"One step forward, one step sideways:
The story of Mt. Democrat, Mt. Lincoln and Mt. Bross."
The date was September 1st, 2014. It was Labor Day, and I just so happened to be lucky enough to have the day off from work. I'd spent half a week planning and packing, in addition to working 43 hours, and had finally decided to hike & climb three 14ers all in one day. Yes, it really is feasible. Mt. Democrat (14,154'), Mt. Lincoln (14,295'), Mt. Bross (14,177') are the three mountains which can be done in a day. It's only a 6 mile loop to gain all three summits, but the terrain is steep, and the weather unpredictable.
I woke up at 3:00 am on that Monday, left at 4:00 am, and started a 3 hour drive west towards Alma, Colorado. The 3 hour drive quickly turned into a 4 hour drive as I passed over Guanella Pass at 11,670'. I left the interstate around the Georgetown exit, and turned up the Guanella Pass road, thinking it was a shortcut. Well shortcuts in Colorado rarely tend to work out, and this one was the opposite of a shortcut. I drove up to the top of the pass, and parked my car at which point it was already almost 7:00 am. The scenery was gorgeous, but the winds had started blowing and the temperatures were dropping. Fall had arrived in Colorado.
After a short break, I drove down the south end of the pass where it intersected with US 285 in Grant Colorado. This 17 mile part of my journey should have taken half-an-hour at most as the marked speed limit (on what should have been a paved road), was 35 mph. Well first of all, the road was not paved, it was dirt. Second of all, the road had giant ruts in it. Third of all, the road was under major reconstruction. Last of all, there were loose power lines dangling only a few feet above the top of my Subaru Outback, and sings warning of "Danger low power lines". All of this equated to driving about 15 miles an hour (20 at the fastest), for the next 17 miles. The journey to the base of these three great mountains had already started to become a bit of an adventure.
I finally came out the other side of the pass in Grant Colorado at after 8:30 am. I was tired as my journey of 3 to 3.5 hours had already become 4.5 hours. So, I took another break, and kept on rolling.
US 285 was 55 mph, so I made quick time to Fairplay Colorado, where I turned north west towards Alma on Colorado 9. Once in Alma, the directions in my small 14ers book took me towards a dirt road that headed west directly out of center of Alma. Thus began driving adventure number two.
I took the forest service road towards the base of Kite Lake for what was supposed to be 3 miles according to my book, but became 6 miles. The beginning of the road was alright and the posted speed limit was 15 mph, (as for all roads in the town of Alma). I drove for about to miles and the road narrowed and became much more steep. There were now ruts and holes in the road (some a foot deep), small boulders to avoid, and closely knit switchbacks. I kept driving slowing my pace to around 8 mph on average for the last four miles of this road. Finally, I ended up with the Kite Lake trail head in sight and about 45 other cars parked with their wheels in the ditch up at over 11,000'. Most of them were either four wheel drive Jeeps, all-wheel drive Subaru's, or at least high ground clearance SUV's. Although I did see a Toyota Prius up there, and I suppose that person got it back out (I have no idea how!), because it wasn't there later in the day.
It was now about 9:30 am! It had taken me almost 5.5 hours for what should have been a 3.5 hour drive. Now I was about ready to start the hike.
I hoped out of the car, walked up to the trail head to scout things out, and used the privy (as one should do before climbing isolated 14ers in Colorado), and headed back towards the car. I put in my contacts, donned my Subaru beanie; my Marmot jacket; my Marmot guide pants; my Smartwool socks; my Columbia trail running shoes; my Julbo glacier glasses; and grabbed my Camel back backpack stuffed with rain jacket; Nalgene bottle, Aquamira filter-bottle, survival medical kit, make-shift bear-proof container (filled with high calorie foods such as 7 candy bars, 2 bags of homemade trail mix, and one sealed bag of beef jerky), compass, knife, fire-starter, extra socks, map, and waterproof shockproof camera. I put on the essential SPF 50 sunscreen (needed at 14,000' above sea level), and set out for the first peak on list, Mt. Democrat, 2,400 + ft above me.
It was 10:10 am, when I left the trail head and started up my Suunto GPS wrist top computer, to assist in navigation and record satellite data about my trip. I talked with some of the other 30 or so hikers I passed early on, found out where they from, and asked if they had done other 14ers before. I told them these were going to be my first big mountains this season, but I had stood atop Mt. Elbert, and Longs Peak in the summer of 2013. The name Longs Peak comes with some healthy respect and interesting looks I found out, followed by questions about the route; the difficulty; and the time it took me. So, I answered the questions with a shortened version of my trip up Longs back on August 22nd, 2013. I told them if I could Longs Peak, the 17th most difficult of the fifty-four 14ers, that I figured I could any of them if I so desired. So why not just knock off 3 in one day. Sounded like a great idea to me!
