La Plata Peak Trip Report 08/03/2020

Peak(s):	La Plata Peak - 14,344 feet
Date Posted:	08/03/2020
Modified:	08/04/2020
Date Climbed:	08/01/2020
Author:	RJ_Greenhorn24

Steep day on La Plata - SW Ridge
I need to start by saying that this peak almost got me divorced before even getting married. I've been hiking peaks for 5 years now, however my fiance is new to it and this was only his 2nd peak. After taking him on Democrat last year, he enjoyed it and wanted to do more. I probably should have been more thorough on the details that Democrat is a relatively short/straight forward hike compared to others. Before this weekend he had no experience with loose steepness, talus hopping or cairned route-finding (but take him hunting and he can guide you through 30 miles of Wilderness haha). This weekend was a harsh introduction to true 14ers for him. To start off, it's monsoon season, which we all know means get up and back down before 1pm at the latest when the storms hit. This was the plan, emphasis on PLAN. We started hiking at around 5:30am from the 4wd trailhead, which my stock SR5 4Runner had no problem getting us to in 2wd, but i can see why some clearance is necessary to reach this trail head (props to the couple from Utah in the small Nissan that made it!) The trailhead is clearly marked The hike below treeline was a consistent uphill slog - typical of most Sawatch routes, but on a beautifully maintained trail. Most of the route below treeline paralleled a stream, which was BEAUTIFUL! The views below treeline were also a treat as you gain elevation and start to see Virginia Peak and the North Fork of the Valley. Looking down into the Valley As you near the edge of treeline you begin to parallel the ridge that connects to the basin you will soon be in. The trees become sparse as you enter the basin above treeline, in this picture you can see Sayres Benchmark popping his head out to greet the sun. Final section before exiting treeline. Once you exit treeline, the most beautiful valley appears! You are surrounded on 3 sides by high cliffs. The trail through this section is comparable to a memory foam mattress: squishy and soft. There were a few muddy spots but nothing too bad. The trail starts up through the valley. Just right of center is the big 1,000' scree hill that you will eventually climb to reach the final ridge to the summit. To the left is the area where you will exit the valley. In the route description the only thing mentioned about that area is "the trail rises up out of the valley". I think that part deserves more attention. The view back towards Huron, Virginia and the Apostles is fantastic and gets better the higher you go. The Apostles and Ice Mtn begin to peek out, Virginia stands tall. Some very cliffy cliffs to the East in the Valley The trail wanders out of the willows for a good amount of time before crossing back through them to approach what I'm calling the "Hell Wall" which you have to climb up to exit the Valley. Approaching the "Hell Wall". It looks relatively tame from here, but don't be fooled, it's a steep loose mess. My fiance waiting on me to hurry up and stop taking pictures. Note: the couple behind him had summited Belford, Oxford and Missouri in the days prior and when we met them at the summit they agreed that this "Hell Wall" was a pain and they would likely be scooting down on their butts. Smart folks. They also agreed that this route seemed much longer than 7 miles RT from the 4wd TH. At the summit my GPS clocked 4.24 miles one way and my fiance's clocked right around 5........ The Hell Wall: As steep as the tundra approaching Precipice, but instead of being on nice grippy tundra you are on one of the loosest crap-scree filled "trails" ever. I wish I would have taken pictures but was more focused on the 1 ft up, 2 ft down fight due to the looseness. At the base of "Hell Wall", beginning our accent Looking up "Hell Wall", you can see that other couple in front of us. From here it doesn't look too steep but from pretty much the old mine shaft (to the left and not pictured) all the way to the top is steep steep STEEP! A view back into the valley from about 1/4 way up the wall. Our friend Morgan in the foreground gained the name "Surefooted Stallion" after later coming back down this section upright, as we slid down on our butts, clipping every small rock outcropping on the way down in 40-50 mph wind gusts (again, I hate monsoon season). Finally at the ridge, looking North to the other side. This is where the trail turns East. A neat view of Sayres Benchmark comes into view once you reach the top (that ridge line looks brutal in person) Trail to the East leading up to a calm tundra meadow that is a nice relief after "Hell Wall" Nice calm meadow with a good trail before reaching that big 1,000' pile of talus that leads to the final ridge line. This hill reminded me much of climbing Mt. Ouray, not entirely steep with good sturdy talus. View back down into the valley from "Hell Wall". The Apostles looking fabulous as ever. Very neat cliffy ridge line that you parallel up to the big talus hill Another view down a couloir into the valley with an everlasting chunk of snow in the middle. I wonder how many seasons that thing has survived? Approaching the talus hill. As you near the talus hill the trail begins to dwindle and there are a number of trails and cairns to follow up. We veered leftward but if we had stayed more direct we would have stuck to a better trail (scree filled, but a trail none the less) Near the talus hill looking back at Sayres, I still can't get over that connecting ridge line. A small plane went zipping over the peak pretty low, I wonder if he had a proposal sign on the bottom of his plane for someone on the