Decalibron 14ers, sans Mt. Bross

With temperatures in the upper 90’s every day in Littleton, it was time to get out of town and into the mountains. My conditioning hasn’t been great this year so I thought I’d pick something simple like the Decalibron (insert eye roll here!). Yes, always one with a great plan. The Decalibron includes the 14ers Mt. Democrat, Mt. Cameron, Mt. Lincoln and Mt. Bross.

Camping at the Trailhead

For me, camping at the trailhead is much better than getting up super early to make the almost 2 hour drive before the hike. The Decalibron trailhead is located at Kite Lake which has 5 camping spots available on a first-come, first-served basis. The private land owners just recently opened up the trailhead area after closing it for the month of May. Mt. Bross and the Decalibron have had more than their share of controversy and discussion in the news over the years. You can read more about the more recent closure here.

There are a few dispersed camping spots in the National Forest before you get to Kite Lake. I didn’t feel like making sure I was on National Forest land versus private land, especially after the latest closure. Thus, my preferred option this trip was to stay at the campground.

Kite Lake trailhead for the Decalibron 14ers

I arrived at the campground around 1:30PM. No other campers were there so all five spots were open. There were, however, a fair number of cars at the trailhead from day-hikers. Two of the camping spots were still under snow (#4 and #5), and one is relatively close to the parking lot and vault toilets (#1). The other two are the better options. I picked site #3 which had a reasonably level place to set up my tent and was over a slight ridge from the parking lot. Soon after setting up camp, I walked around and took several pictures of the flowers and birds.

Kite Lake was mostly still frozen. There were, however, a few areas with open water. While hiking around the lake, I saw a few trout swimming around which suggested I get out the fly rod. I spent just shy of two hours fishing a few different areas and different patterns. In the end, I didn’t have any strikes. The fish were pretty skittish and didn’t seem to be aggressively feeding. I’m sure the fly presentation and fisherman’s technique didn’t have anything to do with the failure to catch fish.

Evening at the Trailhead for the Decalibron 14ers

By 7:00 or so, three other campsites were taken including #4 near the snow. With COVID no longer the concern it used to be (I’m fully vaccinated), it was nice to socialize with the other campers and visitors. One camper was excellent at spotting wildlife. He helped us find mountain goats, elk, and bighorn sheep. Clay, a 70-something van camper, had a 40x spotting scope which came in quite handy as most of the animals were at least a half-mile away. I’m sorry none of the shots below capture the animals well. I did the best I could!

Beautiful clouds and building storms

Around 8:00, the sunset provided some amazing color. The lighting was some of the best I’ve had in Colorado in some time. Plus, a storm was building to the northeast on the other side of Mt. Bross making great cloud formations. All of these circumstances provided for some great photos, at least in my mind.

The storm seemed to be heading up the valley and approaching us. We broke up and headed to our respective camps. I read in the tent as I enjoyed the nearby, but not too close, lightning. The storm ended up staying to the northeast of camp.

An interesting night

I didn’t have any problems falling asleep with the slight breeze softly flapping the tent. Around midnight, I awoke to a series of gunshots from the valley to the south. It was a series of about 20-25 shots from a semi-automatic weapon. Someone having some fun with guns at night…you know, like we all do now and then. The rest of the night was fitful sleeping waking up about every hour or so and then spending time trying to fall back asleep. Not so much fun but what are you going to do? At 4:45, I had enough and decided to just get up and start the hike.

Decalibron 14ers – #1, Mount Democrat

It was early but the sun was up already. Breaking camp didn’t require a headlamp and only took a few minutes. A nearby group of coyotes starting howling and yipping as I broke camp. It made for a really special morning!

After a champion’s breakfast of coffee and a protein bar, I headed out clockwise on the Decalibron 14ers loop making Mt. Democrat the first 14er of the day. The trail passes by Kite Lake as it heads up into a saddle between Mt. Democrat and Mt. Cameron. The small cascades created by the snow melt along with the continued yipping of the coyotes made for some great hiking.

Just past .75 miles, the incline starts up towards the saddle point. As always on these hikes, my heart gets pumping and I feel totally out of breath as my body adjusts to the climbing. It’s during these moments that I get to practice turning off that voice in my head telling me how weak and inadequate I am. I really hate that voice. The initial climb gives way to a meadow at 12,800′. This short respite transitions to continued climbing up to the saddle point.

Competitive hiking?