I headed up to a "Y" in the trail at 12,800' in the saddle between Mt. Democrat, to the left, and Cameron Point, to the right. I rested there on a log, removed my glacier glasses, and stared into an old mine shaft. I snacked on beef jerky, two 3 muskateer bars, half a bag of trail mix, and a pint of water. You burn significantly more calories at high altitude, because there is significantly less oxygen, and your heart beats much faster with any exertion whatsoever (not to mention I'd already walked up the height of empire state building in less than a mile). I took the path to the left.
For the next 3/4 of a mile I could see the top of Mt. Democrat. This is not always the case. Many peaks have false summits, which make them more psychologically challenging because you think your almost at the top only to see another summit 300 yards ahead and 150 feet above. I kept walking up Mt. Democrat and saw people up ahead of me on what looked to be the true peak. As I neared I asked a woman headed down if that was the peak (pointing ahead). She said yes, and I said, "Oh, I didn't realize I was so close already". I walked up to the top of Mt. Democrat and immediately was hit by freezing cold gusts of wind. I climbed up on top of the summit boulder, and then turned around sat down in a man-made wind shelter of rocks piled 3 feet high. I pulled out my water bottle and drank another 10 ounces, and ate another candy bar. I took out my Olympus Tough camera and shot some summit photos, among them the classic, "feet dangling over the edge at 14,000' " shot. I had a group of college girls take summit photos of me, and they handed me their "14,154' " sign for a few shots. I took some shots of them in return, and sat down and rested for another fifteen minutes as the winds picked up again.
I left the peak soon there after and headed down towards the saddle between Democrat and Cameron Point. I took a short water break and shot a 30 second video halfway down to the saddle. The winds were blowing, but the sky was clear. In another 10 minutes I arrived back down in the saddle. After about 2 hours and 20 minutes I'd already finished one 14er. This is going to be almost too easy I was thinking, but in the back of my mind I was still cautious (you never know what you'll run into at 14,000'!). I took yet another short water break, and started up the ridge to Cameron Point on a well traveled trail surrounded by steep drop offs and loose scree (loose rocks) on all both sides. Two-thirds of the way up to Cameron Point I encountered a tired looking woman on her way back down from Mt. Lincoln. I yelled, "How much further is it!?!", through the fierce winds, and she yelled back, "It's quite a bit further!!". I thought for a minute and glimpsed another man up ahead and to the right in the saddle between Mt. Lincoln and Mt. Bross. I looked up at a blue sky, and decided to continue on. If he could I could do it..
I continued forever upwards over several false summits, and started to lose my breath (this will happen the more time you spend at high altitude). I stopped every once in a while and sat down and rested for a minute or two. I was walking straight into gale force winds. It was slow going and for every step forward there one step backwards or sideways. I made it over Cameron Point and headed into saddle #2 between Cameron and Mt. Lincoln. I trudged the next 1/3 mile towards the summit of Mt. Lincoln and crossed over a false summit. The wind had literally knocked me off my feet a few minutes earlier, and I could see the true summit of Mt. Lincoln about 200 yards and 30 vertical feet ahead along an extremely steep approach ridge. I decided the last 200 yards were not worth being blown down several hundred feet into the unknown below and quickly reversed course. For every forward there was one backwards. Maybe today wasn't going to be my day..
With the wind at my back, the gong was easy back down to the Lincoln - Cameron saddle (over 13,000'). When I got to the next "Y" in the path I turned right. At this point I'd only been on the trail around 3 hours and 40 minutes. Things were still moving along quickly. The wind was moving along more quickly.
I headed towards the summit of Mt. Bross, (which cannot be legally reached, due to closure from mining). I stayed on the path, as the signs stated, and headed along the trail. The winds had died down and I was a little over halfway around this 6 mile loop, so I decided to go for the last one Mt. Bross. I hiked along scree, with 85 mph crosswinds in the saddle (gusting even higher), and headed towards the mines at the top of Mt. Bross. I reached the highest legal point on Mt. Bross, (marked by a sign no-legal summit access), and started the decent towards Kite Lake. The winds knocked off my feet as I tried to take a "selfie" a little below the no-trespassing sign. This turned out for an interesting blur of an image (which I saved), and I continued the decent.
