| Peak(s): |
La Plata Peak - 14,344 feet "East La Plata" - 14,186 feet Ellingwood Ridge - 13,222 feet |
| Date Posted: | 08/19/2013 |
| Date Climbed: | 08/16/2013 |
| Author: | goingup |
| Peak(s): |
La Plata Peak - 14,344 feet "East La Plata" - 14,186 feet Ellingwood Ridge - 13,222 feet |
| Date Posted: | 08/19/2013 |
| Date Climbed: | 08/16/2013 |
| Author: | goingup |
| Ellingwood Ridge...The Summer Season Series Finale! + a little something extra |
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On Wednesday (8/14) Andrew, his 2 friends, and myself accompanied his sister Molly up her first 14er, Mt. Sherman. This completed the Mosquito Range for Andrew and I and turned out to be an awesome experience watching a new 14er addiction in the making, she cannot stop talking about the next one she wants to do  This short trek was also an opportunity to test the unknown knee injury waters Andrew has been dealing with since our road trip. If he thought he was strong enough after Sherman a Friday traverse of Ellingwood Ridge was green lighted. From the summit of Sherman I ran over to Mount Gemini and tagged both of its humps. Next summer I will go back and get White Ridge and Sheridan as well, probably as a trail run.  I would like to start off by saying Andrew is one tuff mofo, he is dealing with a knee issue and handled this entire day like a champ (200+ man points). I have wanted to do this ridge since I started climbing 14ers on June 21st of this year. I don't know why this ridge in particular begged me to climb it but for nearly two months it was a nagging whisper in my ear. And then it was thursday afternoon and we were packing up the bright red two door to spend the night somewhere in the shadows of La Plata peak. Words cannot describe how I felt driving down I-70, over Fremont Pass, through Leadville, finally making the turn onto Independence Pass and catching first glance of my ridge and its stoic owner. Because I did not research the private property rules we set up camp at Twin Peaks on Independence Pass about 4.6 miles from the TH. I highly recommend this campground. There are many things I have learned this summer, amongst them is how to set up camp, break down camp, and shove food in my face in under fifteen minutes. I also can fully change clothes in my mummy bag. These skills have proven invaluable. I think I have camped more than I have slept in my own bed, not complaining. On the last Friday night of our summer break we went to bed at 8:47 p.m., earlier than the children I nanny for and my grandparents do on a summer evening.  Overview This is going to be a difficult trip report to write because La Plata's Ellingwood ridge has no trail and I really mean that. Imagine ten different people being given the same puzzle. Each person will eventually put it together to make the same picture but individual construction to obtain the final product will be different. I have done a part of Missouri's east ridge (was far to inexperienced at the time and the rock is stupid rotten), the Sawtooth, and Kelso Ridge. There is no comparison. Ellingwood ridge should be a class of its own. ~It is long (approach to gaining the ridge included) so the weather needs to be perfect. The stars aligned for us with only a 20% chance of storms. Wind was minimal, the sun shined on for most of the day, and it was very warm out. ~Route finding: we learned what those two words mean. From the moment we turned off the main trail until the moment we made the summit we were fully committed and fully concentrated. We saw only one cairn at the very end of the ridge but even if we saw more we still would have used our two combined brains to choose our path. On this ridge there are too many options to trust the rock pile of a stranger. ~Exposure. Must enjoy heights. ~There is a little bit of everything (loose rock included). Wear a helmet and double check your hand/foot holds. ~What is really neat about this traverse is it lets you choose how difficult you wish to make it and it is pretty simple, the closer you stay to true ridge line the harder it is. That being said even if you drop way down it is still super steep and there is a surprise around every corner. ~Ellingwood provided me the opportunity to learn how to down climb and that is an understatement. I normally do the crab crawl or a sideways move but there was at least five spots (much more involved, some 100 feet long) I could not and I had to turn around back facing out, stomach facing in and scale my way down some rock; I loved it. ~Bail out from true ridge is almost always going to be to the east (left side). However we made our way around the west (right side) three times. HOLY EXPOSURE + class 4 moves! During these instances the west side provided good climbing opportunities on solid rock and we got to keep our hard earned elevation. ~In my opinion Ellingwood Ridge is not a class 3, it is at least a class 4 however, we stayed as close to the ridge as possible (within 50 feet) and only descended down farther when absolutely necessary. Somehow Andrew always knew when we needed to go farther down making it so we never cliff-ed out and we only needed to back track once at the very beginning. Having taken up rock climbing I know what a 5.5-5.9 feels like so I must say there were a few areas that felt like low class 5 to me. Again, this reflects our choice in route and could be avoided by descending farther around the difficulty. Without further a do here is our journey from TH to summit and back down the standard trail, please feel free to PM me with any questions. I had read many trip reports, 14ers route description, Roach's take on things, and Cooper's section in "Colorado Scrambles," the general consensus: it is a mighty burly day with most of the time spent on an exposed ridge and so we started in the dark. With Andrew's