Route Description

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. 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 when the road is dry. There are restrooms and some camping spots at the trailhead. You must pay a small fee to park/camp at Kite Lake. If you park below (no fee), walk up the road to Kite Lake.

Details:

Mt. Democrat:
From the parking area, follow the blocked road past the lake. After the lake, begin the ascent out of the basin - Photo #1 and Photo #2. Near 12,200’, pass a collapsed mine shack - Photo #3. At 12,600' (Photo #4), follow the trail up a rugged slope (Photo #5) to reach the base of Democrat’s east slope - Photo #6. Near 12,800', the trail swings left (south) for a bit before turning right and heading north across the east slope, toward the Democrat-Cameron saddle - Photo #7. From the saddle (Photo #8), turn left and follow the trail west up the ridge - Photo #9. After climbing about 200’ along the ridge, the trail turns left and traverses southwest across the slope. After a long stretch of trail (Photo #10), the terrain becomes steeper and there are a few small switchbacks that lead to the top of the slope. Continue to the top and past some mine prospect holes to reach the summit ridge near 13,900’ - Photo #11. The summit is directly west - walk over to the final pitch (Photo #12) and follow the easy trail up to the top.

Mt. Cameron:
Taken from the top of Democrat, Photo #13 is the view of Mt. Cameron and Mt. Lincoln. Leave Democrat and descend to the Democrat-Cameron saddle - Photo #14. From the saddle (Photo #15), hike northeast along the right side of Mt. Cameron’s west ridge. After some hiking below the ridge crest, the trail swings left to regain the ridge near 13,500’ - Photo #16 and Photo #17. Continue along the ridge to 14,000’ where the steepness eases and you can see the remaining hike to Cameron’s summit - Photo #18. Pass a bump on the left side and walk up to the summit - Photo #19.

Mt. Lincoln:
Photo #20 shows the next leg of the hike over to Mt. Lincoln. Leave Cameron and descend northeast to the Cameron-Lincoln saddle - Photo #21. Follow the trail up past a bump (Photo #22) to see Lincoln’s summit - Photo #23. Walk over to the final pitch (Photo #24) and hike up through some Class 2 terrain to reach the summit. You are now 1.5 miles from Mt. Bross and 3 miles from Kite Lake.

Mt. Bross:
Leave Lincoln's summit and hike southwest back to the Cameron-Lincoln saddle - Photo #25. From the north end of Cameron, turn south and follow a solid trail towards Mt. Bross - Photo #26. Hit the Cameron-Bross saddle near 13,850' (Photo #27) and continue southeast to reach a trail junction above 13,900’ - Photo #28. In 2008. the trail was changed to cross the west side of Bross instead of going directly to the summit from this point. Shortly after turning right, reach a “Y” in the road. Stay left and continue south below the summit - Photo #29. Hike until you intersect a broad, shallow gully that drops off to your right - Photo #30. For 2009, the summit of Bross is still officially closed and trail work has not been performed to created a defined, sustainable trail to the summit. If you intend to gain Bross’ summit, leave the main trail at the gully junction and hike up to your left to reach the summit (Photo #31) and then return to the main trail - Photo #32.

Returning to Kite Lake:
Follow the trail west along the side of a ridge (Photo #33) and then southwest to reach the ridge crest - Photo #34. Follow the gravel-covered trail down the ridge. The ridge narrows below 13,500’, but stay on the ridge all the way down to 13,300’ - Photo #35. Near some blackened rocks at 13,300’ (Photo #36), look for a trail that drops to the left - Photo #37. Follow this trail down to a large gully - Photo #38. Cross the gully and stay on the trail that leads back to the trailhead. Photo #39 and Photo #40 look back on the area. Don't go back into the gully - it turns sour near the bottom. Stay on the trail (Photo #41 and Photo #42) and hike down to the basin east of Kite Lake. Cross the grassy basin to the trailhead. Photo #43 looks back at the descent.