Peak(s):	Mt. Cameron - 14,248 feet
Date Posted:	09/17/2016
Date Climbed:	08/30/2016
Author:	paul109876

Early Snow and Rolling clouds
Nice Hike but no Prize We were staying in Denver for the week and exposing my Daughter and Son in law to the Wild West for their 1st time. I knew my time would be limited and wanted to try to squeeze in a 14er before dedicating myself to lower elevation hikes and site seeing for the rest of the week. In past years I have ran into weather issues at Kite Lake, 1 year a T Storm rolled in so I turned around, the year before that the wind was so strong at the Cameron/Democrat Saddle that my wife could barely stand so we turned back. This year in late June I managed to knock off Democrat!!! But being from central Indiana and only being in Salida for a couple of days the altitude was not agreeing with me so I headed back down instead of opting for another summit. Of course the weather was great on that day. So here we are in late August. I had posts on the forum about going "UP" Bross and around and coming down the saddle, or doing a out and back using the saddle as my entrance and exit. Then after reading a trip report from a hiker of my "age" about how she went up the Bross route I was sold. Until I got to the Kite Lake trail head and saw the snow on the trail. Snow covered Bross- Late August So on to plan B, up and then back down the saddle. So I took off whistling Zippidy Do Dah out of my ass. It's 6:30 a.m. on a weekday and very few people are out. The sky is blue and everything is great. Nothin but Blue Skies do I see On up to the saddle and along the way there is some ice, some slippery rocks but when I get to the saddle all of the rocks are frosted like that Tiger Driven Breakfast cereal. Frosted Rocks for Breakfast- They're GRRR slick I see a couple of other folks also heading to Cameron, great I'm not alone!!! A little chatting along the way and off they go ahead of me. And I notice coming over Bross is one of those creeping clouds, growing, getting darker and slithering across the summit like a fat snake. They're Here....... Now, all of my climbs have been dry climbs. I've ran into an avalanche field here and there but have never been on snow cover terrain at 14000 ft with more snow coming. But I like adventure, hell if nothing else it will make for a great memory. So on I go, a little slower and more cautiously. And I'm getting close to the point of where you cross over the ridge and there is more snow and more clouds. More snow more clouds Now people that had past me earlier are coming back. I ask, "Did you Summit?" the response.... "Nope there's more snow and the clouds are rolling in" I go a little higher, more people, same question, same response. 3rd times the charm, a lady who passed me up was coming back. Same question, same response. SH!( !!!!! not again!!!! Being cautious I stopped, paused, thought about it, paused, paused, paused and turned around. With a bad back, bad knee and now broken ego a slowly made my way back to the SUV. Heading Back Down I took my sweet time coming down. Although no summits today, it was a great experience and I learned more about myself and my abilities. I met some nice folks, Baptized my boots in snow and made it back safely. A success. Turned out to be a good choice. The clouds grew larger and there was more precipt. dropped. Last look at the clouds Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Early Snow and Rolling clouds

Nice Hike but no Prize

We were staying in Denver for the week and exposing my Daughter and Son in law to the Wild West for their 1st time.
I knew my time would be limited and wanted to try to squeeze in a 14er before dedicating myself to lower elevation hikes and site seeing for the rest of the week.

In past years I have ran into weather issues at Kite Lake, 1 year a T Storm rolled in so I turned around, the year before that the wind was so strong at the Cameron/Democrat Saddle that my wife could barely stand so we turned back.

This year in late June I managed to knock off Democrat!!! But being from central Indiana and only being in Salida for a couple of days the altitude was not agreeing with me so I headed back down instead of opting for another summit. Of course the weather was great on that day.

So here we are in late August. I had posts on the forum about going "UP" Bross and around and coming down the saddle, or doing a out and back using the saddle as my entrance and exit. Then after reading a trip report from a hiker of my "age" about how she went up the Bross route I was sold.

Until I got to the Kite Lake trail head and saw the snow on the trail.

So on to plan B, up and then back down the saddle. So I took off whistling Zippidy Do Dah out of my ass. It's 6:30 a.m. on a weekday and very few people are out. The sky is blue and everything is great.

On up to the saddle and along the way there is some ice, some slippery rocks but when I get to the saddle all of the rocks are frosted like that Tiger Driven Breakfast cereal.

Frosted Rocks for Breakfast- They're GRRR slick

I see a couple of other folks also heading to Cameron, great I'm not alone!!! A little chatting along the way and off they go ahead of me. And I notice coming over Bross is one of those creeping clouds, growing, getting darker and slithering across the summit like a fat snake.

Now, all of my climbs have been dry climbs. I've ran into an avalanche field here and there but have never been on snow cover terrain at 14000 ft with more snow coming. But I like adventure, hell if nothing else it will make for a great memory. So on I go, a little slower and more cautiously.

And I'm getting close to the point of where you cross over the ridge and there is more snow and more clouds.

Now people that had past me earlier are coming back. I ask, "Did you Summit?" the response.... "Nope there's more snow and the clouds are rolling in"
I go a little higher, more people, same question, same response.
3rd times the charm, a lady who passed me up was coming back. Same question, same response. SH!( !!!!! not again!!!!

Being cautious I stopped, paused, thought about it, paused, paused, paused and turned around. With a bad back, bad knee and now broken ego a slowly made my way back to the SUV.

I took my sweet time coming down. Although no summits today, it was a great experience and I learned more about myself and my abilities. I met some nice folks,
Baptized my boots in snow and made it back safely. A success.

Turned out to be a good choice. The clouds grew larger and there was more precipt. dropped.

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

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Nice Hike but no Prize

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