Mt. Bross

Route: East Slopes from Moose Creek
Posted On: 1/8/2017, By: Eli Boardman
Info: Marmot96 and I climbed Bross, S Bross, Cameron, and Lincoln from the Quartzville Road. The first 0.6 miles through the edge of the forest had lots of deep powder. We decided not to carry snowshoes, but in hindsight this was a mistake because there was lots of postholing. The east ridge was windswept, and there was zero avalanche danger along the route up Bross. The tops of the ridges (connecting South Bross, Bross, Cameron, and Lincoln) were windswept and more-or-less in summer conditions. The wind was incredibly strong all day, forcing us to abandon plans for Democrat. We descended the east slopes of Lincoln to Quartzville TH, and there were a few deeper snow areas near the summit and near treeline that offered the choice between postholing and snowshoeing. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 12/29/2016, By: bmcqueen
Info: I did the loop this morning from the winter closure 2.6 miles below Kite Lake. I did it in reverse, finishing on Democrat. The road is a mixture of dry gravel and drifted snow. I used my snowshoes until about 13k on Bross, then strapped them to my pack and went without traction until the descent from Democrat. Spikes were nice for the descent from Democrat. There was some nice plunge-stepping to get down a couple of stable snow slopes pretty quickly. I almost broke down and put the snowshoes back on for the little bit of willows above Kite Lake to the summer TH, but just suffered through it with a rare post-hole. Most of the snow was windblown and firm and didn't have any issues holding my weight. See Democrat CR for pics of the loop. 

Route: Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln, Bross
Posted On: 11/19/2016, By: kayleenann8
Info: Some snow is starting to build up on the trail below the saddle. Above the saddle the snow is hard packed. Before sunrise it was quite easy to hike -- on the way down after sunrise it got a little slick -- microspikes would have been helpful but not necessary. Pretty windy! We continued on to Cameron, Lincoln and Bross. Each peak was increasingly windy. One gust knocked me and my two adventure partners over! No significant on any of those peaks. The trail off bross has accumulated a little snow and is a little hard to follow if you don't know what you are looking for. 

Route: Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln, Bross
Posted On: 10/16/2016, By: Allagash
Info: other than a few stretches of slushy and packed snow on trail below Cameron, zero snow the rest of the way. Note on descent trail. The 'main' or 'official' trail sign on the Cam/Bross saddle crosses a slightly exposed trail across a north-facing trail atop a long gulch/trough. We (illegally?) walked up the road-trail to top and picked up the westerly facing descent to the regular trail out. 

Route: Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln, Bross
Posted On: 10/6/2016, By: Ptglhs
Info: Left From Kite lake about 0745. We went up via standard route if doing all four but skipped Democrat as we'd done it last year. Went over the Cameron hump and did Lincoln/Bross and back down from the east. It was cloudy most of the day, with temps in the upper 20's to about 31. The water line from the Camelback froze when it was left out in the air. The was a very light dusting of snow and frost on the ground but it started melting when the sun was out. The wind was sustained at 30mph most of the day, so the windchill was about 13F. I didn't need trekkers at any point. Coming down the West side of Bross was horrid: loose rock and scree everywhere. I was worried I was going to trigger a rock slide. I'm not sure if we got off trail for a while but be warned it may be better to hike back from Bross to Cameron and down the way you came up. 

Route: Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln, Bross
Posted On: 9/13/2016, By: Klaudiapyc96
Info: We've done the trail on Sunday, a little bit of snow, but not on the trail, weather was beautiful, but the wind was a killer. I recommend starting with a steep part to Bross and ending on Democrat. Great hike! 

Route: East Slopes from Mineral Park
Posted On: 9/6/2016, By: MikeK
Info: Really beautiful day to hike up the east side of Bross on Labor Day, with the exception of the wind, which was variable enough to elicit a number of clothes layering changes. Temperatures are getting predictably colder; the winds on the summit were gusting to at least 30-40 knots; using trekking poles became nearly impossible at times. Foot-deep, wet snow that plagued the final pitch on 8-31 was nearly gone. The east slope (Mineral Park TH) was used by only two other people besides myself; the cirque was holiday-weekend crowded, but found plenty of solitude heading up and down Bross itself. Note: If anyone plans to four-wheel or ATV to the summit, be advised that there is a deep washout at about 13.100' on the main trail/Jeep road -- a guy in an average-sized ATV had to back down from that spot; it appears only traversable by foot or bike. 

