La Plata: Obscure and Unsigned

Yesterday Drew and I hiked our first 14er with Sean and his friend Hunter. The trip started out when we all went to grab a beer Friday afternoon when Sean and Hunter got off work. After talking for a few minutes we all decided we should hop in the car that evening and drive towards Buena Vista; I barely had time to finish my beer before we were out the door. It took us a couple hours to get our act together but we finally left Sean’s house around 9pm. We got to Buena Vista around 11 and drove another half an hour to the trailhead. Hunter had a guidebook on Colorado’s 14ers that said the trailhead for La Plata Peak was obscure and unsigned which definitely turned out to be true. It took us another half an hour driving around in the dark to find it. Once we did we drove a couple miles past it down a dirt rode and found a spot to camp for the night. Drew and I set up the tent while Sean and Hunter built a fire. The four of us drank a PBR by the fire and went to bed. Then next morning we woke up at 5:45, 45 minutes later than we intended to (we all slept through Sean’s watch alarm). It was so awesome to wake up to a sunrise in the mountains.

In the mountains in Colorado thunderstorms move in quickly in the afternoon (just like Florida) so it’s important to get on the trail early so you can get off the mountain before the weather gets bad. So we quickly ate breakfast, packed up camp, and drove back to the trailhead. We started down the trail and after half a mile the trail became very indistinct. We would lose it then find it again and it seemed to be too flat. We ran into another group of four with a dog that was having the same trouble. We all hiked together for a little while hoping the trail would become more obvious. After another half a mile we all realized that we couldn’t have been on the right trail. We looked at the topo for a while and realized we took a wrong turn way back near the trailhead. Apparently Hunter’s guidebook wasn’t kidding when it said this mountain was obscure and unsigned. We hiked back and found the right trail and headed up the mountain.

Since our little 3 mile detour cost us 2 hours we weren’t sure if we would be able to summit. We decided to hike as far as we could before the weather turned bad. The trail took us through the valley along a river, up a bunch of very steep switchbacks, past tree line, and through more switchbacks. After we reached the saddle we had to hike a bout a mile through boulder fields to the summit. Luckily the weather was great- no storm clouds in sight. Once we got to about 13,500 feet we started to feel lightheaded, dizzy, and nauseous. It was awesome. I stopped to rest and let some people pass me, when they did I made sure to tell them I was from Florida. We made the final push to the summit (14,336ft) and when we got there everyone yelled “Yay Florida!” I was so proud we made it.

As hard as the hike up was, the hike down was worse. We were so sore and tired and it took forever to get down the mountain. When we finally got back to the car Sean and Hunter were waiting for us with water and beer. We packed up the car, drove back to Colorado Springs, and fell into bed. It was the best and hardest day of my life. I can’t wait to do it again.

Drew's fun fact: Nebraska's official state soda is Kool-Aid.