La Plata Peak -14,336

This past weekend my friend Melissa and her dog Olivier with Fisher and I headed to the Buena Vista area for some Colorado outdoor fun. We had planned on backpacking into part of the Collegiate Peak Wilderness near Mt Oxford, Belford and Missouri Mountain but had to change our plans because of the weather. We instead car camped it on national forest in a beautiful valley surrounded by many mountains, most of them 14ers. We decided we were going to summit La Plata the next day. It is the fifth highest peak in Colorado and is just south of Mt Elbert. From the top you look right down on Independence Pass. We took the less travelled round (Winfield trailhead) and supposedly the easiest route. It was a great hike but took longer than we thought. It was a little more technical than we thought with steep scree, some boulder fields and wet marsh. We took it a little slower for the dogs and after it was all said and done round trip it took us about 6hrs. We had great weather at the summit and we able to hang out up there for a good 30-45 mins. The descent was very tiring but once back at the trailhead we were offered some beers by some fellow hikers. We gladly accepted while the dogs hide in the shade under their truck. After being thoroughly exhausted we called it an early night.
The top of the scree.
The top of the boulder field.
Fisher very bravely finding his way through the boulder field. He did awesome.
The summit!
The summit with Aspen/Snowmass area in background.
The dogs did great!
A much needed cool down!
On our way down!
The next day we went on a run on the trail we were originally going to backpack up. It was a great trail to run with some steady uphill and only a few steep sections. It was beautiful and followed a river all the way up where it opened into a wide valley surrounded by some 14ers (where we were going to camp). All in all we ran for about 12-13 miles and 4 hrs. We would have gone farther but the weather was looking bad so we turned around early. We recharged in Buena Vista with some food and let the dogs swim before heading back to the Springs. It was a great weekend.
A brief stop during a mini rain!
Arriving into the wilderness!
The valley with Oxford in the background!
Some columbines we found along the way!