When: June 2008
Partners: Andy McClure
Route: NW Ridge (Class 2)
Mileage/Gain: 9/4,300
At 14,336 feet, La Plata Peak is Colorado's 5th highest peak. With easy access directly from a paved road, the peak is an excellent half-day jaunt to an impressive highpoint with awesome views of the Sawatch Range.
With DB enjoying a rest day, Andy Mac and I set out one morning on the northwest ridge route to the peak. With Andy hoping to loop back down the Ellingwood Ridge route, he eventually moved on ahead in anticipation of a long day. As much as I'd liked to do the classic route, I didn't want to leave DB bored at the vehicle longer than needed and intended to return the way I'd come.
Soon reaching the summit, I spotted Andy already started down Ellingwood Ridge. The views over to the ridge and to the high peaks all around were magnificient!
Heading down, I ran into a friendly woman from Evergreen, Colorado called Nancy. She was heading down too. Joining up, she and I talked at length about our experiences in the mountains and our views on life in general. Good times!
Bidding Nancy farewell at the trailhead, I rejoined DB and we waited a full 5 hours for Andy to return to us. His eventual report on Ellingwood Ridge: "Tedious and barely worth doing." Glad I skipped it.
The Twin Lakes Milk Challenge
Heading into nearby Twin Lakes, DB, Andy and I stopped off in a little roadside diner for a bite to eat. With surprisingly good green chile bean burritos, I soon picked up on a conversation between the teenage female clerk and a teen boy at the counter flirting with her. She was insisting that he could not, in fact, drink an entire gallon of whole milk in an hour. He protested, and insisted that he could. And that's when I spoke up and put out the challenge... 
Running to the grocery next door to buy two half-gallons of whole milk, the young man quickly returned, sat at a table in front of the restaurant, and started to chug. Such determination.
Barely through 20 minutes and his first half-gallon...
...We were off to Huron!
TOPO
Big Bad La Plata Peak & the Twin Lakes Milk Challenge!
