La Plata Peak

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 9/18/2016, By: Josh Bux
Info: The only snow I saw all the way to the top was small patches between rocks where the sun never shines. The lower part of the trail in the basin is very muddy. Early in the morning the mud was all frozen and easy to avoid. On the way back down it was a bit harder to stay out of it. Also a couple of streams intersecting the path on the climb from basin to ridge that freeze in the morning, but narrow enough to avoid slipping. No traction needed. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 9/1/2016, By: VegasRich
Info: Heavy storm the evening before left 3 inches of snow on the top, mainly above 13,500. It was easy to walk through. The real issue was all the moisture around; clear skies allowed a lot of dew and a heavy frost on everything. The bunch of small logs across the 2nd creek looked too risky; I went upstream a little ways for slightly less risky boulders. But the worst was the frost. All the rocks were covered and extremely slick. Unless it was perfectly flat, every step had to be wedged between more than one rock. And much of the upper areas were shaded until 9 or 10am. Haven't been that afraid of hurting myself on a mountain in many years. Otherwise, an okay trail. You can tell a lot of work has been put into it. But right now I think the SW ridge has to be preferred. I wish I had made the drive back there. 

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 8/25/2016, By: Solo
Info: Clear dry and frozen going up... Then dry sleet coming down. 6+30 round trip from a half mile short of 4WD TH (I'm old and flatlander just flown in yesterday. Ps... Abandoned tent still there. 

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 8/13/2016, By: hwstock
Info: There is an apparently abandoned tent within a mile of the 4WD TH. There is nothing but a bit of junk inside (no packs, bags); if it is still there in a few days, I think it is safe to remove. The marshy area is still a bit obnoxious, but we saw few bugs. I wore low-tops, and got one slight soaker; just be prepared to jump. 

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 7/18/2016, By: LataLizzy
Info: The marshy area in the willows has one spot that's a muddy, sloppy mess and difficult to avoid completely. So I would recommend actual hiking books rather than running shoes as those are no fun when they get wet (although I did see someone hike up the peak in Chacos). The gravel chute up to the ridge is quite steep and slippery-- make sure to move quickly and watch your step so you don't slide down! There will likely be lots of bugs as you return down to treeline and back to your car even if it is windy at the summit-- don't count on a breeze down lower to keep the bugs away. I didn't see many mosquitoes, but the flies are really annoying. I took my friend up here yesterday: this was only her second 14er, and she doesn't do a lot of hiking to begin with. Overall, I think this is a good route for a beginner who still wants a bit of a challenge. 

Route: Ellingwood Ridge
Posted On: 7/17/2016, By: stoopdude
Info: No snow on the route, summer conditions. We saw one or two totally avoidable patches of snow. Feel free to travel light and fast. Side note, this route is LONG. Took us 12 hours round trip with a long lunch break. We're not usually slow, but it took almost 3 hours to gain the ridge, and about 5.5 hours on the ridge itself. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 7/11/2016, By: kingshimmers
Info: Summer conditions on the way up. Trail is completely dry except for a few yards down by the creek where it is "damp", and there is no snow to avoid on the trail. 

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 7/11/2016, By: ericwolf88
Info: The road up to the trailhead is in great condition and I easily made it in a Tiguan past the very mild "washout" before the trailhead. Mosquitoes on the lower portion of the route were terrible due to a lot of standing water in the marshy area (don't expect to keep your shoes free of mud). The section up to 12,800' is very steep with a lot of dry, loose rock that you pretty much are surfing on the way down. Route finding on the upper section is hard. Find as many cairns as you can. We couldn't find the way down that we came up and it was slow going climbing over large rocks. My gps watch had this at 9 miles, not 7, so take that for what it's worth. Overall, there is probably a reason this is not the standard route and I'm not sure if I would choose it if I had to do it again...might be worth it to climb a few hundred more feet to have a more enjoyable time. 

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 7/7/2016, By: Indy
Info: Great conditions. The meadow above treeline is a bit soggy, but easily navigable. Summer conditions all the way to the summit, no snow to avoid. 