knee still not 100% healthy we both decided we listen to his body, break when necessary, and simply take it slow. I don't know what time we started but the whole day took us just under 13 hours with 40 minutes spent on La Plata's summit, 15 minutes spent on East La Plata, 10 minutes here and there spent on the other high points we hit, and other breaks to rest and do various things like apply sunscreen and eat my pesto pasta concoction in really awkward places. Finding the trailhead for La Plata peak in the dark is an accomplishment unto itself. You will park right off of 82 (this is very obvious), begin walking down a dirt road, cross over a wooden car bridge, continue on the dark road shining your head lamp onto many signs that let you know you are a un-welcomed heathen, you will pass a green gate on your left, and shortly there after the actual TH for La Plata will be on your left in some pine trees. If you are in any sort of early morning lack of coffee haze you could walk right past it (we did not). Once on the trail (in the dark) it is easy to follow to the first foot bridge crossing. However before this bridge we managed to veer off the trail, bush wack through some smaller evergreens, and end up at the cliff of a gorge that dropped down into a waterfall. Don't do this. After finding the bridge the trail is easy to follow to the second log bridge creek crossing (no one fell in, yeeee). Here is where you need to make your first decision. Immediately (like 10-15 feet) after the second creek crossing you leave the main trail (turns to the right) and take the "less evident" trail (goes off straight or leftish, east) towards the base of Ellingwood ridge. And by "less evident" we saw three distinct trails to choose from. Decisions, decisions. One of these trails has a pink ribbon tied around a small aspen tree. However, I had read in 2 trip reports choosing this trail is wrong. So we decided to take it. We had a topographic map of Independence pass, a compass, had studied the terrain, and knew that the next goal was a third creek crossing. The pink ribbon trail was on point. The trail was rather faint but even in the dark we were able to follow it. Warning: there are several trails that leave and join the pink ribbon trail, make sure to stay on it. There is no bridge across the third creek. I found a large fallen aspen high above the creek and shimmied my way across. As I was removing a thorn from my shoe a woman and man appeared out of the black abyss and passed us. They had taken one of the 2 other turn off trails and still made it to where we were. Moral of the story: after turning off the main trail find and cross that third creek.  Now still in the trees immersed in the dim light before sunrise I knew we were gunning for a ridge crest with a very distinct trail. After struggling our way through land of the down trees for a bit I said to Andrew that we should go up a very steep embankment to our right and gain the only ridge I saw. This was the correct decision (plus 30 woman points). As soon as we popped up on top the trail smiled at us. It was steep loose dirt that eventually succumbs to tree line and a massive boulder field that separates you from the start of the glorious adventure. Standing at the bottom of this boulder field I felt tiny and insignificant. The boulders didn't even look like boulders, we were so far away they looked like scree. I silently questioned "How, what, why, really??  " And so endless boulder hopping up the steep side of a mountain began. This went on for some time until we reached a loose dirt gully (here the terrain steepens) which neither of us ascended, instead we clung to some semi-stable rock on the right side and continued making our way up. The gully area ends and you think you are done but ahahahaha no no my friends you must continue picking your way up now smaller loose boulders for what one might classify as an eternity. Finally we topped out on Ellingwood Ridge to some of the most spectacular views my eyes have ever fallen upon and the sun! I spent a lot of time explaining the approach and for good reason, we didn't lose time or energy getting lost and just gaining this ridge is exhausting. You will want to conserve as much of the energy and strength you have for what lies ahead.   After defeating this long and steep boulder field Ellingwood ridge laughs in your face (for the first time) and makes you ascend a really steep grassy section before she is ready to reveal herself. She makes you work for it all right. When we finally crested the top of the grassy slope we saw two humps (which were really slabby points). One hump had a wooden stick poking out of it so we scrambled up there and ogled at the ridge in front of us and the other hump was high point 13, 206 (or so we think, I cannot be sure but we tagged mostly all of the points on this ridge so one of them was sure to be 13,206). This 2nd point involved a little taste of climbing and once we were atop there was a large gap in the ridge which we opted not to jump. I wanted to down climb a section that Andrew could not see the bottom of. This is where I began to learn smart and more patient route finding skills. You don't climb down something you cannot see the bottom of. We went back down and around this point. We were able come to the bottom of the section where I thought passage was possible, it was but we made the right decision in back tracking. This was the only part of the day we were denied. I had made mention that this ridge will laugh at you more than once. Behind every point you crest there is more ridge. I had also mentioned in another trip report that I wished the sawtooth was three times as long, this ridge is 10 times as long and 50 times more involved (the two are not comparable).   