Route: Lincoln Amphitheatre Posted On: 2023-04-15, By: milesmorris Info: Did not climb, parked at Montgomery Reservoir and walked up the drainage to see if there was a skiable line from the top of Linclon. There was not, glory hole did not go from the top. |
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Route: Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln, Bross Posted On: 2023-02-12, By: kyrawhitworth Info: We found snowshoes useful on the road and into the basin. Carried them the rest of the day and switched to microspikes past the saddle heading up Democrat (quite dry up high). Excellent day—NO WIND! (I'm still in awe). |
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Route: Brolincam Posted On: 2023-02-07, By: tefensmom Info: Traction seemed pretty essential today. Used microspikes most of the day. Didn't carry or use flotation and I got by okay. Would've been helpful but not necessary. I parked 2 miles from summer trailhead. Didn't see evidence of any recent avy slides. Beautiful bluebird day with almost no wind. Saw one other person all day- thanks for leaving my hat on my car! |
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Route: Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln, Bross Posted On: 2023-02-03, By: AndrewJCraigie Info: DeCaLiBron today - warm and winds weren't too bad, at least compared to the past few weeks. Rocked snowshoes until the Democrat / Cameron split as I was breaking through some sections of snow - didn't put them on again until I was at the trailhead and walking to my car. Would def bring microspikes - several slick sections of hard snow. Regarding the road / trailhead: A few miles from the trailhead there are several windblown piles of the snow on the road. I made it over the first few in my Subaru Outback, and then got stuck. Spent 40 minutes digging my car out - not the greatest way to start a hike. Learn from my hubris and park a few miles down. Not worth pushing through, as you'll eventually hit bigger and bigger piles. Trail was easy to follow - only issue I had was going to Bross, the last mile or so. Wasn't too bad going down the scree with a bit of snow, but still slipped around a few times. Didn't see any signs or warnings of avy activity - not much snow going down Bross. Start 7:15 Trailhead - 8am Democrat - 10:15 Cameron - 11:15 Lincoln - 11:45 Bross - 1pm Finish - 3:15 |
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Route: Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln, Bross Posted On: 2022-12-23, By: Dan_Suitor Info: See my Mt. Democrat condition report https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/peakstatus_entry.php?recnum=24906 |
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Route: Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln, Bross Posted On: 2022-12-18, By: BiggasPanda Info: A beautiful day on all 3 peaks. Sunny and barely any wind. Summited Democrat, Cameron, and Lincoln. No need for snow shoes, but micro-spikes and gaiters are a must. It was a little challenging to follow the trail due to the snow. |
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Route: Lincoln Amphitheatre Posted On: 2022-11-20, By: Prometheus1 Info: Pretty much perfect conditions. No traction needed on the way up, used micro spikes in the lower area on the way down - a bit slippery going around the falls. Not much snow and protected from the wind all day. Lost my sunglasses (again!) on the way down if anyone happens to find them. |
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Route: Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln, Bross Posted On: 2022-10-17, By: Gweilo climber Info: Started from The Bross side and skipped Democrat. The conditions were perfect! A little cold at 7am and through the day with very light winds. Trail was in good condition and there were several stretches on the route with packed snow, but because the temp was was in the 20's there was no melting, some sections were icy and you should watch your step. No snow on the summits and it was an awesome time to be up - especially for mid October! |
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Route: Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln, Bross Posted On: 2022-09-24, By: jhalee4 Info: Some patches of snow but otherwise completely dry. The leaves are also starting to change and it's lovely. Was extremely busy on the route today with a line of people going up Democrat. |