Route: Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln, Bross
Posted On: 8/29/2016, By: bernadettebenson
Info: Summer monsoon conditions on the trails. That is, sleet, snow, rain, and hail were encountered. Hiking in clouds, with intermittent glimpses of surroundings. 50kph (30mph) winds on top of Democrat, as forecast by SPOTwx. Most people were turning back on Democrat. We completed the route in 5.5hrs, hiking in from 2km below Kite Lake (2WD car and very bad holes in road there). We fast-hiked and ran short bits where we could. There was a foot of snow in places all along the route and new snow over ice. No traction aids were needed, but we wear good trail shoes with lugs (a few others turning back on Democrat mentioned wanting spikes, but we didn't slip at all). Accessed Bross via the described route on this site - taking the designated trail below Bross, then backtracking up to the left to the summit. I understand this is not breaching private property this way. The descent in the far gully (past the S gully) was snowy and wet, but made for good snow/scree running downhill. 

Route: Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln, Bross
Posted On: 8/1/2016, By: colleenecallahan
Info: Route is in great condition. The road up to Kite Lake is mostly fine for cars without 4WD. There is one section with some giant holes but you can park below that and walk up the road. We got started from Kite Lake around 7 and although there were a lot of people, it wasn't bad. The trails are obvious, it would be very hard to get lost. The descent from Bross is steep with loose rock (but still class 2, definitely not class 3). I never use trekking poles and would have liked to have some with me. I think everyone in our group slipped a couple of times but no major falls. Overall great hike! 

Route: Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln, Bross
Posted On: 7/17/2016, By: pwebbieee
Info: The trail was heavily traffic'd on this Saturday. We started at 7:30 am, and there were about 150 cars parked at the trailhead and road leading up to it. Beautiful day, weather was good, and not really any bottlenecks on the trail. Some of the trail shows the affect of being overused. The descent from near the top of Bross was incredibly steep, by my estimates 35-40% grade, with very loose soil, and few rocks. It would not be a stretch to consider about 1 mile portion of the descent closer to a 3 in difficulty. I can not say what the top of Bross was like, because it is still not legal to summit. I was extremely dissapointed how many folks decided to ignore numerous signs, maps, warnings, that the summit was private property. I am also dissapointed that 14ers.com does not reflect the proper trail route (on 14ers right now, they show the route to the top of Bross, which is not legally accessible. ) Please see http://www.14ers.org/peaks/mosquito-range/mount-bross/ for more information. Many say, well its not a big deal, but it is! Not only is it private property, but so many trespassing poses the risk that much of the Bross trail access can be revoked, and it makes it harder for us to gain access to the peak in the future. 

Route: Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln, Bross
Posted On: 6/27/2016, By: LilSpookies
Info: Summer conditions but incredibly windy when we hiked. Wind was strong enough to nearly knock us over once or twice (~8:00am). There is a small rock barricade at the summit you can sit behind to break up the wind. Easy "hike" (more like a walk) from Cameron-Lincoln saddle. If you plan on hiking down from Bross back to Kite Lake, prepare for a VERY steep and slippery gravel trail. Poles will be needed if you're hiking down and some sturdy boots. 

Route: East Slopes from Moose Creek
Posted On: 5/30/2016, By: quinnwolf
Info: The road is perfectly clear and dry to the TH. Left the parking area at 7. Hiked to about 11,900ft where the continuous snow started. There were patches below but no postholing. Skinned to about 13,000ft then hiked the rest of the way on the mostly snow free ridge. Summitted at 10. Perfectly clear day. No signs of incoming weather. Started ski descent at about 10:30. Back to the car by 11:15. It was very much summer snow. Probably should have left 30-60 mins earlier as the snow was getting pretty slushy and difficult to ski through, but overall still a very good route with a large vertical and consistent pitch. 

Route: "S Gully"
Posted On: 5/23/2016, By: polar
Info: I climbed the S Gully early in the morning (like 2 am early). It was in great shape, solid surface with good snow coverage on either side of the gully. I only saw one section with lots of roller balls about half way up the gully when it turned slightly to climber’s left. There was at least one ski track coming down the gully, looked really fun. 

Route: East Slopes from Moose Creek
Posted On: 5/23/2016, By: skierdjs
Info: Hiked and skied Bross via Moose Creek. Hiked first 0.5 mile to ~11,600 due to intermittent snow coverage. Then skinned to 13,600 and booted the rest to the snow covered summit. Started decent at 8am probably slightly too early on this day snow was firm but edgable. Maybe another 30-60min and it would have been better corn conditions. The summit was completely covered with snow so skiing straight off of the shelter at the top was in. Just had to pole it over to the Moose Creek bowl. 

Route: Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln, Bross
Posted On: 1/25/2016, By: XterraRob
Info: This is for Bross/Cameron/Lincoln. Standard route up Bross from Kite Lake is dry. From Bross to Cameron, it‘s relatively dry with some left over snow (all super hardpacked/windscoured) From Cameron to Lincoln, small bit of snow on the tops of the ridges, nothing difficult. From Cameron back down to Kite Lake, mostly hard pack/wind scoured. No big avalanche threat.