Jul 22, 2018 — Okay, let's have real talk. If there is any rain in the forecast, do. not. do. this. scramble. Or any other high peak, really. Though, if it's a sunny day, this route is a super sustained ridgeline scramble with lots of opportunity to route-find and explore the many spires and nooks of Ellingwood Ridge. Fun to the max.
Starting from the regular La Plata Peak Trailhead, walk along a forest road until a billboard marks the start of the trail. Follow the official trail for a while until you see a social trail branch off to the east, shortly after a log-bridge over a stream. This social trail gets progressively more difficult to follow, but as long as you can get on top of a narrow forested ridge between two creeks, you'll be fine. There is an easy to follow trail here. Eventually, an absurdly large talus field greets you. Find any number of reasonable gullies that leave talus and become scree as you slowly gain a ton of elevation and end up on Ellingwood Ridge. I can't really describe the route, but the closer to the ridge crest you are, the harder it is. We pretty much stayed there the whole time, doing a couple of easy Class 5 moves, but mostly Class 4 and tons of Class 3. You can likely keep this route at Class 3+ the whole way if you are good at route-finding.
About a thousand feet from the summit, big clumps of hail started smacking us in the face. And thunder. Damnit. We decided bailing was a good idea, but the ridgeline was a terrible place to be if there was lightning, and the summit was even worse. So, we attempted to bail off the side of the ridge to the east, where massive loose boulders constantly fell out of place and almost smushed my foot countless times. Don't end up in this situation. If the weather looks bad, turn around well before you're deep into the ridge. Anyway, the sun came out and we decided to go for the La Plata Peak summit. We made it, as did another couple who waited out the storm, but who came from the standard trail. On the way down, it started hailing again and I noticed my hair was sticking up, as was the woman's we had recruited from the summit. We ran. That was terrifying.
The trail down is really gorgeous, with lots of wide views of the surrounding peaks and a steep trail next to a creek through the forest.
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Hire/refer me as a web developer or send me a few bucks if you find my site useful. I'm not sponsored, so all fees are out-of-pocket and my time preparing trip reports is unpaid. I really appreciate it!
