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Peak(s):  Mt. Democrat  -  14,154 feet
Mt. Lincoln  -  14,293 feet
Mt. Cameron  -  14,248 feet
Mt. Bross  -  14,178 feet
Date Posted:  08/21/2016
Date Climbed:   08/21/2016
Author:  V1per41
 DeCaLiBron Loop   

Absolute beautiful day for a hike!

We started by parking at the lower lot. This was our first attempt of this loop and saw a lot of cars parked facing down the road and assumed that they went to the top, found no parking, and parked at the first spot they saw on the way down. Big mistake. The road was easily passable in my small SUV, and I wish we had parked at the trail head. It added about 1-1.5 miles each way on our hike. We arrived at 7:15am on a Sunday and there was still plenty of parking at the top.

The hike itself went great without any major issues. It was a bit crowded, but no more than we expected for a Sunday. My wife and I completed it together, she is in about average shape, so for most hikers these times should probably be pretty close:

Trailhead -> Democrat/Cameron Saddle -- 1:10
Saddle -> Democrat Peak -- 0:35
Democrat Peak -> Saddle -- 0:37
Saddle -> Cameron -- 0:50
Cameron -> Lincoln -- 0:19
Lincoln -> Bross -- 0:50
Bross -> Trailhead -- 1:15

Right around 6 hours round trip of actual walking time. We spend a few minutes at the top of each peak for food & photos, so the whole day was closer to 7+hours.

The decent from Bross to the trailhead was easily the most difficult part. There was about a quarter mile segment that was through a steep scree field, but otherwise the trail was well marked and easy to travel.



Comments or Questions
MikeK
User
The Cali loop.
8/21/2016 9:55pm
I stuck to doing the Cali -- I've been up Democrat and wasn't inclined to repeat it today, and after Lincoln this fat geezer was pretty spent, so I saved Bross for another day. I agree: absolutely gorgeous day. First crack of lightning at 4:13 as I was driving away.


vimaury
trail crampons
8/25/2016 1:34pm
Hi. I am doing this loop this coming weekend. Are trail crampons and helmet needed? Thanks


MikeK
User
Decalibron
8/27/2016 6:24pm
Unless there's been a substantial snowfall or icing since the 8-21 the worst thing you'll encounter is some rugged, rocky stretches on the trails, so crampons shouldn't be needed. No helmet necessary.


tdelliquadri
Bross descent worse than expected
9/10/2016 8:38pm
thanks for the report. I had your hiking times screensaved on my phone as a guide to what we were in to. perfect timing except that the descent from Bross was much more difficult than anticipated. fell a few times and was entirely sketched out by the gravel over dirt situation. Took us 2 hours. Some folks in front of us took a route which looked good, but ended up being a sit on butt, straight down experience.



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