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Peak(s):  Mt. Bross  -  14,178 feet
Mt. Cameron  -  14,248 feet
Mt. Democrat  -  14,154 feet
Mt. Lincoln  -  14,293 feet
Date Posted:  07/29/2012
Date Climbed:   07/29/2012
Author:  Cheaton6
 DeCaLiBro   

I have read many trip reports about this hike and finally found some time to get around to it. So around 1:30 am we (My girlfriend, 14 lb Cockapoo, and I) left Denver heading towards Kite Lake. Our goal was to get close to the summit if not summit Democrat by sunrise, however a few mistakes made sure this didn't happen. First mistake - I read on the 14ers routes that in the town of Alma there would be a tiny sign that said Kite Lake, and tiny is right. We drove past the sign and up towards the next pass before we realized we had missed the turn. Drove back into town and found the sign and made our way to Kite Lake. We arrived at around 3:30 am quickly got ready and followed some other hikers. Mistake 2 - It was very dark as the moon was not visible so we along with some other hikers struggled to find the trail head. We ended up finding a trail behind the bathrooms and figured this must be it as the trail was also on my gps. Well after about 800 ft of elevation and a little over a mile the trail vanished into a steep and wet terrain. A look at my GPS confirmed that this trail ended there, so we had to turn around and head back to the parking lot. On the way back my head lamp died even though I had just put new batteries in it so it was a long slow walk back with only one flashlight. Once we got back to the parking lot we could see flashlights going up the right trail so we finally started the hike around 6ish.








After the confusion and slow start to the hike everything went smooth. The weather was good, some clouds came over closer to noon but we were coming down Bross by than. Bross is full of steep and lose rock so the decent took longer than expected but no problems.





It was a fun hike and a beautiful day. The main point people should get from this trip report is, don't follow the trail behind the bathroom! Stay on the right side of Kite Lake!



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