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La Plata Peak

Peak Condition Updates  
12/29/2023
Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 12/31/2023, By: ShakyLegs18
Info: Attempted for the summit of La Plata via the NW Ridge winter route. The standard trail is well-packed, well-defined snow. Veered off at 39.05545, -106.49420, heading SE for the headwall. I broke through knee-deep snow all the way to the headwall . . . The terrain proved far steeper than I anticipated. The headwall was intermittent snow, shale, and rock. Steep but mild. The ridge was in good shape with avoidable drifts before meeting up with the standard trail. From there it was snow-covered rock. I made it to ~13,200 and, exhausted, called it a day. The weather was absolutely incredible. Cloudless blue sky and, unbelievably, windless! If you've got your eye on La Plata this winter enjoy that broke-in path to the headwall while you can. 
2
5
11/4/2023
Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 11/4/2023, By: nrobsaihttam
Info: Hiked this morning up to about treeline, and then turned back because it was a bit steep and because we got a late start in the morning. Weather was perfect for November, warmer than last week, no wind, and clear skies all day. There was about 4-5 inches of snow constantly on the sections we hiked, but never got very deep, so post-holing wasn't an issue. Poles with microspikes mandatory. Probably don't need snowshoes as long as snow was similar above treeline too. When we got to the steep part by treeline it was like a 45 or 50 degree slope with soft snow, and the ground underneath was a bit slippery, so climbing up part of it was challenging (but possible) because you couldn't really kick in steps. We were only 1 of 2 groups on the mountain the whole day, it was great. 
2
4
10/21/2023
Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 10/22/2023, By: Zleisure
Info: Brought spikes: didn't use. Small short icy spots when the trail is right next to the creek, but can walk on the trail edges and avoid, then basically dry until ~12,400, the flat spot before gaining the ridge. After that flat spot, it's dry again until ~13,000, starting the steeper ridge gain. Snow on the trail was booted in well up along the ridge to the peak. 3 cars in the parking lot at 6:30am. 6:45am start, 10:15am summit, 1:15pm parking lot. Saw ~8 people all day. 
1
13
10/14/2023
Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 10/15/2023, By: CharleyReynolds
Info: Snowdrifts up to knee deep but the ridge and the way in was 1-4. Pretty easy to follow the trail up until the talus field. There are wayyy too many cairns making the navigation difficult with the slight snow cover. A lot of the snow was melting below 13,000ft on the way out. 
1
10/7/2023
Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 10/7/2023, By: Brandon0135
Info: Snow free until you gain the ridge. Then you will be dealing with 4-8 inches of snow the rest of the way. Spikes were very helpful. Aspens are well past peak amd mearly all dropped but there was still a little yellow at the trailhead and peaking down by twin lakes. It looked like the entirety of the sawatch is dry on the south sides and snowy on the north side. Glad I brought my winter layers, it was very cold until well after noon. 
10/6/2023
Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 10/8/2023, By: tscarpella
Info: Great Day on Friday to be on LaPlata. Above Ridgeline is pretty much all snow, glad I had spikes. Otherwise the trail is pretty much dry. 
9/26/2023
Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 9/26/2023, By: JasonCrane
Info: NW Ridge is dry & summer conditions from TH to summit. Trail is straightforward & easy to follow along the creek & up the 2 series of switchbacks leading to ridge. Route becomes a boulder field, but is cairned. Some minor route-finding through the boulder field & there's a bit of a herd path at times. Route skirts the edge of a snow-filled gully. Absolute gorgeous day to be in the Sawatch. No spikes or traction. Saw one lone mountain goat patrolling up around 13k. There was a lot of smoke filling the Twin Lakes area on the ride out from a possible prescribed burn (visible near base of Shavano during the ride up 285 from Salida.) Note - On the descent, there was a knife lost on the trail with a colorful artistic, sheath. I really thought it might belong to another hiker behind me, but he said it wasn't his. It's still sitting on top of a log about a mile up. 
3
10
9/23/2023
Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 9/24/2023, By: chicagostylehotdog
Info: No change to the 9/17 update on the SW ridge route. Still dry except for one tiny section close to the summit that didn't warrant spikes. 
