Mt. Democrat Trip Report 10/04/2014

Peak(s):	Mt. Democrat - 14,154 feet Mt. Cameron - 14,248 feet Mt. Lincoln - 14,293 feet Mt. Bross - 14,178 feet "South Bross" - 14,020 feet
Date Posted:	10/04/2014
Date Climbed:	09/01/2014
Author:	rob runkle

Democalibrosbro - The Quint
After a tough day on Elbert, a moderate day on Quandary, we were looking for something a little in between. So we chose to do Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln and Bross. We started at Kite Lake. Again, we started almost exactly 530AM in the morning. Our arrival time at the trailhead was just about perfect. We got a great parking spot right near the trailhead. We started up the trail in the dark. Initially we started to go straight up the road, but the creek crossing was difficult in the dark. We were able to find a detour trail that went a little to the right of the main trail and around the creek. The first section after the parking lot is relatively flat. As you reach the base of Cameron it is an easy ascent of rocks and steep scree. It didn't take very long for us to get to the saddle between Democrat and Cameron. At that point the wind really starting to pick up. We started left up towards Democrat. At one point a gust of wind nearly blew me off my feet. This initial sampling of wind would predicate what we would be dealing with the rest of the day. Most of the rest of the route up Democrat was pretty well guarded from the wind. So the hike up to the topic of Democrat was not too bad. We ultimately made the top the Democrat in about three hours. It was windy on Democrat but not too uncomfortable. False of Demo Selfie on Demo Train heading up Demo We stayed for a couple minutes and then headed down. We made the descent off of Democrat pretty quickly into the saddle of Cameron. Just after we left the saddle between Democrat and Cameron the wind really started to pick up. About halfway up the ridge to Cameron, Scott pulled up to me and said, "I don't know about this". I understood his concerns but I knew the route and there wasn't much major exposure to be worried about. I figured the worst thing that could happen would be that we would be thrown on our butts by the wind and I wasn't too worried about that. We continued up towards Cameron, both of us a little concerned but still going forward. The winds that we were experiencing initially were probably 30 to 40 mph. But along this ridge up towards Cameron we were experiencing gusts as high as 60 or 70 mph. We finally made it up to the top of Cameron in about two hours from leaving Democrat. It was very windy on Cameron as well. At this point I thought we were pretty much at a point of no return. We just needed to grab Lincoln, then head back over Bross to the trailhead. I had a pretty good feeling that the trip back to Bross, with the wind to our backs, would be much easier. I would be wrong. I knew that Lincoln was the most exposed of the four summits. So I was a little concerned. But I didn't let on to Scott that I was concerned about Lincoln. Scott and I continue towards Lincoln. I kept on looking back at Scott. I was looking for some reinforcement for my own motivation, But I was also looking to make sure that Scott wasn't having any issues. The trip from the Cameron-Lincoln saddle to the top of Lincoln under normal conditions is relatively easy and only mild class 2. But with these condition,s one bad wind blowing you off your feet at the wrong point in time could be really bad. Needless to say we continued forward. The Lincoln summit blocked the wind to a certain extent. But every time we got an opening it really blew hard. There were one or two points along the last Lincoln pitch where we literally had to stop, plant our feet, and wait for the wind to stop. I remember one point in particular just below the summit where I held my hand out to