Mt. Bross

Route: Decalibron
Posted On: 3/21/2022, 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) 

Route: Decalibron
Posted On: 10/4/2021, By: Kschroeder10210
Info: Went counterclockwise. About 6” of snow on the final ascent of Bross, windy but manageable. If you descend, I'd recommend traction. It was fine on the ascent without. Democrat, Lincoln, Cameron had icy traverses but nothing too sketchy. All passable without traction. I'd want micro spikes after the next snowstorm. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 9/18/2021, By: mtngoatwithstyle
Info: Dry to "bypass summit". Beautiful day but cold on the ridge to the saddle. Saw some people filtering water from the creek but I think that is not potable as it comes down from the mines above. The scree trail lives up to its reputation but with microspikes coming down was a breeze. 

Route: Decalibron
Posted On: 6/30/2021, By: Alacrity
Info: Got to the trailhead with a decent clearance 2WD SUV without an issue. I did the reverse of the standard route. Got to the trailhead at sunrise. (Around 0600) The parking lot never filled (could see the lot from much of the standard route) Bathrooms were in good condition. Did not see another soul on Bross. (Aka no one did the reverse route that morning) Some loose rock but the trail is really not as bad as some make it out to be and I don't think going down would be that bad if you do the standard route. Only places I lost the trail was going down Cameron and going up Democrat. It looks like hikers going up democrat have been going off trail to avoid a little snow patch portion since I was the last one on Democrat and did not see any footprints in the snow where the trail should have been. If you skip this little snow part then no spikes are needed for the entire route. I was glad I did not bring any snow provisions as it would have just been extra weight. All in all fun route and good bang for your buck to Summit 4 peaks in a day. I went slow and took lots of breaks so the whole thing took me a little over 7 1/2 hours. All in all fun hike, enjoy! 

Route: Decalibron
Posted On: 6/23/2021, By: -wren-
Info: I returned to Cameron from bross as I had no interest in that god awful descent so can't speak for that, but coming from Cameron/Lincoln there's one minor snow crossing that most will be okay to do without traction.

This post is more regarding private property issues on bross at the moment, nobody was up there to tell you to turn around. Signage is a little unclear, one says to stay on trail while on private property and another says bross is closed. Hard to say if it's a particularly legal summit right now but with kite lake closure and tensions between landowners and 14er initiative this (and other decalibron peaks) should be a priority for you if you are looking to finish the 14ers and haven't gotten bross yet. get it while it's (not) hot.

Should probably keep in mind this was a weekday and there might be someone turning people around on weekends, can't say for sure. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 4/10/2021, By: jay-dub
Info: We parked 1.7 miles from Kite Lake TH, no way to get beyond that stop. I drive a 4Runner, but any 2wd vehicle could have made it that far. We carried snowshoes and stashed them at Kite Lake for returning on the road, but did not use them (despite soft snow on the road). Left the truck at 5:45 am, reached TH less than an hour less. Summited the peak that shall not be named 10 am. (In October, we ascended in 2.5 hr.)

Strong winds and sugar-snow for most of the ascent. Spikes absolutely required in significant spots- especially through the short snow above the gulley crossing. Much of the hike was on the infamous scree, with small amounts of snow. Cornices were easily avoided. The wind & cold seemed to increase as we went higher.

As we arrived at summit, the conditions prevented us from even seeing Cameron or Lincoln, ok... Cameron very faintly. We thus were unable to visually inspect the steep snow crossing on the side of Cameron where others had advised crampons & axes. After just a few minutes of photos, food, and weather measurements, it was time for a decision. (7 degrees F and wind gusting into the 30s.) I felt I was missing one layer of down, and wished I'd packed it. The two others in our group agreed- we underestimated the forecast and thus had to leave immediately. I know of only 2 ways back to Kite Lake: over Cameron or to return the way we'd come. We chose the known conditions over the unknown of Cameron++.

Of course within 15-20 minutes of leaving the summit, the weather changed completely- sunny and blue skies for the rest of the day. This was the first time we all wished we'd left 60-90 minutes later. In summer, we leave early to avoid lightning, and in winter we try to avoid soft snow in the afternoon. But this time, we didn't need a 3 am departure from Highlands Ranch, or the 5:45 start time from the truck. Live and learn. No regrets, and we still had a wonderful day in the mountains! Can't wait for the next one ;-) 

Route: "Dolly Varden Gully"
Posted On: 4/4/2021, By: serveJesusChrist
Info: The road is closed at Paris Mill, 3 miles from the summer TH. I skinned up to about 12,000 before dropping the skis and hiking the rest. I stopped short of the private property where thr true summit is because it is not open. The snow was difficult to skin because it melted yesterday and froze overnight making it very icy. Without skis, you would need snowshoes.

Above 12,000 feet, there are snowfields, but they can be avoided. Therefore, neither spikes nor snowshoes are necessary.

The ski down was icy and not good skiing. It was hard to dig in with the icy top layer. 

