Mt. Democrat Trip Report 09/12/2011

Peak(s):	Mt. Democrat - 14,154 feet
Date Posted:	09/12/2011
Date Climbed:	09/11/2011
Author:	jackbluz

Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln, Bross
It was a gorgeous morning. A bit on the chilly side. Very few clouds in the sky. I got to the trail head just before 6AM. I would have to say one the toughest parts of the day was the drive up from the town of Alum to the TH. Man, there were some sketchy parts on that road, and I was in an SUV. There were quite a few folks already at the TH and it looked like several folks must have camped there the previous night. Note to self, I need to try that some time. It was my first time attempting these summits. Given the amount of people there, there was very little risk getting lost. The hiking trails were pretty well laid out. There were only a couple of spots, heading up to Democrat from the saddle between Democrat and Cameron, that I strayed a bit. Lots of big rocks to maneuver around and over but nothing too difficult. I will say, from my perspective (and it's kinda limited given I've only done about 8 14ers), this one seemed kinda steep. The overall distance of this four summit loop isn't all that long it's rather steep. Someone had reported once before that after getting to Democrat, it was pretty smooth sailing to hit the other three summits. That's pretty much the case. The steep climb up to Democrat and the steep descent from Bross to the TH were the most challenging. I was a bit tired so it meant concentrating on my steps and watching what I was doing. By the way, that was pretty frustrating, seeing my car in the TH parking lot, but never feeling like I was getting any closer to it. The weather was great. As I said, clear skies when I started. Got some clouds/fog when I got to the top of Cameron (surprised to see it was so flat). It cleared up after that but on the way down from Bross, some ominous clouds came rolling in over the top of Democrat. Other than a few snow flurries, the clouds broke up and it was sunny by the time I got back to my car. No snow except up by Lincoln but it was off the trail so no worries there. Let me also confess that yes, I did summit Bross. I won't say "well everyone else did it". I actually had every intention of honoring the private property notice but admittedly when I came off of Lincoln and saw that short climb up to Bross, I got selfish and went for it. My sincere apologies to the owners. No excuses. I would very much be willing to pay an access fee or something along those lines. Hopefully that would be a consideration of the owners. Overall a great hike!

Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln, Bross

It was a gorgeous morning. A bit on the chilly side. Very few clouds in the sky. I got to the trail head just before 6AM. I would have to say one the toughest parts of the day was the drive up from the town of Alum to the TH. Man, there were some sketchy parts on that road, and I was in an SUV.
There were quite a few folks already at the TH and it looked like several folks must have camped there the previous night. Note to self, I need to try that some time. It was my first time attempting these summits. Given the amount of people there, there was very little risk getting lost. The hiking trails were pretty well laid out. There were only a couple of spots, heading up to Democrat from the saddle between Democrat and Cameron, that I strayed a bit. Lots of big rocks to maneuver around and over but nothing too difficult. I will say, from my perspective (and it's kinda limited given I've only done about 8 14ers), this one seemed kinda steep. The overall distance of this four summit loop isn't all that long it's rather steep.
Someone had reported once before that after getting to Democrat, it was pretty smooth sailing to hit the other three summits. That's pretty much the case. The steep climb up to Democrat and the steep descent from Bross to the TH were the most challenging. I was a bit tired so it meant concentrating on my steps and watching what I was doing. By the way, that was pretty frustrating, seeing my car in the TH parking lot, but never feeling like I was getting any closer to it.
The weather was great. As I said, clear skies when I started. Got some clouds/fog when I got to the top of Cameron (surprised to see it was so flat). It cleared up after that but on the way down from Bross, some ominous clouds came rolling in over the top of Democrat. Other than a few snow flurries, the clouds broke up and it was sunny by the time I got back to my car. No snow except up by Lincoln but it was off the trail so no worries there.
Let me also confess that yes, I did summit Bross. I won't say "well everyone else did it". I actually had every intention of honoring the private property notice but admittedly when I came off of Lincoln and saw that short climb up to Bross, I got selfish and went for it. My sincere apologies to the owners. No excuses. I would very much be willing to pay an access fee or something along those lines. Hopefully that would be a consideration of the owners.
Overall a great hike!

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