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Peak(s):  La Plata Peak  -  14,344 feet
Date Posted:  09/19/2007
Modified:  09/20/2007
Date Climbed:   09/16/2007
Author:  JB
 La Plata - Ellingwood Ridge   

Trailhead: Lake Creek
Start Time: 5:00AM
Summit Time: 4:30PM
End Time: 7:00PM
Who: Me, Rachel (csuram), Emily, and George (George James)

Whoo! What a day! 14 hours on the trail!

After downing a few beers at the Breckenridge Octoberfest we headed over to the TH to get a nice early start on the notorious Ellingwood Ridge. We kept wondering why there were so many cars in the parking lot so late at night until we saw one group after another come out with headlamps well after dark. One pair of experienced looking hikers said they took 9 hours just to summit. Not us! We‘re better than them.....

5AM we hit the trail, ready to go.
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After several hours of bushwhacking and doubting our route finding skills in the dark, somehow we managed to gain the right ridge and finish the introduction.
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More than a few rainbows popped up to greet us just above treeline, which is at least some kind of omen...
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Finally a view of our destination - is that La Plata over there?
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The initial Class 3 was actually pretty enjoyable. Maybe this won‘t be so bad after all...
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(Emily, csuram, George James from top to bottom)
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Hmmm, this is kind of a long ridge...
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Getting cloudy, hope the weather holds. I bet that tower up there is the last one though... (thunder clap)
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Usually (not always), East is the easy way around.
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Must be almost done by now...(yeah right)
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OK, this is getting a little sketchy...
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Definitely sketchy...
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Brrrrrrrrrrr
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Finally! Victory!
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My sentiments exactly!
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The northwest ridge actually made for a pleasant descent, though it‘s probably more fun without 1000mph winds.
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Glad to be back on normal terrain though!
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All in all we were back down from the summit in just over 2 hours.
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Regarding the weather - we decided about 3/4 of the way up the ridge that we‘d better escape the route whichever way was easiest. Guess which way was easiest?

Excellent climb on a not-so-excellent day. Still, everyone stayed in good spirits for the whole climb, and we can definitely all say we earned this one.

Congrats and thanks to Rachel, Emily, and George for joining me on such a grand adventure. Cheers!

See yall further down the trail



Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
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Comments or Questions
George James
User
Whew!
11/30/2010 5:28pm
Good work JB. What a day! The weather sure did put up a good fight, still had a great time though
Wait a sec, I think there's still one more tower...


Yog
User
1000 mph winds
2/5/2011 12:22am
LOL!! Nice pictures, the flying birds cracked me up. I have felt that way at times, but usually after a long scree slog!



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