La Plata (14,336')

La Plata is Spanish for "the plata" 

Date:  July 28, 2012

Climbing Party:  Aaron Dover & Amanda Harnden
Elevation Gain: 4,500'
Distance: 9.75 mi RT

RT Time: 7:00 (4hrs up, 3hrs down)
Difficulty:  Difficult, shared summit with a handful off others

Summit Marker

On the way up to Leadville this morning, we talked about the weather up at La Plata. The NOAA weather site had predicted a 60% chance of thunderstorm activity beginning at around 11:00 am. We had hoped to be done by then, but there are no guarantees. We had talked about the possibility of having to abort if things weren't looking good, and that we had to be on the same page about this before we got going. Our 3am departure from Denver got us on the trail by 5:40. Should have been plenty of time to bag the Plata! It's Spanish for "Silver" as this mountain was in an area known for silver mining.

Out of the gates, we had three stream crossings. Not too shabby for the first mile! It meant we were moving straight up the belly of the valley to the source. There were no easy portions of the hike. I will break them down:

The Forest (Mile 1): 3 stream crossings and moving through aspen stands, gaining elevation moderately, and ends in an absolutely gorgeous valley travelling along a stream with flat terrain

Fores portion was awesome!

Switchback Central (mileage unk): After the pleasant walk along the creek, start the switchbacks. Switchbacks up a gully, elevation gained rather quickly. This is a 9/10 on the misery index, but the great views help. Just put your head down and walk, try to maintain pace. These short switchbacks never seem to end, and the entire time a gallery of marmots watch and critique your every move. Follow this to the ridge.

Marmots eat well apparently...

Working our way up the switchbacks!

Views were the best I've seen...;) look at the clouds rolling in too..

Summit Ridge (roughly 1.5 mi):  Follow the summit ridge to the summit.  The trail comes and goes, and in some areas smells as though a commercial airliner dropped their waste receptacle somewhere nearby.  The rocks are big, the steps up them are big, and the views are even bigger.  Enjoy, and soak it in!

The Summit Ridge...views for days.

So, the story goes that we were on trail by 5:40 and got up to the summit ridge in 2.5 hrs, and we were the guinea pigs up on the ridge.  Clouds were billowing to the west, but they were standing still.  They were getting darker, but behind them were clear blue skies!  What to do, what to do.  We didn't hear any thunder, so we decided to get out of the wind for a little bit, and see what would happen.. if they got thicker and started in on us, we were gonna roll out.  Below, on the ridge, there were 2-3 groups of 2, STOPPED.  They were all watching us, and wanted to see what we were going to do.  They were not going to climb up any further if we were going to bail.  One pair did come up while we were waiting, and the clouds broke up!  It was our chance.  We made moves and scurried up the last mile to the summit.  

Summit! Awesome views into Aspen/Snowmass behind

Summit!

We didn't waste much time on the summit, had a bite, got some pics and made our way off as others were on their way up (eek).  On the way down, the clouds were getting thicker and thicker.  No sooner did we reach tree line did the summit completely grey over, and within a half hour, we were getting pounded with rain, and we were under tree cover!  I felt bad for those who got a later start, and were exposed above treeline.    A and I were soaked to the bone, and beat up from the feet up.  We made it back safe and sound, and still had a 2.5 hour drive ahead of us before we could tear into some cheeseburgers....

La Plata Lining: We thought we would be aborting this trip, but alas, we summited after a break in the weather!