taxing
on the descent than the ascent. For a while the trail stays pretty close to the
roaring La Plata Gulch. The stream flow was quite impressive, and a good
reminder of the power of nature.
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| Gully switchbacks |
Around the
11,000 ft contour the trail levels out for a bit and the valley opens up. The
trail starts gaining elevation again as you cut across some crumbled granite
making your way to the small switchback section around the 11,500 ft. These are
short switchbacks that gain elevation pretty quick, see the photo looking down
from the top. Once on top of this section I ran into my first bit of snow. It
didn’t last long, and could be avoided by skirting around the rocks, but the
snow was solid early in the morning, so I just headed up the snow. There is a
long traverse with a few switchbacks that lead to shelf around 12,300 ft. This area
held a large snow field and I hiked directly up the snow. This can be avoided
on either side, but most direct seemed the most efficient because the snow was
still firm. After a few more switchbacks you will reach the northwest ridge at
about 12,700 feet. This is a good place to fuel up and take in the surrounding
views before your torment your body heading up the rocky ridge.
From here,
the mileage is short, but there is about 1,500 vertical feet to go. The
breathing becomes more difficult, but the steps can be like stairs on the
boulders. This section took me about an hour and a half to reach the summit.
The trail comes an goes as you move up the ridge, but for the most part you are
on a well beaten path. During my ascent I saw a couple trail runners getting
after it, and it made me so tired watching them ascend, hearty individuals. I reached
the summit at 8:26 am, a 4,248-foot ascent in 3 hours and 36 minutes. This beat
my goal of maintaining 1,000 ft per hour by over an hour, so I’m not as out of
shape as I thought.
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| Looking north towards Massive and Elbert |
The wind was
constant and this early in the day may it quite chilly. I was able to get a few
bars of 4G through AT&T from the summit, but I wouldn’t count on it working
for you. I had some snacks and rested for about 20 minutes then I started
making my way back down. I can’t say I was looking forward to descending over
4,000 feet with no glissade in sight. I kept a decent pace, but I wasn’t racing
to get down the mountain. My goal was to be back at the TH by noon, giving
myself about a 3-hour descent time, which I missed by a couple minutes (12:02
pm back at the TH).
As I made my
way down the ridge, I started counting all the people I saw on the route. After
about 50 I gave up and just told myself, this is the life of a summer 14er in
Colorado. A high percent of these people would ask how far away they were from
the summit. I would politely pull out my GPS and show them where they were, but
I never like giving people a time measurement because I don’t know their
abilities and I don’t want to crush their hopes of the pain being over soon. I
was surprised at how many people had ice axes and spikes with them. A little
bit of research and you can find great condition reports on 14ers at the 14ers.com website. So, I suggest using that
as a trip planning standard if you don’t already. I’m a firm believer in not carrying
excess weight, especially when doing big climbs such as this. If your going to
pack heavy, pack heavy on fluids.
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| Nick on the summit |
Parting Notes
In a
nutshell that’s about it. The hike down felt like a lifetime, as my knees
started to scream and the temperature started to get fairly warm. I’m very
happy that I got the chance to climb another mountain. Climbing 14ers can be a
lot of fun, though I still prefer the less crowded 13ers, it is nice to
checkoff a top 10 mountain in the contiguous U.S. I’m looking forward to
climbing with my old buddy Brian towards the end of the month, so hopefully
there will be some more trip reports coming your way shortly. In the meantime,
happy trails and stay safe in the mountains. Cheers!
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| GPX route |
Date: July 5,
2019
Trailhead
Elevation: 10,170 feet
La Plata
Peak: 14,334 feet
Total
Ascent: 4,303 feet
Class: 2
Distance: 8.75
miles
Moving Time:
6 hr 27 min
Stopped
Time: 0 hr 45 min
Climbing
Partners: solo
GAIA GPS
Link: La
Plata Peak (2019-07-05)
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