Prologue

Why take the frequently travelled road? After completing my first 13er, I planned on conquering Bierstadt as it seemed to be the path of least resistance. However, my ambition grew: Instead of bagging one peak, let's bag 3* for my first - let's do DeCaLi... I awoke at ready to speed down to the trailhead. I felt sore from having hiked Buffalo Mountain the afternoon prior. I made my way up the dirt road and parked a little ways away from the trailhead, hopping on the trail at 5:30 am - alongside many other hikers.

Mt. Democrat

The first notable event of my ascent up the slopes of the Mosquito range was the presence of the lovely people from CFI! Right around the time myself and most the other hikers got started they started some trail work as well.

Speaking of other hikers, the trail was quite packed towards the bottom. You can't expect solitude here, even during the weekdays (I went on a Thursday). Though perhaps the volume of hikers on this particular day was a result of the perfect weather. For my entire hike there wasn't a single cloud in sight, all the way from 5:30 until noon.

The first few miles of the hike were very cold and I wore my puffer until I got to the saddle of Cameron and Democrat. On the way up I encountered a few snow patches which were firm and bootpacked - no need for traction. The views from the saddle were spectacular. I pushed up the ridge towards Democrat's summit.

The final ridge push of Democrat was a mix of snow and scree/talus. The ascent was not so bad but the way down was a little tricky, mostly with scree. There was a small section (not pictured) of snow which was somewhat exposed, but the bootpacked steps didn't make it so bad. Though, I did slip in the last inches of that patch, a real demoralizer.

We did it! First fourteener - Mt. Democrat. I reached the top around 7:35 am - 2 hours. But the day was far from over... far far from over...

Mt. Cameron

By this point I had met some other hikers and chatted about fourteeners for a little bit. I will respect their privacy here and forgo saying their names but if you're reading this, it was awesome meeting you! With one of these hikers I began the descent down the ridge of Democrat back towards the saddle and towards Cameron. While Cameron's ridge perhaps appears more imposing than Democrat, it was much easier. I found the initial slopes towards the bottom of the trail to be the hardest part of the whole thing. There was a bit more snow to be found on Cameron, but it wasn't too bad.

After I navigated this snow patch and a little more elevation, I got a glimpse of the final push and real summit.

I made it to the underwhelming summit of Cameron around 8:55, or an hour and a half after topping Democrat. The best part of the summit here was getting a better look at the much more impressive peak of Lincoln, which I shot off towards.

Mt. Lincoln

This was by far my favorite peak of the 3*! The hike over was mostly uneventful, though there were a couple steep sections, particularly towards the end.

I reached Lincoln's summit by 9:15, or an hour and fifteen after I got to Cameron. I was so stoked to have bagged three peaks already, and was feeling great as I began to head down from the peak. However... the inevitable happened - altitude sickness. My head started pounding as it had on my 13er summit, but I also slowly began to feel nauseous.

And That's All I Did I Swear Officer!

After clambering back down from Lincoln's peak, I invoked an ancient ritual which transported my body from Lincoln's slopes to the other side of Mt. Bross. The incantation took roughly an hour to complete ;)

By this point I was feeling really terrible. I descended down the scree and talus of Bross's slopes in a few distinct chunks, having to stop and close my eyes every now and then. I got back to my car around 12 pm, not without getting my feet slightly wet in the creek crossings. I sojourned in my car at the trailhead, stuck between wanting to get to a lower altitude but also not wanting to throw up from the bumpy dirt road. I rested for about 45 minutes whilst snacking on peach rings (#1 gas station snack), before driving off into the sunset...

Epilogue

I think my ambition paid off, and I was able to get away without too serious a case of the height illness. I'm quite chuffed to have completed four fourteeners on my first ever attempt to summit a mountain of such height. I will say that James Peak and Buffalo mountain both turned out to be great training, as each one of those hikes were physically much more difficult than any part of this hike (Buffalo mountain especially, that hike is insane! Not to mention that it has an optional class 3 ridge at the top, which is really sick).

What's next for me? I am aiming to get Elbert on this trip, and I'm also really interested in doing the Bierstadt-Blue sky class 3 combo.