Scott to stop. Scott was behind a windbreak and I was right in the wind tunnel. And I didn't want both of us in the windtunnel. Once the wind broke I waved my hand and we ran. We made the summit in a couple more minutes. Made the Summit of Lincoln Selfie on Lincoln Overall from Cameron to Lincoln it took us about one hour. Surprisingly the wind on the top of Lincoln was very mild. There must've been a mild windbreak. Regardless, we were just relieved to have made the summit. We didn't stay on Lincoln very long. We may have stayed five minutes. We started down off of the Lincoln summit and back into the Cameron saddle. At this point, I realized that we may actually have the wind in our face the rest of the way. Although the wind wasn't really threatening at this point it was certainly mentally exhausting to be pounded for several hours. We continue towards Bross and sure enough the wind was in our face, yet again. I couldn't believe we were still getting pounded by the wind. I thought for sure it would be at our back the rest of the way. Even with the wind trying to push us off the summit we ultimately made the summit of Bross in about one hour from the summit of Lincoln. At this point I was determined to get the summit of South Bross; about a half-mile away from Bross. Scott wasn't interested in South Bross. So I tighten up my pack and started running toward South Bross. I figured I could get there and back in less than 30 minutes. I ran for a little bit. But I couldn't keep it up. The rocky terrain, and the wind blowing in my face, made it difficult to run. Ultimately I was able to get to the summit of South Bross in a little over 15 minutes. The summit of the South Bross was definitely nothing to write home about. If I didn't have my GPS with me I wouldn't have known for sure if I was even on the summit. Basically what I did is I watched the distance from Bross, walked south and measured a little over a half a mile. I also checked the map on the GPS and I could tell that I was on a sub summit. I didn't spend much time on South Bross. The wind was particularly nasty on South Bross. Multiple times I almost got knocked on my butt. My trip back to Bross was a little under 20 minutes. Selfie - all alone on South Bross > Scott and I were mentally done today, and wanted to be down. So, we immediately started down from Bross. I've heard a lot of people complain about the descent off of Bross. But actually I thought it was pretty easy. The way we went down off of Bross was like this. From the summit wind break, we went directly towards the basin, with Cameron to our right. Once we got to the slopes there was a clear trail that follow to the left out to the end of the ridge. We follow that trail to the ridge. At that point we had two choices. We could go down the ridge to the right. Or, we could scramble down to the left and across the lower gulley to a clear trail on the other side. We chose the scramble down, and that ended up being a great choice. The scramble was no more than 2+. It was quick and we were on the trail on the other side in maybe 20 minutes. The remaining trail was an easy hike out, passing under the waterfall and all the way back to the trailhead parking lot. We made it from the Summit of Bross, back to the trailhead in just over an hour. Being pounded by constant 40 mile-per-hour winds with gusts as high as 60 to 70 mph, all day, made today very challenging. If it wasn't for that, I think the day would've been relatively easy. So, on Scott's first Fourteener trip he had experienced off route conditions on day one, snow conditions at 7 AM on day two, and 40 to 70 mile-per-hour winds on day three. We were really hoping that the final day would be an easy, comfortable, and fully enjoyable day. GPS Track Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Democalibrosbro - The Quint

