Decalibron

Colorado 14er Blitz: Day One

Click on the pictures below to see the full-size version.

Mount Democrat	Mount Cameron

Notice the trail heading up this face in places.	Not officially named, but a decent climb from the saddle between it and Democrat.
Mount Lincoln	Mount Bross

The highest of the four. Notice Jim in the lower left of the photo.	The lamest of the group. Round, flat, and sports a road to its summit.

Trip Report (8/6/2003):
Jim and I hooked up in Colorado and thought we would get into the 14er foray with a quick climb of 3 official fourteeners. The trip was fun, but the number of people and fact that Mount Bross has a jeep road to the top tempered our fun a bit. Of particular enjoyment... the views from Mount Democrat, the flat area between Cameron and Lincoln, and the descent off Mount Bross.

Trip stats:
Time: 6 hours
Length: 7 miles
Elevation Gain: 3600 feet
Class (difficulty): 2

Drive:Take Colorado Highway 9 northwest from Fairplay 8 miles to the town of Alma. From Alma take Highway 8 west for 2 miles. Highway 8 becomes Forest Developed Road 192 which continues for another 5 miles until it dead-ends into the campground. This road requires a 4x4 in its upper stretches.

Climb: From Kite Lake, follow the jeep road west towards the saddle between Mount Democrat and Mount Cameron. Soon after it leaves the Kite Lake basin, it becomes a trail. From the saddle, turn south and climb a poor trail to a false summit just north of Democrat. Then cross a snowfield and summit Democrat on easy class 2 terrain. Return to the Democrat/Cameron saddle and head north on a decent trail to the feature-less summit of Mount Cameron. From Cameron, drop off onto an incredible flat plateau, which is at or near 14,000 feet and head towards Mount Lincoln. After Lincoln, skirt just east of Mount Cameron and follow the trail/jeep road to the summit of Bross. Slide down the south slopes of Bross to the Kite Lake basin.

Pictures: Click on the pictures below to see the full-size version.


Looking at the driving route to get from Alma to Kite Lake.	The basin surrounding Kite Lake.	Jim and I on Mount Bross.