summit, because he was LOW haha I saw more Pika and marmots on this route than all other routes I've done combined. And they were NOT camera shy, in fact they were total Divas. Halfway break This is about 1/2 way up the talus hill looking South, just beautiful! Taken from the top of the talus hill looking West-ish towards Taylor/ CB area? On this trip I learned to always show the route description pictures to everyone in your party. I had shown them to Morgan but not my fiance, so the whole way up the talus hill he was under the impression that the summit was at the top of it. He was very unhappy when we reached the top and the final ridge came into view. Knee pain coupled with an ankle that he kept rolling (ouch!) lead to this unhappiness. With that in mind I asked if he wanted to turn back since it was monsoon season and we were about 1.5 hrs behind our planned schedule. But he insisted we continue on! The final ridge line The hike up the ridge line was uneventful and welcomed after the talus hill. You don't need to crest each bump, instead skirt North (left) around them and you will stick to the very broad ridge line. Nearly 6 hours after starting we finally made it to the busy summit (typical Sawatch summit), broad, loud and filled with summit signers. This oh-so-triumphant marmot showed off as we enjoyed our Summit beers and got ready to head back down since clouds had formed and it was already raining down near Princeton. This little fatty had found someone's pizza crust and seemed to be very much enjoying it. No wonder the animals up here were fearless, everyone feeds them :( We took a look at the majestic Ellingwood Ridge, which is far larger in person than in pictures and decided to book it down since someone's phone got service and a weather warning for Summit County came through. I didn't get much for pictures on the way down due to the weather and more ankle rolling. This part of the hike was intense simply because of the situation we were faced with. A possible injury and thunder overhead (no pole buzzing or hair standing up, luckily). We were able to find a trail down the talus hill that stayed pretty consistent to the bottom so that was very helpful, but when we reached the flat meadow area above "Hell Wall" things got serious. My fiance's knee pretty much gave out on him and every step became a task for him. Then when we hit the top of "hell wall" we were blasted with rain and 40-50 mph wind guests that were going South just as we were. The wind pushing us down the steep loose slope was just miserable. This is where Morgan made us all look bad as we scooted down while being blasted with dirt, and he casually walked down without slipping once! Let me also add that this was his 1st 14er ever and he was resilient as hell! By the time we reached the bottom of "Hell Wall" and were back in the valley it was nearing 2:30 and the wind had subsided but small storms kept passing overhead. We all needed a break. On our way down the talus hill we had passed one guy heading up (which seemed crazy at the time with the storms rolling in) but then it all made sense when we saw him in the valley again while taking a break: a trail runner! 2 poles in hand just having a ball running down the trail (those guys are not human, but my hat is off to them). He stopped and spoke with us for a few and then carried on (very nice guy, who teaches at underprivileged schools and started running Marathons to influence his students - very awesome!) At this point we were literally the last people on the mountain. Since the brunt of the afternoon storms seemed to have passed we took our time on the rest of the descent, as you can see by all the flower pictures that I took below. C We made it back to the car around 5:00 pm (madness during monsoon season). And made our way to Jan's Restaurant in Buena Vista for some seriously needed rejuvenation. My take-away from this hike: There is no way it was 7 miles round trip, it has to be 8 minimum. I thought the route up Elbert was long but this one just felt super long - i think the 2 sections of very steep terrain added to this. The "Hell Wall" out of the valley deserves much more emphasis on the route description, or at least an emphasis on the steepness and looseness. Monsoon season sucks and getting caught up in a storm is scary when you're still at 13,000' (this was a first for me) So here is my advice: Start super early if you're not a fast hiker (especially during monsoon season) Bring a knee brace if you have any type of knee injury because the 800' "hell wall" and the 1,000' talus hill will have you hurting before you even reach the summit As always, show everyone in your party the pictures of the route description prior to the hike so there are no dashed dreams when another mile of ridge line appears haha Here is our track from the hike. I don't know how the hike is from the NW ridge but this one was certainly scenic - I would imagine a bit more scenic than coming from the Independence pass side. Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Steep day on La Plata - SW Ridge

I need to start by saying that this peak almost got me divorced before even getting married. I've been hiking peaks for 5 years now, however my fiance is new to it and this was only his 2nd peak. After taking him on Democrat last year, he enjoyed it and wanted to do more. I probably should have been more thorough on the details that Democrat is a relatively short/straight forward hike compared to others. Before this weekend he had no experience with loose steepness, talus hopping or cairned route-finding (but take him hunting and he can guide you through 30 miles of Wilderness haha). This weekend was a harsh introduction to true 14ers for him.