After a tough day on Elbert, a moderate day on Quandary, we were looking for something a little in between. So we chose to do Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln and Bross. We started at Kite Lake. Again, we started almost exactly 530AM in the morning. Our arrival time at the trailhead was just about perfect. We got a great parking spot right near the trailhead. We started up the trail in the dark. Initially we started to go straight up the road, but the creek crossing was difficult in the dark. We were able to find a detour trail that went a little to the right of the main trail and around the creek. The first section after the parking lot is relatively flat. As you reach the base of Cameron it is an easy ascent of rocks and steep scree. It didn't take very long for us to get to the saddle between Democrat and Cameron. At that point the wind really starting to pick up. We started left up towards Democrat. At one point a gust of wind nearly blew me off my feet. This initial sampling of wind would predicate what we would be dealing with the rest of the day. Most of the rest of the route up Democrat was pretty well guarded from the wind. So the hike up to the topic of Democrat was not too bad. We ultimately made the top the Democrat in about three hours. It was windy on Democrat but not too uncomfortable.

We stayed for a couple minutes and then headed down. We made the descent off of Democrat pretty quickly into the saddle of Cameron. Just after we left the saddle between Democrat and Cameron the wind really started to pick up. About halfway up the ridge to Cameron, Scott pulled up to me and said, "I don't know about this". I understood his concerns but I knew the route and there wasn't much major exposure to be worried about. I figured the worst thing that could happen would be that we would be thrown on our butts by the wind and I wasn't too worried about that. We continued up towards Cameron, both of us a little concerned but still going forward. The winds that we were experiencing initially were probably 30 to 40 mph. But along this ridge up towards Cameron we were experiencing gusts as high as 60 or 70 mph. We finally made it up to the top of Cameron in about two hours from leaving Democrat. It was very windy on Cameron as well. At this point I thought we were pretty much at a point of no return. We just needed to grab Lincoln, then head back over Bross to the trailhead. I had a pretty good feeling that the trip back to Bross, with the wind to our backs, would be much easier. I would be wrong. I knew that Lincoln was the most exposed of the four summits. So I was a little concerned. But I didn't let on to Scott that I was concerned about Lincoln. Scott and I continue towards Lincoln. I kept on looking back at Scott. I was looking for some reinforcement for my own motivation, But I was also looking to make sure that Scott wasn't having any issues. The trip from the Cameron-Lincoln saddle to the top of Lincoln under normal conditions is relatively easy and only mild class 2. But with these condition,s one bad wind blowing you off your feet at the wrong point in time could be really bad. Needless to say we continued forward. The Lincoln summit blocked the wind to a certain extent. But every time we got an opening it really blew hard. There were one or two points along the last Lincoln pitch where we literally had to stop, plant our feet, and wait for the wind to stop. I remember one point in particular just below the summit where I held my hand out to Scott to stop. Scott was behind a windbreak and I was right in the wind tunnel. And I didn't want both of us in the windtunnel. Once the wind broke I waved my hand and we ran. We made the summit in a couple more minutes.

Overall from Cameron to Lincoln it took us about one hour. Surprisingly the wind on the top of Lincoln was very mild. There must've been a mild windbreak. Regardless, we were just relieved to have made the summit. We didn't stay on Lincoln very long. We may have stayed five minutes. We started down off of the Lincoln summit and back into the Cameron saddle. At this point, I realized that we may actually have the wind in our face the rest of the way. Although the wind wasn't really threatening at this point it was certainly mentally exhausting to be pounded for several hours.

We continue towards Bross and sure enough the wind was in our face, yet again. I couldn't believe we were still getting pounded by the wind. I thought for sure it would be at our back the rest of the way. Even with the wind trying to push us off the summit we ultimately made the summit of Bross in about one hour from the summit of Lincoln. At this point I was determined to get the summit of South Bross; about a half-mile away from Bross. Scott wasn't interested in South Bross. So I tighten up my pack and started running toward South Bross. I figured I could get there and back in less than 30 minutes. I ran for a little bit. But I couldn't keep it up. The rocky terrain, and the wind blowing in my face, made it difficult to run. Ultimately I was able to get to the summit of South Bross in a little over 15 minutes. The summit of the South Bross was definitely nothing to write home about. If I didn't have my GPS with me I wouldn't have known for sure if I was even on the summit. Basically what I did is I watched the distance from Bross, walked south and measured a little over a half a mile. I also checked the map on the GPS and I could tell that I was on a sub summit. I didn't spend much time on South Bross. The wind was particularly nasty on South Bross. Multiple times I almost got knocked on my butt. My trip back to Bross was a little under 20 minutes.

>
Scott and I were mentally done today, and wanted to be down. So, we immediately started down from Bross. I've heard a lot of people complain about the descent off of Bross. But actually I thought it was pretty easy. The way we went down off of Bross was like this. From the summit wind break, we went directly towards the basin, with Cameron to our right. Once we got to the slopes there was a clear trail that follow to the left out to the end of the ridge. We follow that trail to the ridge. At that point we had two choices. We could go down the ridge to the right. Or, we could scramble down to the left and across the lower gulley to a clear trail on the other side. We chose the scramble down, and that ended up being a great choice. The scramble was no more than 2+. It was quick and we were on the trail on the other side in maybe 20 minutes. The remaining trail was an easy hike out, passing under the waterfall and all the way back to the trailhead parking lot. We made it from the Summit of Bross, back to the trailhead in just over an hour.

Being pounded by constant 40 mile-per-hour winds with gusts as high as 60 to 70 mph, all day, made today very challenging. If it wasn't for that, I think the day would've been relatively easy. So, on Scott's first Fourteener trip he had experienced off route conditions on day one, snow conditions at 7 AM on day two, and 40 to 70 mile-per-hour winds on day three. We were really hoping that the final day would be an easy, comfortable, and fully enjoyable day.

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

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