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Route: Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln, Bross Posted On: 2022-08-03, By: Tallowpot Info: All routes open. Kite lake CG is beautiful right now. Road to it is not really that bad. Was busy all day. We started from camping overnight at 5am hiking. Finished at 1:45pm. Was my 14yo son and I. Kept a snails pace to ensure we made it so we both knew we could conquer a lot of work. Summit times as follows: Democrat-8:15am Cameron-10:30am Lincoln-11:15am Bross bypass(we did NOT summit) 12:30 pm Democrat was busy, and cold/windy past the false summit on up. Didn't stay more than 3 min. Back to the saddle and up towards Cameron was only about 1/4 as busy. Again, we kept a tortoise pace, so much of the crowd probably had passed us. Cameron was better at the top, but still a bit windy and cool. By the time we hit Lincoln the sky was mostly blue, the sun warmed us and it was that brief period of almost no wind. (We did pass friendly mountain goat Ralph) Long trek over to the Bross bypass where we got close and counted the summit, but neither of us had enough steam even if it was open to the public to climb. Coming down we both made comments that at that point in our energy, anyone who wanted to go up Bross on that trail was crazy lol. Stopped by the waterfall near the end of the trail to enjoy the views, and made it back to the tent early afternoon to sun and warmth (almost too warm!) I was proud we both managed to finish. It's not technical by any means, but a lot of work as any 14er is. |
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Route: Lincoln Amphitheatre Posted On: 2022-07-03, By: Split_the_FR Info: Left my car at 6:45 and was immediately greeted by the intimidating approach to the amphitheater. The ascent required some exposed scrambling up small rock shelves and wet dirt. Once up the waterfall , going through the valley required mostly rock hopping. The route is almost fully cleared of snow besides a few small snow fields. No traction is needed. Once I got above the amphitheater, ascending very loose rock and scree, there was a large rockslide in the valley I had just crossed. This slide was adjacent with where I had just been ascending. It was extremely loud and even though the slide was mostly out of sight, there was a cloud of debris and the sound of boulders tumbling down the mountain. If you take this route beware of rockslides as noted in the route description. Once the amphitheater came into view, after the falls - it was very clear that this danger is real here. Photos 3, 4, 8 show the zone the slide occurred in. Got to the summit at 9:05, I hadn't seen anybody until then. The route down was very difficult and the waterfall section was very fun but technical. This route consists of tough route finding and scrambling but is very fun. Would recommend with an emphasis to be aware of the rock slides in the valley. |
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Route: Lincoln Amphitheatre Posted On: 2022-06-20, By: TheSpaceForce Info: This route had some fairly wet spots, but is a great, challenging alternative. Some snow near the ridge and summit of Lincoln (Decalibron standard is dry, except for 100 feet on Democrat… we completed a LiCaBroDe route). At the rock glacier, several rocks as large as beach balls are very loose (left ascending/south side). We saw zero other people until the summit of Lincoln. |
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Route: Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln, Bross Posted On: 2022-06-01, By: flyzapper Info: Did the CaLiBron loop on 5/31. Overall lots of snow cover still. The summit of Cameron and below-summit trail of Bross are both bare. The gate is closed ~1 mile and 500 vertical feet below Kite Lake, but the road is completely clear of snow. Ascended to the saddle between Democrat and Cameron at 13,400 and decided to skip Democrat, then continued along the loop. Final summit of Lincoln was fun and provides amazing views. Lincoln summit is snow-free for the final part. Used microspikes the entire way (except the glissade descent). We used the Bross S Gully to descend via glissade with ice axes. Fun and safe way to descend if you know what you are doing and have experience. |
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Route: Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln, Bross Posted On: 2022-03-21, By: Eli Watson Info: Summitted "DeCaLiBro" from winter parking at private property below Kite Lake TH. Parked approx 1.8 mi shy of Kite Lake TH. Some cars were parked right at the sign at the edge of private property. I chose to park a few hundred yards down the hill where there's an obvious pull off area off the road. I wore snowshoes shortly after the gate and was glad to have them on until approx 12,800'. I bobbed and weaved through the Kite Lake bowl and upper Democrat slopes to avoid avy terrain or wind drifts. I'm probably around 200 lbs with gear and pack, and the strong wind gusts out of the NW were not fun. There's a lot wind drifts that make for really variable snow conditions from bulletproof wind hammer to sugar that made for a more frustrating day than expected. Wore spikes from the summit of Democrat all the way back to the car. The Bross "S Gully" is tempting to want to take down, but it doesn't look ready and I wasn't prepared to have to climb out of it if the snow was too sketchy. I honestly think descending Bross with snow is preferable to dry. Saw 7ish other hikers out today. A group of them summited Democrat without snowshoes, but I was glad to have mine on. I could have put them on the road walk out and avoid sinking down a bit, but it would have been more effort than it was worth to switch again. 