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Stats:
trailhead: 5:40 AM
Democrat Summit: 7:40-8:00
Cameron Summit: 9:35-9:40
Lincoln Summit: 10:00-10:15
Bross Summit: 11:00-11:15
Car: 12:45
Climbing with my mother, my two sons, and one of my best friends Matt, I hoped this would be a great day. I worried a little about the weather, and my younger son, Connor's willingness to climb up and down four peaks, even though he'd done 14ers the last two summers.
We started out early, having stayed at Matt's cabin in Alma the night before. There were already several people rising from camping and parking, getting ready for the circuit. Morgan, 11, and Connor, 8, started out strong. My mother, in typical fashion, worried that she'd slow us down, told us to go on ahead, and then hiked like a mountain goat the whole way, never stopping.
An early sunrise helped me relax a little about the weather,
and we made it to the Democrat/ Cameron saddle in very good time. Here's me and Connor standing at a mine...
and Connor hoofing it up towards the Democrat summit.
Everyone was still feeling strong as we summited at just about 7:40- here is my mother coming up the final pitch to join us on the summit,
and here was a very fun moment- three generations of my family together on the summit of Democrat.
Mary decided she would head down to the car after Democrat, worried she would have slowed us down (she wouldn't have). The boys were strong up the Cameron ridge until a false summit really depressed Connor. From Lincoln to Cameron really seemed to be the crux of the day for an 8 year old- he was strong to the Democrat summit, and the first stretch of the Cameron ridge, but then seemed to hit a wall. "It's just that there are so many rocks around here!" he complained! The long ridge up Cameron tested him, but he kept up, and after crossing Cameron, he saw Lincoln, felt rejuvinated and pushed his way up to the top. Here's the action shots going up Lincoln:
and my boys looking toward Quandry, which they climbed last summer.
Matt and Mo were taking off in the lead, and me and Connor were following at our own pace. I was grateful to have Matt with me, so the kids could go different speeds. The weather up until this point was terrific, but now the clouds began to form, so we tried to make quick time on the walk to Bross. It looked like a longer walk, though not much up and down, but it really passed quickly, and before we knew it, we were celebrating our 4th summit of the day!
I know younger kids than mine have done such things, but seeing my own kids go up and down all these mountains was an amazing thing. Mo seems to glide up and down the ridges so easily, I'm thinking he's ready for some much harder peaks- not far from his first shot at Longs I would imagine. Co seems to have such little legs for climbing mountains, but they just keep going.
Our decent was long, down the steep, loose talus. At one point, minutes after I had shed a layer of clothing for the heat, it actually started spitting snow. Matt and Mo took off and made the car first. Connor was getting tired and frustrated until I got his mind on other things- which "Bill and Ted" movie was the best one. He shared his views on that, until suddenly, we were down, with Mary waiting near the creek to greet us:
Connor with Democrat in the background:
And the full group at the trailhead:
What an amazing day! Now we had to hustle back to Denver because both boys had baseball games later that night, and of course, a stop at the Dinky Dairy was also in the cards.
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
Nice pictures of the group. hehe. It was great meeting you guys and talking on the summits. Everyone looked strong in your group - I think it was a result of the oreo, ham & cheese sandwiches!
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