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I am looking to hike the DeCaLiBron with the 3k ft gain rule and I was hoping someone could confirm where I can park? Do I also need to pay to park then?

I am not sure where in this location is best and I will be arriving in the morning when it's still dark out so any advice would be great! Would the advised location be the Paris Mill?

There are numbered signs that look like spoked wheels posted along the road. I believe that sign number 6 is at about 11,160 feet. I "start" from there.
There is no parking near sign number 6. On 7/23/24, I parked at the pull-out just outside the gate to the pay area and walked .75 miles down the road to "start" my hike. I assumed that parking outside the gate to the pay area was free, so I did not pay. When I got back to my car, I found a payment envelope under my wiper. When I contacted the Town of Alma, they said "Sounds like you hiked the mountains and owe a day use fee of $8.00." I sent a check and they deposited it.

That pull off does sound familiar when I first went up there. I guess I was hoping to park below my start point so I don't have to hike down, hike back up, and then finish down again if that makes sense.

Do you know if Paris Mill is free/available to park at then?

I have no idea if parking at the Paris Mill is free or even legitimate. When I contacted the Town of Alma about parking at the pull-out by the gate to the pay area, I made a point of asking "how far down the road from the Day Use Area do fees apply? Would a fee be required to park at the winter snow plow turn, something else I have done before?" Their only response was the one that I quoted earlier which seems to imply that climbing the mountains requires payment of the use fee.

I've always taken my definition of the 3,000 foot rule from Roach who refers to "people who are careful to gain 3.000 feet on the first fourteener of the day." Hiking down to a "start" point gets me 3,000 feet on the first fourteener of the day. It also implies that I've done part of my descent on the ascent; when I get back to my car after summiting, I'm done.

In winter there is official parking near the Paris Mill so I would assume that it's OK to park there in summer as well, though I'm not 100% sure. The Kite Lake road itself is a public right of way and typically in Colorado the county roads have a right of way on each side of the road 30' each direction from centerline. This usually gives enough room to park on the shoulder except where prohibited.

Park County's website indicates that you can't park anywhere in the right-of-way (or on public property, which hopefully excludes parking lots). https://www.parkcountyco.gov/FAQ.aspx?TID=26#a_26

I'll put in a plug for Democrat's North Ridge route from Montgomery Res TH (10,950'). It's a fairly mellow Class 3.

However, we left a shuttle car at Kite Lake, so while we got 3k' of gain we did not descend 3k' under our own power.

One sure fire way to get 3k is to make the loop bigger! My friend & I added Loveland & Buckskin to the loop for a fun day up high. Plenty of class 3 & 4 sections to play around on between Buckskin & Democrat.

TakeMeToYourSummit wrote: ↑Wed Oct 16, 2024 10:56 am One sure fire way to get 3k is to make the loop bigger! My friend & I added Loveland & Buckskin to the loop for a fun day up high. Plenty of class 3 & 4 sections to play around on between Buckskin & Democrat.

The 3k law is to gain 3k+ on the very first summit (yeah, weird rule), so tacking on anything extra doesn't fix that issue. I do like the idea of tacking on Buckskin and Loveland though. When I did Buckskin, was looking over at the ridge and it looked pretty cool.

12ersRule wrote: ↑Wed Oct 16, 2024 11:48 am The 3k law is to gain 3k+ on the very first summit (yeah, weird rule), so tacking on anything extra doesn't fix that issue. I do like the idea of tacking on Buckskin and Loveland though. When I did Buckskin, was looking over at the ridge and it looked pretty cool.

Right... funny rules. I just did Three Needles for a whole 1900' of gain the other day - glad I didn't care to make that one 3k.

hokiehead wrote: ↑Wed Oct 16, 2024 8:52 am I'll put in a plug for Democrat's North Ridge route from Montgomery Res TH (10,950'). It's a fairly mellow Class 3.

However, we left a shuttle car at Kite Lake, so while we got 3k' of gain we did not descend 3k' under our own power.

Ah, I will look into that route. I only have the decalibron and Sherman to repeat for the 3k rule so I just thought it would be fun to redo those since my remaining 14ers are scrambles and snow is soon approaching.