La Plata Peak

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 11/19/2012, By: summitridge
Info: Very little snow and a non-issue for hiking. Maybe micro spikes would have been nice, but really there was no problem today. Camped overnight at 11,200 on the standard route. Very little snow. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 11/7/2012, By: MissH
Info: Snow and ice patches the whole way up. Most are avoidable but some take more creativity. No need for spikes or snow shoes yet. Take care going over the icy spots - slippery! 

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 11/4/2012, By: bigredmachine
Info: This route is basically snow/ice free all the way to the summit. Their were a couple of small patches(no more than 10 ft) in the trees that had a little packed snow/ice and along the summit ridge their were a couple of patches of snow that were easily avoidable. The marshy meadow was frozen on the way up and muddy on the way down, with careful navigation I was able to keep my feet clean and dry. Absolutly no need for gaiters, spikes etc. FYI...there is a tree that has fallen in front of the road about 200 yards from the trailhead. I don‘t care if you have a monster truck your not getting past it. 

Route: Ellingwood Ridge
Posted On: 9/23/2012, By: KyleS
Info: Climbed up Ellingwood Ridge and down NW Ridge; both routes are totally free of snow/ice despite the snow on the north face. Aspens are in full color. 

Route: Ellingwood Ridge
Posted On: 8/29/2012, By: Board Shorts
Info: Climbed La Plata via Ellingwood Ridhe in about 6 hours trailhead to summit, topping out at 1:25 pm. What a route! Saw only one cairn on the entire ridge on top of Point 13,206. There are faint trails one can follow, mostly trending to the east of the ridgetop, (climber‘s left) but route finding is difficult. Opportunities abound to bail down scree fields between cliffs off either side of the ridge but eventually one reaches the point where the fastest way off the mountain is over the top and down the standard route. No snow anywhere, some wet dirt in the shade. Rain started a little after 1:30 and thunder by about 3:00 pm. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 7/1/2012, By: bhollamby
Info: Headed up this morning all is clear and dry...summer is here for La Plata. 

Route: Ellingwood Ridge
Posted On: 6/25/2012, By: metalmountain
Info: Made it to the summit via Ellingwood Ridge yesterday. It appears the lingering snow reported last week is almost all gone. I think I stepped foot in snow once the entire day. There are some patches to be found but I generally would have had to go out of my way to get to them. Other than that the ridge is in summer shape for all intensive purposes. 

Route: Ellingwood Ridge
Posted On: 6/20/2012, By: Jerousek
Info: Completed La Plata via Ellingwood ridge today. Still several patches of snow filling the Eastern gullies. I had good success either committing to the ridge for some Class 4 or dropping well below to stay Class 3. No traction/flotation/gaiters. Not sure if any would have helped anyhow. Too wet/mushy. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 6/17/2012, By: JQDivide
Info: Standard Route. Almost completely clear of snow. A few small spots, but nothing you need any snow gear for. Either walk through or around. Trailhead was 47 degrees at midnight and 40 degrees at 5a.m. Guessing around 30 people climbed on Saturday, most taking 4 to 5:30 hours to summit. Clouds built up early then dissipated. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 6/8/2012, By: desertdog
Info: Blue Bird Day. Assent took a little over 3 hours. As stated in previous report very little snow. No traction needed. Ready to go. 

Route: Ellingwood Ridge
Posted On: 5/28/2012, By: Built-to-Last
Info: I attempted to hike Ellingwood Ridge, it is still carrying a lot of snow in the gullies on the eastern slopes of the ridge and I did not make farther than Pt 13206, as the picture below shows the snow on the ridge and I went done quite a ways and it looked like all the upper gullies I could see were full. I did not have any snow traction devices so I decided to turn around and come back in July or August. 

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 5/29/2012, By: cougar
Info: southwest route from Winfield is 95% dry. A couple small snowfields in the basin can be avoided easily. Patches of consolidated, firm crust snow on last half mile or so to summit. All snowfields are on flat stretches, no need for snowshoes/spikes. Was very windy in saddles, calm at top. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 5/27/2012, By: kylerhuss
Info: Trail is clear of snow and very well maintained up to around 12,500ft, at which point you encounter a snowfield that you can rock hop around or hike up. I would have liked to have had an axe with me for peace of mind when I hiked up the snow field, but the odds of needing it, or any other gear, are very small. I‘ve attached a photo of the snow field going from around 12,500ft-13,300ft. The snowfield makes for a very fast and fun descent once the sun has had some time to soften it up. 

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 4/30/2012, By: Monte Meals
Info: 4wd trail head is open to register. We hiked up to the meadow at 12,500ft The trail had numerous 3 and 4 foot high snow drifts. The trail thru the meadow was indiscernible (willows) - not even sure if snowshoes would help after it had softened. The switch back up to the 13,000 ft ridge was snow packed. 

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 4/28/2012, By: Lindyhapa
Info: I climbed La Plata by the southwest ridge. The road was sufficiently clear that I was able to drive all the way to the upper trailhead in a stock Isuzu Trooper with street tires. There are only a couple of 10 foot long sections that require you to drive over snow. The lower part of the trail is clear, but soon we started running into some deep snow banks on the trail. The snow was still hard in the morning so it wasn‘t so bad, but there was still some post holing. Bring your gaiters :) Above treeline the trail is completely buried in snow, so we walked on the patches of dry ground and crossed snowfields as necessary. On the upper part of the mountain Yak Trax or the like could be useful, but you‘ll be climbing half the time on rocks and half the time on snow, so that‘s up to you. Snowshoes would‘ve been nice on the way down in the valley. You probably won‘t need them anywhere above the saddle unless you get there late. But after noon the snow in the valley got really mushy and there was much post holing. I‘d suggest leaving the snowshoes at the end of the valley before you ascend the saddle and then using them to cross the valley on the way back. We started hiking at 9:30am, peaked at 1:30pm, and got back to the car (at the upper trailhead) at 3:30pm.