To start off, it's monsoon season, which we all know means get up and back down before 1pm at the latest when the storms hit. This was the plan, emphasis on PLAN. We started hiking at around 5:30am from the 4wd trailhead, which my stock SR5 4Runner had no problem getting us to in 2wd, but i can see why some clearance is necessary to reach this trail head (props to the couple from Utah in the small Nissan that made it!)

20482_01 — The trailhead is clearly marked

The hike below treeline was a consistent uphill slog - typical of most Sawatch routes, but on a beautifully maintained trail. Most of the route below treeline paralleled a stream, which was BEAUTIFUL!

The views below treeline were also a treat as you gain elevation and start to see Virginia Peak and the North Fork of the Valley.

As you near the edge of treeline you begin to parallel the ridge that connects to the basin you will soon be in.

20482_04 — The trees become sparse as you enter the basin above treeline, in this picture you can see Sayres Benchmark popping his head out to greet the sun.

20482_05 — Final section before exiting treeline.

Once you exit treeline, the most beautiful valley appears! You are surrounded on 3 sides by high cliffs. The trail through this section is comparable to a memory foam mattress: squishy and soft. There were a few muddy spots but nothing too bad.

20482_42 — The trail starts up through the valley. Just right of center is the big 1,000' scree hill that you will eventually climb to reach the final ridge to the summit. To the left is the area where you will exit the valley. In the route description the only thing mentioned about that area is "the trail rises up out of the valley". I think that part deserves more attention.

The view back towards Huron, Virginia and the Apostles is fantastic and gets better the higher you go.

20482_08 — The Apostles and Ice Mtn begin to peek out, Virginia stands tall.

20482_09 — Some very cliffy cliffs to the East in the Valley

20482_10 — The trail wanders out of the willows for a good amount of time before crossing back through them to approach what I'm calling the "Hell Wall" which you have to climb up to exit the Valley.

20482_11 — Approaching the "Hell Wall". It looks relatively tame from here, but don't be fooled, it's a steep loose mess.

20482_12 — My fiance waiting on me to hurry up and stop taking pictures. Note: the couple behind him had summited Belford, Oxford and Missouri in the days prior and when we met them at the summit they agreed that this "Hell Wall" was a pain and they would likely be scooting down on their butts. Smart folks. They also agreed that this route seemed much longer than 7 miles RT from the 4wd TH. At the summit my GPS clocked 4.24 miles one way and my fiance's clocked right around 5........

The Hell Wall: As steep as the tundra approaching Precipice, but instead of being on nice grippy tundra you are on one of the loosest crap-scree filled "trails" ever. I wish I would have taken pictures but was more focused on the 1 ft up, 2 ft down fight due to the looseness.

20482_44 — At the base of "Hell Wall", beginning our accent

20482_13 — Looking up "Hell Wall", you can see that other couple in front of us. From here it doesn't look too steep but from pretty much the old mine shaft (to the left and not pictured) all the way to the top is steep steep STEEP!

20482_14 — A view back into the valley from about 1/4 way up the wall. Our friend Morgan in the foreground gained the name "Surefooted Stallion" after later coming back down this section upright, as we slid down on our butts, clipping every small rock outcropping on the way down in 40-50 mph wind gusts (again, I hate monsoon season).

20482_43 — Finally at the ridge, looking North to the other side. This is where the trail turns East.

20482_45 — A neat view of Sayres Benchmark comes into view once you reach the top (that ridge line looks brutal in person)

20482_15 — Trail to the East leading up to a calm tundra meadow that is a nice relief after "Hell Wall"

20482_19 — Nice calm meadow with a good trail before reaching that big 1,000' pile of talus that leads to the final ridge line. This hill reminded me much of climbing Mt. Ouray, not entirely steep with good sturdy talus.

20482_16 — View back down into the valley from "Hell Wall". The Apostles looking fabulous as ever.

20482_20 — Very neat cliffy ridge line that you parallel up to the big talus hill

20482_18 — Another view down a couloir into the valley with an everlasting chunk of snow in the middle. I wonder how many seasons that thing has survived?

As you near the talus hill the trail begins to dwindle and there are a number of trails and cairns to follow up. We veered leftward but if we had stayed more direct we would have stuck to a better trail (scree filled, but a trail none the less)

20482_21 — Near the talus hill looking back at Sayres, I still can't get over that connecting ridge line.