Route: "S Gully"
Posted On: 4/5/2021, By: andy_schlichting
Info: The road was in decent shape up to about 1.7 miles from the trailhead. I parked there with several other vehicles (I drive a Crosstrek and had zero issues getting to this point). There were a handful of others (some Subarus and Jeeps) that made it another half-mile near the road closure, but it definitely looked like it would've been tough going beyond where I parked). I imagine the road is even easier to pass after the warm temps this weekend. I skinned up the S Gully to about 13,600 when it got too steep to skin and hiked to the summit from there. The skiing was great until probably around 12,600 before it got a little crusty for several hundred feet, and then it was very soft and a bit slushy. Again, I imagine by now, more of it is crusty after the warm temps.

On another note, I'd be very careful trying to go up Democrat right now--there is a lot of loaded snow near the summit that looks like it could fall. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 2/17/2021, By: BillShatner
Info: Trail to Bross and S. Bross in OK condition. Covered with snow early on and easy to get lost and venture too far south onto the mountain face, so be careful to follow the gulley. What little tracks we left yesterday were already covered by the time we got back, so not much bootpack or trail to follow in places where it's not obvious.Eventually it becomes easy to follow. Only a little snow on it, but the trail's its usual loose mess, couple with some snow. Not enough to help. We didn't go for full decalibron in the -9 temps, so nothing to report beyond Bross. Looked like Democrat was pretty snow-covered, but Lincoln and Cameron seemed manageable if we'd wanted to press on. 

Route: Decalibron
Posted On: 11/2/2020, By: Blachut
Info: Decent amount of snow but never had to use my ice spikes. Very little wind today which means shorts/t-shirt! Yey! The gate to kite lake is closing today; you'll have to now start admit a mile early. 

Route: Decalibron
Posted On: 9/17/2020, By: lauradaughtry
Info: *NOTE: I did not climb/summit Democrat, so I can't entirely say what the condition of it was beyond the saddle connecting it to Cameron*

Got to the trailhead at 7am (on a Thursday) and the lot was mostly full. Other than a few patches of packed down snow near the summits, the trail was completely melted of snow. Microspikes aren't needed at all; but trekking poles, snow or no snow, are invaluable for the descent down Bross. Clear day with light wind, but low visibility due to the wildfires.

Sadly, I saw a lot of people not keeping to the trail. (This shouldn't be an excuse as the trail was in great condition and is very well marked/visible.) People contributed it to not using a map/AllTrails, etc. or the trail appearing "less easy" than the eroded pathways nearby. I even saw some people descend down the iron/ore section up to the summit, which is NO WHERE near the trail. Please, PLEASE stick to the marked trail! The fragile environment thanks you for it! 

Route: Decalibron
Posted On: 9/6/2020, By: kgkcomt
Info: Hiked the full DeCaLiBron loop, started with Democrat. It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky. Air conditions were clear. Everyone in my group was a beginning-intermediate hiker, and the loop was the perfect level of challenge for us. The descent down Bross is not for the feint of heart- definitely a few scary points, but it is doable. Take your time and use 3 points of contact when necessary, and you'll be fine. Took us well over an hour to descend. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 9/5/2020, By: kingshimmers
Info: Smoke is gone - had a beautiful day with no wind. Route is dry. Starting to get some fall color up in there. 

Route: Decalibron
Posted On: 8/22/2020, By: Eli Watson
Info: Posting for smoke conditions on DeCaLiBro > "S Bross":

The air was pretty bad this morning. My eyes were watering upon arriving at Kite Lake after pedalling/hike-a-biking from Paris Mill. Other hikers had to stop to cough consistently. By the time I reached the Democrat-Cameron saddle my throat was raw. The air quality improved considerably after noon, especially on the Bross side of the loop and the haze in front of Democrat had noticeably lessened. By the time I was back down to Kite Lake, the air was much better than it had been that morning. Less than 10 min spent on all 3-5 summits combined (depending on how you count), since I didn't feel inclined to spend much time up there.

Splits for reference:
Paris Mill 8:48 AM
Kite Lake TH 9:30 AM
Democrat-Cameron saddle 10:10 AM
Democrat summit 10:30 AM
Democrat-Cameron saddle 10:50 AM
Cameron summit 11:19 AM
Lincoln summit 11:32 AM
Bross summit 12:02 PM
"S Bross" summit 12:15 PM
Bross trail junction 12:36 PM
Kite Lake TH 1:16 PM
Paris Mill 1:30 PM

To avoid clutter with a bunch of the same photos, see my Democrat report for pics. 

Route: Decalibron
Posted On: 7/27/2020, By: Outcropping
Info: Regarding the Bross descent: it is a well worn single track trail 95% of the way. It is not steep. It is mostly dirt/gravel, except for a short section that follows a solid rocky ridge with a drainage on the left. The trail eventually leaves the ridge, crosses the drainage and continues on the opposite bank, back on dirt/gravel. The turn across this drainage is what is in question. You can see the trail on the opposite bank and everyone is just heading straight for it, leaving the rocky ridge early and creating a steep path full of loose debris. Don't do it! Don't cut the corner. Follow the ridge another 50-100 yards, then go left. It is a much gentler grade, and obviously the route when you look back up at it from below. This was our first time on the route and our party cut the corner like everyone else. It looked bad from the get go and I knew we had made a mistake.