La Plata 6

Down into the basin...
I wasn't able to pick out the trail through the basin from my perch on the crater's rim, so I decided to drop down into the basin to try and find it. Dropping down into the basin is a bit of an understatement, from the rim of the crater it was a 200 feet drop that was very steep. I zigzagged my way down to reduce the angle of descent and quickly made it safely into the basin.

The floor of the basin was covered with dense brush. Finding the game trails and hiking through this stuff is always a little nerve wracking for me...I continually worry about a bear or a wolf lunging out at me from the brush. In reality though, the brush is so thick that a bunny would have difficulty lunging out at me. There were a few areas of the basin free from the brush but these were very swampy and hard to walk through.

I worked my way across the basin and couldn't find the trail. After thirty minutes or so of searching, I make it to the lowest point of the basin, where the creek drains into the valley. I found a large rock to sit on and take a final look back up into this magnificent scene and thank God for this stunning place!

Descent
As I edged over this lip of the basin, I decided to stay on the north side of the creek as I believed that is where the official trail would be. My strategy was the same, zigzag back and forth while descending in hopes of coming across the trail.  I quickly had to abandon my strategy as the trail became too steep to allow that option, I had to focus on the descent AND staying mostly upright...

Skiing in July
To say that I was descending is true...one could also use the phrases controlled falling, slip sliding, or skiing in July. The steepness was the main problem (easier going up than down) but add the dry dirt and lack of vegetation because of drought and you get a very difficult trip down. There were many times that I had to sit down, pick a rock or a tree or some target that would stop my descent, and then slide on my posterior. It is a wonder that my pants made it down fully intact.

Unidentified (large) Furry Object (obscured by dense forest)
As mentioned earlier, there was no trace of humanity in this part of the world and no telling how long it had been since human feet had trod in this valley. And this human (me) caused quite a ruckus while going down, a few miniature rock slides, a few expletives, and a lot of dust. About halfway down to the valley I flushed out a UFO from the dense brush twenty yards below me. The brush was so dense that I could not make out what it was but I could see that it was brownish in color. It also seemed very large by the sound of it tearing itself out of the brush trying to escape the foreign creature coming from above. Could have been a bear or an elk, but no worries, I am fairly confident about how to behave in case of an encounter with a bear AND I have an unproven method for dealing with an angry bull elk. So I was ready for anything...

Valley of Familiar Footprints
The second half of my descent was uneventful as I mastered the art of July Downhill Skiing; no encounter with a bear (though I wouldn't mind seeing one) and no testing of the Angry Bull Elk Evasion Technique (ABEET). I emerged into the North Fork of Clear Creek Trail valley with a few abrasion wounds, dusty pants, and two very tired legs.

As I walked on the dusty trail back to the car, I noticed a set of footprints headed the same direction as me. There was only one set, not a pair (the fishermen/false leaders) and the print left by the sole looked very familiar. I began to wonder if Nic had turned back from his summit attempt.

View from the trail back to the east, pyramid peak at right center is Huron Peak

Reunion
I passed by the fishermen/false leaders truck and noticed that the familiar footprints were still on the trail. By now I was fairly certain that Nic would be waiting for me back at the car, a reversal of last year's Tabeguache adventure. When I rounded the corner and spotted the car, I saw Nic sitting on the ground, leaning against a tree. When I walked up he said, "I was getting worried and was about to call the sheriff." Yes, an exact reversal of last year.

Nic made it to this ridge...

When we separated at Alan Lake, Nic quickly climbed the cliffs that separated us from the La Plata Basin. At the top, he determined that he couldn't connect with the Southwest Ridge because it would have been far too dangerous without ropes. His other option was to descend into the southern part of the basin several hundred feet, go all the way across the broad basin, and then go up the Southwest Ridge at a safer entry point.  This didn't look like a walk in the park from his perspective considering the loose rocks on the descent and the length of the hike to get to the ridge. He was right, I saw this route from the Basin and it looked fairly difficult. So Nic decided to hike back down to the car. He took the direct route and beat me back by at least an hour...

 We exchanged stories of our adventures for 15 minutes, then got in the car and headed back to Salida...

A couple of videos that I shot on the leisurely walk back to the car: