Stats: Roughly 16 miles and 6,500 vertical feet but tougher I thought than the numbers would suggest

Ellingwood Ridge is one of the most impressive ridgelines in Colorado, with roughly two miles of dramtic towers arcing perfectly into the 5th highest summit in the state. It is quite committal, and its complexity makes it much more serious than the 3rd class rating would suggest.

I first visited the route when I was 11 years old, and getting too late of a start, became pinned down in what was assuredly one of the most violent thunderstorms ever to curse the skies. With relentless hail and flashes of lightning slashing through the bruised sky to strike the rocks around us, we scurried around the summit and made our escape. I swore I would never go above treeline again.

And I didn't. Well, for eleven days anyway.

Redemption came 8 years later, though this time, the objective was append the ridge with a traverse from La Plata to Sayers Benchmark and Unnamed Peak 13,440. I could not find any information on the east ridge of Sayers, but knew from satellite imagery that it could be rugged and complex.

Despite the rather tame stats on the day, don't be fooled. Ellingwood is a time and energy consuming route, and even from the summit of La Plata, looping over the 13ers takes some effort.

Preston, my Dad, and I started from the La Plata Peak TH (10,100 feet) just before 5 am. We could afford this late start with the perfectly clear forecast, but on most days I would recommend starting at least several hours earlier. It is 0.3 miles up McNasser Gulch Road to where the trail takes off, and quickly crosses a beautiful gorge on a footbridge. After another 0.4 miles there is a log bridge over La Plata Gulch Creek, then almost immediately a climbers trail takes off to the east. This was our turn.

The climbers trail is largely flat as it heads 0.7 miles east to the small creek draining La Plata Basin. Here, we turned upstream on one of many small use trails that eventually converge onto a steep path climbing up into the basin. The trail opens into a vast boulder field at 11,300 feet.

The ascent onto Ellingwood Ridge is a bit of an eat-your-vegetables-before-your-desert sort of a deal. 1,300 vertical feet of steep talus leads to the ridge. Most of it is fairly stable, but a couple places may move around on you. It can be kept at class 2 if you swing left, or more enjoyable 3rd class if you tackle the cliff bands directly.

Once you gain the tundra-upholstered ridge at 12,600, easy terrain leads up to the first ridge point and the beginning of the good times. Be sure to tag the summit of the second major tower, as it is now a ranked 13er and not an easy one to come back for.

The next 2 miles constantly serve up excellent scrambling on often solid rock, with stellar views and unique features. It's great. In general, the ridge crest alternates between sections of cruiser class 2/3 and steep towers and gashes than can be turned on the east (class 3), or tackled directly (class 4 or 5). Only a few times will you venture onto the west side. After crossing the lowpoint at the end of the wonderful sawtooths, there is a section with worse rock and quite a bit of boring class 2 as you climb from 13k up to 14k. There are still some cool spots. The final pitch to the summit of East La Plata holds a little more great scrambling. Then the traverse to the main summit is mostly class 2, with a couple towers holding avoidable class 3/4.

We saw no one on the entire ridge, but the summit was swarming. Preston had had enough so set off down the northwest slopes, while Dad and I dropped down the southwest ridge to the saddle with Sayers BM.

The east ridge of Sayers looked intimidating from the saddle, but we figured if we ran into trouble we could always traverse onto the face and find something easier. The ridge ended up being really fun. The first notch held a class 3 downclimb into, then class 3 again ot the other side. After a section of class 2, the ridge formed up into a really lovely and solid crest. We stayed right on the ridge up to point 13,180, enjoying excellent class 3 and 4 fun on great rock. Well worth a visit!

A little scraggly class 3 on the descent from point 13,180 leads to a section of loose class 2. Just when you think the fun is over, it returns to solid and enjoybale class 2/2+ over wonderful granite. Between the lower scrambling section and the pleasant finish, I would rate it as one of the best ridges in the Collegiates.

At this point in the day, the forecasted 50 mph wind arrived and pretty much sucked any fun out of the final peak.From Sayers over to 13,440 is pretty generic, with a mix of tundra, easy talus, and a few ridge bumps to contend with. The highlight is the stunning colors of 13,440, with orange, red, and gold rock coating the hillsides. From the summit, we returned to the vibrantly colored southenr subsummit, from whcih we decended the west ridge to 12,200 where we could join the mining road and follow it back into McNasser Gulch. Right turn on McNasser, and its a few easy miles back to the car.