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 6/27/2016, By: livinmtlife16
Info: I hiked the SW ridge with no problems just starting just before the 2nd washout from the Winfield TH. There was plenty of SUV's and stock pickups crossing the washout crossing, but I decided against it. We started out at 5am hit the summit at 8am. Very little snow to contend with and all of it was easily avoidable. The willows were wet but plenty of little rocks and logs to hop across and not get too wet on the way up and down. We took our time on the way down with a great day and no threat of a storm. Overall the trail is in great condition and ready for peak summer conditions. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 6/19/2016, By: jdcoleman
Info: La Plata is in 98.5% summer conditions. Meaning, right before you gain the ridge after all the gnarly switchbacks, there's two slabs of snow you have to cross - but its icy and walkable before 830 but mushy and sinkable to thighs in places around midday. Nothing too bad to worry about, boots will trek right through it dont worry about microspikes, snowshoes, etc. - just walk through it. And then, glissade down. Super fun. La Plata was a little more than I bargained for, physically, it gassed me pretty good but got to enjoy the beautiful conditions on the summit for over 30 minutes on a bright, sunny day. Enjoy this mountain this summer. 

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 6/18/2016, By: shaberer0511
Info: The SW ridge of La Plata is looking like summer. There's still a few snowfields, that are soft and slushy by midday, and are totally avoidable. The walk through the willows is almost nothing but mud. Sometimes, you might sink in 6 inches or more if you're not careful. Other than that, it's a great hike, the trail is hard to follow in places, but you can follow the cairns and you'll be ok. Still some snow on the summit as well. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 6/12/2016, By: Cheli-K
Info: Route is mostly dry with a few muddy spots down low, one large snowfield right before gaining the ridge (easy to miss the trail access on the left, we muddled our way right) which was fun to glissade down later, a few small snowfields on the ridge between rock areas that may or may not be hip-depth postholing depending on time of day. No special equipment required (not even microspikes), we were in mountaineering boots which killed us on the downhill, but you'd be fine in hiking boots, and could get away with trail runners if you don't mind the occasional snowfield. Just don't be that person hiking up at 1pm thinking it's a walk in the park as the storm clouds come rolling in. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 5/15/2016, By: AlexeyD
Info: Made a rather futile (considering the forecast) attempt on LP this morning. On and off snow to ~10.5k, then continuous snow. Good trench to winter turnoff, from there it rapidly degenerates into a horrendous posthole mess. Made it to about 11.3 before deciding brunch sounded like a better idea (also it was dumping snow at this point). There was really no more visible trench beyond our turnaround point. On the way back, we explored a bit up the main trail going up the creek bed. This seemed to have seen some recent traffic, but appears to go toward Sayres and not the LP summer trail. FWIW, parts of the summer trail are now visible on the sides of the NW ridge (see photo), but given the state of the snowpack I wouldn't want to be on those slopes. EDIT: For the curious skiers out there: can't say I got a very good look at the North Face. However, there does appear to be a continuous line on one of the gullies on the west face, all the way down into La Plata Gulch - would be about a 3000' vert continuous line off the summit. Just throwing that out there. I think it would go something like this: http://www.hillmap.com/m/ag1zfmhpbGxtYXAtaGRychULEghTYXZlZE1hcBiAgICwpKzjCQw 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 5/8/2016, By: freeinthehills
Info: Snowboarded the N. Face of La Plata Peak Yesterday, Saturday May 7th. Started at 4:30 - Despite the forecast, snow froze well. Keep boards on pack until after the bridge. there are large sections of vehicle tracks as well as various "trenches" and patches of dirt. not the on and off skin/walk game. I skinned most of the way up to the toe of the NW ridge. There is a firm trail that I would pick up from time to time. this is walkable without flotation if your judgment is good. I assume it enters La Plata Gulch. I encountered foot steps up the 150 feet of steep snow to the ridge itself. Snowboard or ski crampons would minimize your transitions between walking and skinning on the ridge. Snowpack was firmly frozen above 11,000 feet and thawed around 11am below 11.4. everything else sported a stout crust mostly unbreakable on my board. Trench warfare below 11.4 to the trail. All aspects seem to have undergone some capacity of MF metamorphosis. Western aspects in the alpine feature a 10cm crust on less consolidated snow. S. Aspects are very locked up as are east aspects. Pit data on exposed N. aspects gives 5-10cm of MF crust, ontop 10cm P on 2-3 cm of 4F snow ontop of 30 cm 1F + to P snow. which also sits on a thin MF Crust. I rode an unconventional line on the N. Face of La Plata. the top 400-600 feet were 20 cm of wind consolidated powder, but only in very protected areas. Below that, thin MF crusts have been developing. even on the due N. aspects with preserved old storm snow. The remainder of the snow has been slid out due to warming and loose avalanche cycles. - No evidence of slabs were found. The report from Sayers from two days ago isn't great. Avalanche Hazard for them seemed to be due to warming and can be managed with timing (hot as balls on the 5th). This opinion comes from examining the debris on Sayers and from riding an identical aspect on La Plata.