We have had a good bit of monsoon rains the last week. Saturday morning started with no clouds. Maybe we should see some flowers in the alpine meadows. Let's get going before the clouds roll back in. They were already building to the west when we hit the road. La Plata Canyon can be accessed in Hesperus. It is all FS roads. I have been on several of the branch roads off the canyon road but we were looking for flowers. Found lots of green and a few nice patches of flowers. There is evidence of freezing up in the meadows and a lot of the bloomage is spent but it was still a nice ride. We went to Columbine Basin first, then Columbus Basin. Nothing technical and not one FSJ broke down all day. The storms brewed and we left the last stop just in time to miss the lightning, wind, hail and rain. Not good to be at treeline when it breaks out. We did get some on the way down and the road back to the highway was coated with hail for a ways.