As I descended, the cross winds became blocked by the enormous girth of My. Bross. I thought, "I'm just about home free now!" This was about 4 hours 30 minutes into the loop. I had about a mile and a quarter of descent ahead of me. I continued forward and downward towards Kite Lake and reached the point of a steep ridge. I looked over and across a couloir (a steep narrow gully on a mountainside), and headed down what I figured must be the path. I could see two other hikers below and across the couloir. I started down and felt some lose scree give way beneath my feet. I kept heading down as this appeared to be the only route. I kept scrambling down the side of the couloir and all of the sudden I started to slide down on top of loose scree with small boulders rolling behind me. I stood stock still and just rode it down about 25 feet. After the miniature avalanche stopped, I realized this must not be the correct route. I was right in the middle of descending the steep couloir with about 90 feet of loose scree above me and about 90 more below. So, I gradually crab walked my way down using all four appendages to creep slowly testing my footing and hand placement multiple times. It was a grueling descent after having been battered by the 85 mph winds on the tops of the peaks.
Gradually I made my way down the side of the couloir and onto a slightly more solid and defined path. My knees and arms ached from my descent of the narrow mountain gully. I had to stop every 10 minutes or so for a short stretch and break. I realized I was extremely thirsty as I had not thought about liquids or food for a while, (because of the harsh winds, cold temperatures, and steep descent). I continued down towards the lake which still looked to be about 1,500 feet and 3/4 of a mile below. As I descended the path became more solid and finely I set my feet on something other than loose scree. A dirt path with grass and purple flowers on both sides, and a stream feeding down into Kite Lake to the right of the path. I continued onward and stopped to take an image of a 20 foot waterfall. Looking down from 1,000 feet above Kite Lake, surrounded by purple flowers and green grass, the going became much easier. The scenery was gorgeous and a stark contrast to the barren moon-like landscapes on the summits above.
I hiked down to the trail head for the last 1/2 hour, 1/2 mile. It was gorgeous and in a zen-like state of conscious-exhaustion I crossed the stream, which fed the lake, and headed back to the trail head. I looked back many times to my almost disastrous descent of the couloir. I actually had think whether what I had accomplished was worth braving 85 mph winds, and a disappearing path down the gully. I concluded that yes it was worth it, and at least 4 other people (two in front, and two behind), had completed the entire loop safely that day.
Risk is inherent in all endeavors, to live life on the edge is okay, as long as you don't cross over that edge. Adventure only begins when something goes wrong. You won't learn a thing about yourself, your abilities, your environment if there is no risk. Taking precautions and preparing can reduce these risks, but will never eliminate them, and never should eliminate them. All things considered these were just three moderate 14ers out of 54 in Colorado, whose paths were made for hikers and climbers at or below my abilities. I just happened to run into a rough spots, but there were more than 100 people at some point along the trail and even though most had turned back I did not regret having climbed three 14ers in under 6 hours. It was well worth the risk, especially to stand in the purple flowers and beside the 20 foot waterfall on the way down (the most beautiful part of the hike). Those other 95 or so people missed the flowers and waterfall, and the tops of the second two 14ers.
"One step forward, one step sideways, but forever onward we toil." This is life, it's how it was meant to be, tough going, uncertain paths, difficult terrain, and unexpected conditions should not deter us from destinations in the clouds.
~ Charles N. Whittemore (September 8th, 2014) - recounting the events of September 1st, 2014.
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| Guenella Pass Summit. |
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| The road on the south side of Guenella Pass. |
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| Up in the saddle between Cameron Point and Mt. Democrat. |
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| My GPS showing the elevation gains about an hour into the hike. |
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| Resting on a log in the saddle on the way up to Mt. Democrat. |
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| Summit of Mt. Democrat. |
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| Mine in the saddle on the descent from Mt. Democrat. |
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| Private property sign on the way up to Mt. Bross. |
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| Looking back on Cameron Point and Mt. Lincoln from high on the saddle of Mt. Bross. |
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| Mines on the side of Mt. Bross. |
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| This is what I look like after being battered by 85 mph winds for over and hour. |
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| Sign at the legal summit of Mt. Bross. |
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| Looking down what appears to be the path to Kite Lake, but in fact is actually loose scree. |
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| Twenty foot waterfall on the way down from Mt. Bross. |
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| Looking down the final section of the path towards Kite Lake and the trail head. |
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| Looking back at Mt. Bross from the Kite Lake Trail head. |
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| Relieved to be back down at the trail head sign. It took me around 5 & 1/2 hours to do all three of the peaks, but it was quite the eventful hike! |
