Camping areas near Mt. Democrat/Lincoln/Cameron/Bross

[vsigler]

I will be visiting Mt. Democrat in early June, hoping for a little snow on the south slopes, and would like to spend a couple of nights on the mountain. From the topo map, it looks like the area adjacent to Emma Lake is rather flat and might be a good camp site. Does anyone have any experience in this area? Also, I will have two 14 year-olds with me. With that in mind, is the Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln and Bross loop a reasonable consideration? We would like to be up there for three days...any campsites along the loop?
Thank you.

[dpage]

There's forest service fee camp sites at Kite Lake.

[atbaritone]

No campsites along the loop between Democrat/Lincoln/Bross, and I don't know why you would want to camp up there. Stay at Kite Lake campground: good sites, incredible views, and as close to the mountains as you could possibly want. And at 12K feet elevation, you'll have your fill of altitude after three nights. Plenty of 14-year-olds have completed the loop as a day hike. If they're in good shape, go for it. And there are plenty of opportunities to bale out if necessary. Enjoy, be safe!

[Shaolin]

Also would recommend Kite Lake.

[vsigler]

No campsites along the loop between Democrat/Lincoln/Bross, and I don't know why you would want to camp up there. Stay at Kite Lake campground: good sites, incredible views, and as close to the mountains as you could possibly want. And at 12K feet elevation, you'll have your fill of altitude after three nights. Plenty of 14-year-olds have completed the loop as a day hike. If they're in good shape, go for it. And there are plenty of opportunities to bale out if necessary. Enjoy, be safe!

Thanks for the info for Kite Lake...it does look nice. I was hoping to give the kids an "alpine" experience by hiking up a few hundred feet and setting up our own camp. The area around Lake Emma looked like it might be the place.

[summitrunner]

I do not recommend hiking Democrat via the Emma Chutes. It was a scree nightmare, very steep pitches, and loose/nasty/crumbly rocks. I am not sure how far up the road you can get in early June with as much snow as we have gotten this late spring. The road is rough too. High clearance and/or 4x4 recommended.

After you do the DeCaLiBro... Consider doing a few of the 13ers in the Mosquito Range: http://13ers.com/peaks/13ers.php?range=m" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Bucksin, Loveland, etc.

[peter303]

Here is a fragment topo map I saw online:
http://www.mytopo.com/locations/index.cfm?fid=179933
The rectangles are mining claims. A sign near the main Democrat trail says to stay on trail beacuse due to some private land 9mining claims)..
The main trail goes to the northeast of Kite Lake to a saddle between Democrat and Cameron. Its in good shape. But crss-country up a thsand feet to Emma may not be in as good shape.
One year I climbed Democrat on Fathers Day with a lot of snow starting mid-way up the saddle.

Some years early season you need a high clearance veicle to make it all the way to Kite Lake. Spring runoff carves gullies. People park at turnoff down the road to avoid gullies and dayuse fee.

[vsigler]

Thank you, everyone. You bring up great points, and I have noticed the SNOTEL reports of lots of snow recently. That's the reason why I thought the chutes would be fun, especially if the snow is consolidated. 14ers describes the chutes route ('South Slopes' on the website) as 40-45 degrees, which is when it starts to get fun if the snow is good. I did Dead Dog Couloir on Torrey's two years ago in June and enjoyed it, so the exposure isn't a huge issue for me. However, based on the input above, it sounds like the chutes route is not as straightforward as 14ers makes it sound. Is this right?