After crashing my drone into a tree up on the side of a mountain (which I would thankfully retrieve the next day) I got some sleep at the trailhead before my 9th and final CO peak for the month of September.

I started at 6am and sped through a couple flat miles. After passing through a beautiful valley the surrounding mountains and ridgeline of La Plata start to come into view. I began up the first of many switchbacks and started to quickly gain elevation. There were quite a few other hikers on the trail and the foliage in the mountains had only gotten more beautiful since the previous weekend. 

The last mile or so is a steep, rocky scramble. It’s fairly well marked, but for the most part it’s a "choose your own adventure". The profile of the hike and the last scramble to the summit reminded me of Mount of the Holy Cross.

I hunkered down behind a rock and enjoyed the view before setting off down hill. There were parts of the descent above the tree-line that were very slippery and slow-going over the loose gravel.

When I got back to the trailhead I started hiking up on the other side of the road (off-trail) to try and retrieve my drone I had crashed the previous evening. This added a steep 800ft on the day but thankfully I recovered the drone (and footage) that was sitting on the ground in the middle of a beautiful aspen forest.

I hiked La Plata via Trail #1474 (as named on AllTrails) which is the standard route. In total the La Plata hike was 6.25 hours, 9 miles, and 4,800 feet of elevation.