10.95 mi, 4260', 6:50 Car-to-Car Splits: 5:55 AM Parking 6:25 AM Turn off from Kite Lake TH Rd (0:30) 8:48 AM Democrat Summit (2:23) 10:15 AM Cameron Summit (1:27) 10:40 AM Lincoln Summit (0:25) 11:20 PM Bross Summit (0:40) 12:45 PM Parking (1:25) |
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Route: Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln, Bross Posted On: 2022-01-31, By: gmarcotte Info: We did 3/4 of the Decalibron (the Calibron?), going Bross -> Lincoln -> Cameron and descending from the Democrat/Cameron saddle. We parked 1.5mi from Kite Lake, where the private property starts. There are lots of no parking signs from there to the road closure, as well as some deeper snow and signs of cars getting stuck, so we figured it was best not to risk it. Snowshoes were only helpful in the Kite Lake basin -- on the approach to Bross ridge and the return from the base of Democrat. You could probably do without them, depending on your tolerance for postholing. Microspikes were helpful in numerous places, particularly the Lincoln ridge, the descent to the D-C saddle, and for crossing one angled snowfield between Bross and Cameron (there was about 20 feet of surprisingly hard snow where we managed to kick shallow steps, but would have actually been best handled with crampons). Avy risk on the descent from Democrat seemed minimal. The steep upper slopes are mostly scoured, not enough snow left to slide. The lower snowfields do have a solid 2-3 inch top-layer slab with weak stuff underneath, but the angles are pretty shallow and the snowpack is not very deep yet. |
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Route: Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln, Bross Posted On: 2022-01-17, By: ScottLovesRMNP Info: Easy drive to within 1.5 miles of Kite Lake for any vehicle. Snow isn't very deep on most of the route and avoidable altogether on several substantial stretches. It took me about 7 hours to do the ~ 11 miles. I should've been faster, but the winds were very, very strong and frigid, especially near the summits of Cameron and Lincoln. Many thanks to cbonk11 for the recent and very accurate conditions report for this loop -- conditions are still pretty much the same as of today. |
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Route: Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln, Bross Posted On: 2022-01-16, By: cbonk11 Info: There are some soft spots in the approach, but flotation is not necessary. I found spikes to be helpful, especially on Democrat which contained the most hard-packed snow. There is some hard-packed snow close to the top of Lincoln and below Bross. Tops of Cameron and Bross were dry. |
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Route: West Ridge Posted On: 2021-12-22, By: BillShatner Info: Road to trailhead dry to the locked gate. Trail is still very easy to follow. Route is about half dry and half packed snow. The snowiest part is the last 500-1000 before the saddle between Cameron and Democrat. Most of the ridge is dry or solidly packed snow. I went without traction, but it definitely would have helped at times, especially on the descent off the saddle. The snow layer is mostly thin and at times icy. Super breezy today. |
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Route: Lincoln Amphitheatre Posted On: 2021-11-29, By: 123tqb Info: Used spikes up to the falls and inconsistently on the east ridge, otherwise the route is bone-dry. Windy as always. |
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Route: Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln, Bross Posted On: 2021-10-17, By: KevinInFoCo Info: Did the full loop counter clockwise. Most of the trail is covered with snow, enough that we just left our spikes on the entire time rather than remove them repeatedly. I wouldn't try this without them. Post holing at times, especially at the bottom of the trail leading up to the Dem/Cameron saddle. Not really worth packing snowshoes though IMO. Spectacular bluebird day, hardly any wind. Only encountered about 20 other hikers on the loop. |