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Got to the trailhead at 3:15am on June 19th, and snow started falling. I decided to wait until 4:30 or so, not wanting to climb in the dark with the wind and snow. Around 4:15, 3 other guys show up to climb the peaks and they graciously took me along.
Just before dawn- on the trail
The snow was soft down below but after 30-45 minutes of hiking we got to solid snow which was perfect for walking on- didn't need snowshoes the whole day, even though we brought them. Iceaxe came in real handy, especially for the glissade descent.
Heading up the ridge to Democrat summit
The weather the whole day was erratic; it would be windy and cloudy or foggy with a visibility of maybe 20 yards, and then a few minutes later the sun would come out or the clouds would blow away and we could see. It was hard to find the summit on democrat with the visibility so low. After some map and compass work, we summited around 6:30 or 7:00.
Up the slope to Cameron
We headed back down to the Democrat-Cameron saddle and then up the beautiful slope to Cameron as the skies began to clear up a bit.
Still ascending...
More snow near the top
Toward lincoln
Things seemed a lot easier with more visibility and Democrat behind us. We left Cameron at 7:30 and headed toward Lincoln.
Getting closer...
The snow was solid with plenty of grip, even without snowshoes.
Almost on the summit
Looking back toward Cameron
Lincoln summit
Back toward bross
We left Lincoln's summit around 8:45 and headed toward Bross.
Looking back at Lincoln
Looking at bross summit
By this time, the skies above us had completely cleared up- crazy weather!
Looking back at Lincoln summit
Democrat summit before we headed back down from bross
We were able to get a good look at the summit of Democrat before we glissaded down a beautiful couloir full of snow. We were back to the Kite Lake parking lot at 11:00 or so. Amazing day in the mountains!
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Looks like you had a great time. I was just wondering what the wooden signs said in the picture you posted titled...
”Heading up the ridge to Democrat summit?”
I am heading out to Breckenridge Colorado next week and was hoping to do the same hike.
Nice trip report, my wife and I are headed that way this weekend. How was the decent from Bross? All snow? is an ice axe needed on this loop? Or can you get by with poles?
The descent from Bross was great, but we needed an ice axe to glissade down. You could probably do a self-arrest with poles alone and walk/slide down, or you could follow the route the trail takes down Bross on less steep terrain. The couloir where we went was all snow, but the trail wouldn‘t even have snow all the way down. Anyway, I think you could get by without an ice axe, but I always like having one.
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