Mt. Buckskin Trip Report 08/03/2013

Peak(s):	Mt. Buckskin - 13,871 feet Mt. Democrat - 14,154 feet
Date Posted:	08/03/2013
Date Climbed:	08/01/2013
Author:	Dezelrig

Mt. Buckskin to Mt Democrat via the South Ridge
I hadn't yet been to the top of Democrat, so I decided that I'd like to tackle it by a more "interesting" route. Since I'm working on the Centennial 13ers and the 14ers at the same time, I decided to hit the Centennial Mt. Buckskin and then traverse the south ridge that connects Democrat and Buckskin. I was joined by my good buddy Al to tackle the first leg of the hike, and then soloed the ridge up to Democrat. Here is Al atop Buckskin with the summit register: The ridge looks waaaaay more gnarly than it really is. Looking gnarly from the trail that leads from Kite Lake: I'd rate it at class 3, or 4-5 if you stay ridge proper the whole route. If one ascends the traverse via the ridge proper, you'll definitely find some short class 4-5 pitches to ascend and descend. However, you can jump off to the west side of the ridge at any time to avoid any class 4-5 parts of the route. If you do jump off the ridge proper, be careful of the very loose boulders you may dislodge, as the whole route rarely sees any foot traffic from us bipedal organisms. A look at the traverse on the descent from Buckskin: I started and ended at the Kite lake trail head by making one continuous loop by ascending Buckskin first, then traversing over to Democrat. Climbing up Buckskin is as simple as 1) follow the trail south from Kite Lake behind the campground shitter, then 2) walk up the grassy slope to gain the ridge that is Mt. Buckskin. Once I gained Buckskin, I headed NW along the ridge to NW Buckskin, then down to the Buckskin-Democrat saddle. One should stay as close to the edge of the ridge on the way down to the saddle, as it's more easy going on the flat boulders than heading straight down to the low point of the saddle. Once on the saddle, head over to the bunny ears that mark the start of the traverse (ascend up the knob and in between he bunny ears at the high point of the photo): From here on out you'll descend and reascend a bunch of little gendarmes that can be class 4-5 if you choose to climb straight up and down them. Once you get past the up & downs, you'll hit the remainder of the the climb to Democrat: Looking back & down on the traverse from various points: From the bottom of the saddle up to Buckskin on the back of the "bunny ears" about midway of traverse At the end of the traverse looking back (it doesn't look so bad, except for the weather!) Me on the top of the last hump before heading up to Democrats summit: My GPS Tracks on Google Maps (made from a .GPX file upload): Login required to view this map...

Mt. Buckskin to Mt Democrat via the South Ridge

I hadn't yet been to the top of Democrat, so I decided that I'd like to tackle it by a more "interesting" route. Since I'm working on the Centennial 13ers and the 14ers at the same time, I decided to hit the Centennial Mt. Buckskin and then traverse the south ridge that connects Democrat and Buckskin.

I was joined by my good buddy Al to tackle the first leg of the hike, and then soloed the ridge up to Democrat. Here is Al atop Buckskin with the summit register:

The ridge looks waaaaay more gnarly than it really is.

Looking gnarly from the trail that leads from Kite Lake:

I'd rate it at class 3, or 4-5 if you stay ridge proper the whole route. If one ascends the traverse via the ridge proper, you'll definitely find some short class 4-5 pitches to ascend and descend. However, you can jump off to the west side of the ridge at any time to avoid any class 4-5 parts of the route. If you do jump off the ridge proper, be careful of the very loose boulders you may dislodge, as the whole route rarely sees any foot traffic from us bipedal organisms.

A look at the traverse on the descent from Buckskin:

I started and ended at the Kite lake trail head by making one continuous loop by ascending Buckskin first, then traversing over to Democrat. Climbing up Buckskin is as simple as 1) follow the trail south from Kite Lake behind the campground shitter, then 2) walk up the grassy slope to gain the ridge that is Mt. Buckskin. Once I gained Buckskin, I headed NW along the ridge to NW Buckskin, then down to the Buckskin-Democrat saddle. One should stay as close to the edge of the ridge on the way down to the saddle, as it's more easy going on the flat boulders than heading straight down to the low point of the saddle. Once on the saddle, head over to the bunny ears that mark the start of the traverse (ascend up the knob and in between he bunny ears at the high point of the photo):

From here on out you'll descend and reascend a bunch of little gendarmes that can be class 4-5 if you choose to climb straight up and down them.

Once you get past the up & downs, you'll hit the remainder of the the climb to Democrat:

Looking back & down on the traverse from various points:
From the bottom of the saddle up to Buckskin

on the back of the "bunny ears"

about midway of traverse

At the end of the traverse looking back (it doesn't look so bad, except for the weather!)

Me on the top of the last hump before heading up to Democrats summit:

My GPS Tracks on Google Maps (made from a .GPX file upload):

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