Combination Route

Take Colorado 9 to Alma. In the middle of town and on the west side of the road, look for a small sign for the road to Kite Lake. It's across the road from the "Caniglia Real Estate" building. Turn here and drive a bit through a residential area. Continue 6 miles to Kite Lake. The last mile of this road can be a bit more rough, but a good-clearance 2WD should still be able to make it to within a couple hundred yards of the TH lot, when the road is dry. There are restrooms and some camping spots at the trailhead and an $8 fee is required.

Mt. Democrat:
From the parking area, follow the blocked road past the lake. After the lake, begin the ascent out of the basin  1  2. Above 12,400', pass a collapsed mine shack in the Kentucky Belle Mine area. At 12,600', follow the trail up a rugged slope  3 to reach the base of Democrat's east slope  4. Near 12,800', the trail swings left (south) for a bit before turning right and heading north toward the Democrat-Cameron saddle  5  6. From the saddle, turn left and follow the trail west up the ridge  7. After gaining 200 feet on the ridge, turn left and traverse southwest across the slope. Continue up steeper terrain and past some mine prospect holes to reach the summit ridge, near 13,900'  8. Walk over to the final pitch and follow the easy trail up to the top of Democrat.

Mt. Cameron:
Taken from the top of Democrat,  9 provides a view of Mt. Cameron and Mt. Lincoln. Leave Democrat and descend to the Democrat-Cameron saddle  10. From the saddle, hike northeast along the right side of Mt. Cameron's west ridge  11 and regain it near 13,500'. Continue along the ridge to 14,000', where the steepness eases and you can see the remaining hike to Cameron's summit  12. Pass a bump on the left side and walk to the top of Cameron  13.

Mt. Lincoln:
 14 shows the next leg of the hike over to Mt. Lincoln. Leave Cameron and descend northeast to the Cameron-Lincoln saddle  15. Follow the trail up past a bump to see Lincoln's summit  16. Walk over to the final pitch  17 and ascend to Lincoln's summit. You are now 1.5 miles from Mt. Bross and 3 miles from the Kite Lake trailhead.

Mt. Bross:
Leave Lincoln's summit and hike southwest back to the Cameron-Lincoln saddle  18. From the north end of Cameron, turn south and follow a solid trail toward Mt. Bross  19. Hit the Cameron-Bross saddle near 13,850' and continue southeast to reach a trail junction above 13,900'  20. Shortly after turning right, reach a road junction. Stay left and continue south below the summit  21. Hike until you intersect a broad, shallow gully that drops off to your right  22. Count it! Since 2007, the summit of Bross (up to your left) has officially been closed. Until the summit reopens, getting to this point is acceptable as a "summit." Seriously, it's not much higher anyway. 14ers.com does not condone trespassing, but if you have permission or intend to gain the summit regardless, leave the main trail at the gully junction and walk up to the top  23, then return to the main trail.

Returning to Kite Lake:
Follow the trail west and begin your descent along the gravel-covered west ridge of Mt. Bross  24  25. As the ridge narrows, avoid the temptation to drop left too soon. Seriously, way too many people leave the trail too soon and unnecessarily downclimb steep, loose scree before regaining the trail below. Stay on the ridge trail all the way down to approximately 13,350'  26. Near some blackened rocks  27  28, the trail drops left and toward a large gully and obvious trail below. Descend to the gully  29 and follow the trail along the south side of the gully  30. Reach the basin east of Kite Lake and walk back to the trailhead  31  32.