In the meadow transition, I was passed like I was standing still by a young man (young man is anyone younger than 50). He went up the boulder field and I followed. Unfortunately for him, he took a wrong turn and headed back down the mountain on an old trail. He circled around, passed me again as I continued climbing through the boulder field. He then took another wrong turn and headed up a scree field to the right instead of taking the main trail off to the left. To be fair, there are a lot of old and unofficial trails in this section so it is easy to make a wrong turn. The funny part is he then went back down, came up the trail and passed me yet again. I must be really slow!

It’s a steady climb up to the saddle point. I didn’t feel very strong during this part of the hike, maybe due to the lack of sleep or my general physical condition, hard to say. Frequent rest stops helped and I plodded along the trail making slow and steady progress up. Once past the saddle point, the trail continues through a long boulder field which takes you near the summit. I finally spotted someone I could overtake so I felt better. Maybe my competitive nature is really a serious mental problem?

Mt. Democrat summit

Just shy of two miles, the trail takes you over a final false summit onto a flat area. There was a good-sized snowfield still present. It was early enough the snow was still frozen making it easy to cross without post-holing. After a short traverse of snow, I headed up the final, short climb to the summit. The views, as expected, were amazing.

On to Mt. Cameron

Summiting Mt. Democrat made me feel a lot better. I knew there was only the climb up to Mt. Cameron and the rest of the hike would be relatively easy. I headed back down across the snowfield. Hiking down the boulder field to the saddle was tricky in places. It isn’t a fast, “look around while hiking” kind of trail. I met several hikers headed up to Mt. Democrat. One was a family out to do the loop, and another group was a brother and sister who I’d met the previous evening. Both groups were friendly and I took the time to chat with them making for some good social time on the trail.

Just past 2.5 miles, I started the climb up the next boulder field. It was here I finally caught up with another hiker…yes, the one I’d spotted on the way up Mt. Democrat. We chatted for a while and continued about the same pace for a bit. After that, I didn’t meet up with anyone on the trail for a while.

Decalibron 14ers – #2, Mount Cameron

The summit of Mt. Cameron is fairly flat. You come out of the boulder field after about 3.2 miles and continue a gradual, easy climb up to the summit. The summit itself is nothing too impressive, essentially the highest part of a fairly flat, gravel-coered peak. Still, it had some nice views.

Decalibron 14ers – #3, Mount Lincoln

Crossing over to Mt. Lincoln is easy. The trail gradually goes down a scree field to the saddle between summits and then you head up to Mt. Lincoln. After the climb to Democrat and Cameron, this hike is a walk in the park. The views from Mt. Lincoln are pretty similar to Mt. Cameron since they are so close. It provides some great looks at Quandry Peak, still on my list of 14ers to hike.

I spent the most summit time on Mt. Lincoln. The hiker I’d passed on the way up to Cameron caught up with me here, and there were two young men from Greeley already on the summit. We all enjoyed the view and spent time socializing. For some reason, everyone felt pretty chatty on the trail today, including myself. Maybe it’s a side effect from the past year of isolation?

Trail to below Mt. Bross

The trail doesn’t require backtracking to Mt. Cameron. Instead, it goes below the scree fields east of the summit. The hiking here was pretty warm. I’m pretty sure this section of the trail roasted my unprotected skin. Usually I put sunscreen on before I hike but thought I’d wait until later this time. Umm, totally forgot. At least there were some pretty purple flowers here.

The summit of Mt. Bross is officially closed to public traffic. I’m not a big rule breaker, so I followed the official trail and stayed about 150′ below the summit. I’d met several hikers that had gone to the summit, and about as many who had not. It isn’t that important to summit that I’d ignore the private property rights of the individual who owns the land. There were some good pictures as I passed just below the summit.

The hike back

You can read a lot of trail reports online about how steep and tricky the path is between Mt. Bross and Kite Lake. They aren’t lying. First, if you take the wrong trail under Mt. Bross you’ll be taken into a steep valley of scree that is not fun and possibly dangerous. Stay on the higher trail as you pass below the summit. After the summit, the trail takes you across several loose scree fields and into some steep declines. Watch you step and tread carefully. I was lucky enough to avoid ending up on my butt sliding down the mountain. This was my least favorite part of the hike. It was getting hot, had tricky hiking and I really don’t like loose scree fields. Eventually I made it back. Good hiking boots are definitely a requirement for these 14ers!

By the time I made it back to the trailhead, I felt better about my ability to do the hike and was glad I’d done it. Overall, the trip to hike the Decalibron 14ers was great. The camping was good and the hike ended up being great exercise and a good time.

Decalibron 14ers hike