La Plata Peak

Infobox Mountain
Name = La Plata Peak
Photo = 2007-06-24-plata-eve-close2.jpg
Caption =
Elevation = Convert|14336|ft|m|0|abbr=on
Location = Chaffee County, Colorado, USA
Range = Sawatch Range
Coordinates = coord|39|01|46|N|106|28|21|W|type:mountain_region:US
Topographic
USGS Mount Elbert
Prominence = Convert|1836|ft|m|0|abbr=on|abbr=on [http://www.ryananderin.org/lists/prominence.html Colorado's most prominent peaks] ]
First ascent = July 26, 1873 (first recorded)
Easiest route = Northwest Ridge or Southwest Ridge: hike (class 2)

La Plata Peak is a fourteener and the fifth highest mountain in the U.S. state of Colorado. It is located in the Sawatch Range in northwestern Chaffee County, approximately 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Leadville, Colorado, just south of Twin Lakes and State Highway 82 on the east side of Independence Pass. La Plata peak is located completely within the San Isabel National Forest and is part of the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness.

The peak's name means 'silver' in Spanish. This comes from the many silver deposits in the area. The nearby ghost towns of Winfield and Hamilton were prominent silver mining towns in the early part of the 20th Century.A Hayden Survey team first climbed the peak on July 26th, 1873. [http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/150371/la-plata-peak.html La Plata Peak on Summitpost] ]

Climbing Routes

There are two commonly used routes to climb the mountain. One route begins near Winfield, to the south of the peak, and climbs north into a large marshy basin at 12,000 feet. From here the trail becomes steeper as it scales a headwall to 13,000 feet. From the top of the headwall it is a short rock scramble to the summit. The other route approaches the summit from the north. The trail starts from Highway 82 and follows the northern ridge that divides the La Plata basin from La Plata Gulch. Another more challenging and rarely used route is the northeast arm of the peak known as Ellingwood Ridge.

ee also

*Colorado 4000 meter peaks
*Colorado fourteeners
*Colorado mountain peaks
*Colorado mountain ranges
*Mountain peaks of Colorado
*Mountain peaks of North America
*Mountain peaks of the Rocky Mountains
*Mountain peaks of the United States
*Southern Rocky Mountains

References

External links

* [http://terraserver.microsoft.com/image.aspx?T=2&S=14&Z=13&X=116&Y=1349&W=1 Topographic map]
* [http://www.14ers.org/peaks/sawatch_laplata.php La Plata Peak at the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative]
* [http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/psicc/recreation/trails/ldv_laplata.shtml La Plata Peak Trail at the USDA Forest Service]