From here the climbing and route finding (the fun  ) become more involved. There will not be many pictures from the more difficult sections because how can you take a photo when all four limbs, every muscle, and a brain are fully engaged. And since there is no going back once you summit La Plata I am going to give you all that we got. In photo 8 the orange arrow is where Ellingwood ridge takes a sharp turn to the west. For organization sake I will say that the first part of this ridge is up until that turn and the second part is after that turn. Many of the descriptions I read stated that the climbing relents a bit after this turn in the ridge, I disagree, in fact I feel some of the hardest moves we made were in part two as we stayed true to the ridge line about 85% of the time. This is also the part where we used the west side (right) to keep our hard earned elevation in tact. Most of the lose some elevation and than gain it back games were played in part 1. I make mention of this second part because for whatever reason I had it stuck in my head that once we reached the turn in the ridge the difficulties would subside but they never do, not until you reach the actual summit of La Plata. This is the ridge that keeps on giving.  Much of part one consisted of narrow ledges, with heavy exposure that led to blind cliffs and steep gullies full of dirt and scree. Everyone who has traversed and will traverse this ridge will agree. We came to one down climb that was pretty serious. Andrew went first and I followed. He was able to sit at the bottom and snap photos of me and what I consider an important land mark. From a far we had shot for this dark brownish red dirt patch with a creepy rock that resembled a solar panel because it seemed it would provide safe passage to the next section of ridge in part one (it did).    Once we finished the down climb Andrew went across the loose dirt and up to the high point on the ridge and I scrambled up some more solid rock and was pretty much on top of the ridge, either way is fine.  We now had to give up the most elevation of the day. There was down climbing through steep sections where we took turns kicking rocks on to each other, rocks that gained speed so quickly they were like speeding missiles out of control. Finally we came to another grassy bench and saw where we needed to go (the ridge that keeps on giving). I have a small foot (size 5 to 5 1/2) so it is very hard for me to find good hiking/climbing shoes/boots that fit me correctly. I was also a competitive gymnast for part of my life and have broken multiple bones in my feet and ankles which can cause me serious pain when on long hikes/climbs/runs. On this day I chose to wear my la sportiva approach shoes. There were pros and cons to this decision. Pro, I almost felt like I was in a more comfortable climbing shoe. Con, no ankle support. I say this because many times in part one of this traverse we were awkwardly slanted on a very steep grassy slope (I would be curious to know the angle) trying to walk sideways across. This put a tremendous amount of strain on the left leg. Beware of this, it makes for some weird aches and pains. Maybe walk backwards part of the time in order to give the right leg a fair chance to feel odd  ?? There is also a ton of that thorny thistle plant. Both of us grabbed a hold of it at one point or another and cursed for fifteen minutes or so.  Before we began our trek to the pink triangle we took a breather. I am never hot (I run cold) or hungry when climbing 14ers but today was opposite day and I was pouring out sweat and my stomach was making "feed me" sounds all day long. As we were making our way to this lower grassy bench we also heard the voices of other people. They (Chris and Hillary both 14er members) had shot too high and were forced to back track to where we were. We talked for a minute before heading to the next target. After regaining the ridge we stayed very close to its crest. On one part we found a huge slot and climbed into it (this was not in any of the route descriptions) and then out of it. Once we climbed out we were faced with a short but difficult down climb.  I am in the slot. Hillary is at the pink arrow. To the right of her there is a sheer cliff with no end. To the left of her is where she and I down climbed (class 4). The green arrow shows where Andrew down climbed which was a low class 5. Next we shot for a notch in the ridge. We had to down climb a bit to reach a loose dirt run off gully. Chris and Hillary were close to us and Chris had already crossed the gully and went around some more stable rock. Hillary was still on the same side as Andrew and I. We contemplated our next move. We decided not to try and ascend the steep run off path of dirt as a slip would mean a long fall. Instead we quickly skirted our way across to more solid rock on the other side. I pointed out a 40 foot chimney to Andrew that I thought I could make it up and he went first. There was a slight over hang which required a big move. Andrew got to the top and hollered down to be careful. I was and this was my crux for the day. I was never scared but it was the most technical move I have made unroped. I stayed and made sure Hillary got up okay (she did). Chris had bypassed this chimney to the left (options options options). This is also the area where part 2 begins and the ridge turns to the west.  