9/17/2023
Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 9/18/2023, By: ColoNativeGal
Info: Summer conditions still. Tiny amount of snow above 14K on north aspects, but not an issue. Had spikes, did not use them. Route finding on the crux was more challenging going up than down, but if you follow the gpx it's better than just winging it. Tons of cairns which is a little confusing. Scree out of the basin from the mine up is really loose and worse coming down than going up. Poles were very helpful. Frost down in the basin in the morning, melted in the afternoon but easily avoidable to stay dry in the bog areas. 
1
3
9/16/2023
Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 9/17/2023, By: medleyjosh
Info: No or very little snow on La Plata as of today. The snowstorm seems to have hit southern collegiate peaks, starting around Yale and south. La Plata is quite dry - also visible is Huron, Misourri, Belford, Oxford (not all of these are visible, but the band of snow begins south of them) they also appears dry. 
9/9/2023
Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 9/9/2023, By: ssowalskie
Info: Absolutely beautiful summer conditions. Started just after 6am (parking was full at the trailhead when I arrived, I had to park on the road), my watch recorded temperatures at about 37 degrees at the trailhead. Don't let the shorter mileage (for a Sawatch 14er, anyway) fool you, this is a steep route for the vast majority of the hike, and as such takes some time. I found the last mile up to the summit to be the most exhausting. Lots of loose scree and dirt on the way down as well, so poles might be recommended if you're not confident in your footing. Wind wasn't much of a factor, only mild winds as you gained the ridge. Car to car it was just under 5.5 hours, including time spent on the summit, with 9.89 miles (some of that extra mileage is likely due to starting my watch at the car). Overall, probably one of my favorite Sawatch 14ers! 
2
5
8/19/2023
Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 8/20/2023, By: nhall
Info: We climbed the southwest ridge yesterday. We made it easily in our stock Tacoma up the 4WD trail past Winfield. A few dispersed camping spots directly at the trailhead and not as busy as what I'd imagine the standard route is. We saw a total of 3 other groups on this route throughout the day. Steep and loose scree heading up from the basin to the ridge. I would recommend poles or good traction. The crux of the route at the boulder field is steeper than it looks from the pictures and difficult to navigate. It was tough for our very athletic dog to get up. Other than that, it's a great non standard trail and we had no issues route finding. The basin is beautiful and I enjoyed the less busy route. 
8/11/2023
Route: Ellingwood Ridge
Posted On: 8/12/2023, By: longsisreallylong
Info: Summer conditions all the way to the top! Be sure to follow the 2nd offshoot towards Ellingwood from the main trail. We found to our chagrin at 3AM that the first offshoot doesn't lead anywhere. The 2nd offshoot was only ~40 feet past the first. We found this out on the way down. Believe the hype, this route takes a LONG time and involves a TON of downclimbing to keep it below class 4. If you follow the top of the ridge, you will have many class 5 maneuvers. 10 hours up, 2 hours down. 
3
8/6/2023
Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 8/7/2023, By: sodomike
Info: Route is exactly as described. Only point worth mentioning...the 'crux' talus slope does indeed have MANY cairns, as described. After taking a more center/left line up, and dead center down, and thinking a fair bit about it each way, my impression is it literally doesn't matter where you go. All the rocks are on the stabl-er end of the spectrum and all the cairned routes seemed to mix large talus with smaller pebbles and sandy stretches of 'trail'. So whichever cairn you're closest to at the bottom, start there and play the simplest game of connect the dots you can and you'll have a great time. Super enjoyable route, especially at dinner time on a sunday evening. 
2
8/6/2023
Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 8/7/2023, By: andrewyee11
Info: Arrived 11:30pm and slept in the car Saturday night, the pull out lot was basically full when we arrived. Even more full by 6:00am Sunday morning (more cars double-parking) with lots of cars parking down the road. Trail in full summer conditions. Summited in a bit less than 3 hours, around 2 hours down. Could smell fresh bear scat in a nice berry grove a few miles from TH on the way down, so make lots of noise! Fun hike!