20482_23 — A small plane went zipping over the peak pretty low, I wonder if he had a proposal sign on the bottom of his plane for someone on the summit, because he was LOW haha

20482_22 — I saw more Pika and marmots on this route than all other routes I've done combined. And they were NOT camera shy, in fact they were total Divas.

20482_25 — This is about 1/2 way up the talus hill looking South, just beautiful!

20482_26 — Taken from the top of the talus hill looking West-ish towards Taylor/ CB area?

On this trip I learned to always show the route description pictures to everyone in your party. I had shown them to Morgan but not my fiance, so the whole way up the talus hill he was under the impression that the summit was at the top of it. He was very unhappy when we reached the top and the final ridge came into view. Knee pain coupled with an ankle that he kept rolling (ouch!) lead to this unhappiness. With that in mind I asked if he wanted to turn back since it was monsoon season and we were about 1.5 hrs behind our planned schedule. But he insisted we continue on!

The hike up the ridge line was uneventful and welcomed after the talus hill. You don't need to crest each bump, instead skirt North (left) around them and you will stick to the very broad ridge line.

Nearly 6 hours after starting we finally made it to the busy summit (typical Sawatch summit), broad, loud and filled with summit signers.

20482_29 — This oh-so-triumphant marmot showed off as we enjoyed our Summit beers and got ready to head back down since clouds had formed and it was already raining down near Princeton.

20482_30 — This little fatty had found someone's pizza crust and seemed to be very much enjoying it. No wonder the animals up here were fearless, everyone feeds them :(

20482_28 — We took a look at the majestic Ellingwood Ridge, which is far larger in person than in pictures and decided to book it down since someone's phone got service and a weather warning for Summit County came through.

I didn't get much for pictures on the way down due to the weather and more ankle rolling. This part of the hike was intense simply because of the situation we were faced with. A possible injury and thunder overhead (no pole buzzing or hair standing up, luckily).

We were able to find a trail down the talus hill that stayed pretty consistent to the bottom so that was very helpful, but when we reached the flat meadow area above "Hell Wall" things got serious. My fiance's knee pretty much gave out on him and every step became a task for him. Then when we hit the top of "hell wall" we were blasted with rain and 40-50 mph wind guests that were going South just as we were. The wind pushing us down the steep loose slope was just miserable. This is where Morgan made us all look bad as we scooted down while being blasted with dirt, and he casually walked down without slipping once! Let me also add that this was his 1st 14er ever and he was resilient as hell!

By the time we reached the bottom of "Hell Wall" and were back in the valley it was nearing 2:30 and the wind had subsided but small storms kept passing overhead. We all needed a break. On our way down the talus hill we had passed one guy heading up (which seemed crazy at the time with the storms rolling in) but then it all made sense when we saw him in the valley again while taking a break: a trail runner! 2 poles in hand just having a ball running down the trail (those guys are not human, but my hat is off to them). He stopped and spoke with us for a few and then carried on (very nice guy, who teaches at underprivileged schools and started running Marathons to influence his students - very awesome!)

At this point we were literally the last people on the mountain. Since the brunt of the afternoon storms seemed to have passed we took our time on the rest of the descent, as you can see by all the flower pictures that I took below.

We made it back to the car around 5:00 pm (madness during monsoon season). And made our way to Jan's Restaurant in Buena Vista for some seriously needed rejuvenation.

My take-away from this hike:

There is no way it was 7 miles round trip, it has to be 8 minimum. I thought the route up Elbert was long but this one just felt super long - i think the 2 sections of very steep terrain added to this.

The "Hell Wall" out of the valley deserves much more emphasis on the route description, or at least an emphasis on the steepness and looseness.

Monsoon season sucks and getting caught up in a storm is scary when you're still at 13,000' (this was a first for me)

So here is my advice:

Start super early if you're not a fast hiker (especially during monsoon season)

Bring a knee brace if you have any type of knee injury because the 800' "hell wall" and the 1,000' talus hill will have you hurting before you even reach the summit

As always, show everyone in your party the pictures of the route description prior to the hike so there are no dashed dreams when another mile of ridge line appears haha

20482_41 — Here is our track from the hike. I don't know how the hike is from the NW ridge but this one was certainly scenic - I would imagine a bit more scenic than coming from the Independence pass side.

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

larsoncn	ood candid report and photos 8/3/2020 12:48pm Thanks for your detail and suggestions.
Gandalf69	So cool 8/9/2020 9:23am Hey, if your finance doesn't like it, leave him at home to do cooking and cleaning, lol. Just a little joke. For real tho, don't let him keep you from hiking if you want to. Life is short

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