Hillary and Chris are where the yellow arrow points. The black arrow points to the notch we aimed for. I have no pictures of the chimney but it is on the far side of that gully and was obvious as an option for ascent. Reaching this notch was a joyous occasion but it also revealed how much was still ahead. Gerry Roach describes many of the views along this route as discouraging and I can understand his logic but I thought every view was beautiful. It showed how far we had come and how far we still had to go really emphasizing the power of this ridge. Here the rock suddenly turns extra special deadly requiring extra special caution. Every flake we grabbed a hold of ripped off and some holds where nothing more than deceiving piles of loose rock. It was also at this moment that my body rebelled and would not continue on without a substantial amount of calories. So Andrew and I ate my pesto pasta mixture in the most awkward spot on Ellingwood Ridge. I don't think many couples will ever be able to say they shared a meal clinging to flaky rock on the side of a mountain. I would also like to note a technique that we used eight times (yes I counted) on this ridge traverse. When presented with a steep gully of loose everything running out to certain death we would side traverse the base of the more solid cliff band on either side of the gully (mostly right side). This worked out well and presented even more opportunity to squeeze some fun in. The picture below is a good representation of this description.  Now we mostly just kept scrambling along the ridge line until we reached East La Plata which was long and engaging.    The La Plata summit looks so close and attainable but Ellingwood Ridge is not finished with you quite yet. She is still laughing at you as you make every last maneuver to pull your weary body to the top.    And then potentially the funniest part of the day....We heard the voice of a single man calling out, "82!!!! Is this the way to 82?!?!" We both started laughing as we scrambled towards him yelling back "No, do not come this way!" He had reached the summit of La Plata via the standard route and was a little confused. He was a super nice flat lander who had attempted to solo the bells the previous day, he congratulated us and took our picture. Thanks man!!!! When we reached the actual summit of La Plata peak (at 3 pm, 7 hours on the actual ridge) I was totally overwhelmed with emotion as I looked back on what we had just accomplished.     What really hit me the hardest was how calm and gracefully I had handled the entire day and how Andrew worked through a sore knee. I tend to be impatient and I can get flustered easily but not this time. Besides me wanting to initially hop off of a cliff I slowed down and helped with route finding and took every challenge head on. I also patted myself on the back for adding ankle weights to my pack when I did the Democrat loop and pushing myself through those extra miles during my runs. This day is physically demanding and all of my hard work paid off. I have said numerous times that I need to learn to crawl before I walk, I have learned to walk. I am constantly amazed by the accomplishments of the people who frequent this website and I hope to one day be half the mountaineer some of you are. This was my first step. Hillary and Chris eventually joined us on the summit and we all celebrated one hell of a day. Andrew and I lingered on until they left and I danced! I told myself months ago if I made the summit of La Plata Peak via Ellingwood Ridge I would submit a dance off video. This was the most difficult part of the day, it is freaking hard to dance to a 4 minute song on top of a 14er after crossing its eternally long and complicated ridge. I believe that one of the best qualities a person can have is the ability to laugh at his/herself, so please laugh with me, not at me  ......Following the standard route off of La Plata was clear as the sun shining upon our happy faces. And it was a beautiful well established trail thanks to the Colorado Initiative (which I intend on donating to). I thought it would be steeper but after descending the horror that is Challenger's north slopes it was a cake walk. Still my feet were in a lot of pain so I just kept focus on the black bean quinoa salad and coconut water that was waiting for me at the car. La Plata's basin area is breath taking especially in the late afternoon light which most of us never see because we are off the mountain by noon. I would consider doing this mountain again in the fall just to see all of the color changing aspens. Eventually we got down to a section of many switch backs and everything was so green. I probably sounded like double rainbow guy except I was joyously screaming about how green the world was.  This was the best day I have had on my new favorite mountain in my new favorite area. Things could not have gone more perfectly. We arrived back at the car in just under 13 hours and with Andrew's knee injury and my intense burning hunger to stop and eat every 20 minutes it was a better time than we had hoped. Even though I had the route description with me it was not very helpful. The few times we got it out to look we saw 5 different gullies or scree fields or rock ribs we could try and reach. So we just went with our own instincts and personal ability level and it turned out to be a blast. My best advice, do not underestimate this ridge, put the necessary care into finding your route, and do not climb up something you cannot climb down (this is pretty universal). As we were driving back down Independence pass I rounded a corner and noticed a furry creature staring at me as I curiously stared back at it. At first I thought it was a large german shepherd on the loose but as I got closer I screamed, "bear!!!!" Now I have this running joke with Andrew that an 18 foot grizzly is going to come out of the woods in the middle of the night and eat all of our food for the next days hike. Well it was no 18 foot grizzly (more like a 5 foot black bear) but it was the first time I ever got to see a bear in the wild. I stopped and he/she crossed the road and bounded up a cliff in 3 fell swoops (wish I had that kind of skill). Bears run funny. Until next time....  Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow): 
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