Decalibron- Completed

A few weeks ago we attempted to do a hike set called “Decalibron” which is Democrat, Cameron, Lincon, and Bross– which is a set of 4 14ers. We were only able to get Mount Buckskin, the weather blew in before we were able to snag the rest.

We decided as a group to reattempt them this weekend- and succeeded… Well Rox and I got all 4, it was a rough day… and the winds were really strong, and cold.

 

We arrived the night before to really strong winds, and the large 4 person car camping tent we had brought to sleep in was not exactly meant for high alpine winds….I don’t think any of us slept. I was laying there at one point with the  side of the tent bent over my face from two different directions, not meant for alpine camping.

We hiked from up camp, after taking down the tent so our stuff did not fly away down the valley, arrived at the trailhead around 5AM.

The hike changed so much within the course of two weeks, most of the snow had melted, and the trail was clear almost the entire way up Democrat.

Looking back from the saddle.

Looking towards the summit.

There it is!

 

Our whole group on the summit of Mt. Democrat.

Mt. Democrat 14, 148′ and #6 in my 30by 30

We relaxed for a few minutes before descending back to the saddle to climb towards Cameron. At this point the wind had picked up, and it became more difficult to easily hike up the ridge– but I was determined- there was not a cloud!

The ridge towards cameron.

 

The gusts got worse at the summit, and we all had to sit.

Shannon and I at the summit of Mt. Cameron 14, 238′ # 7 in the 30 by 30.

At this point our group separated, it had gotten really windy–and the others weren’t so hellbent on summiting. I continued on with four of our party up the shoulder of Mt. Lincoln. There was some protection behind the rock wall above us, however not much, there was no reveling in the summit. We took pictures and ran back down to the saddle, and found a wind break on the ridge over towards Bross to have our lunch.

Summit of Lincoln 14, 238 and #8 in my 30 by 30.

The other two decided that they were not interested in trying to summit Mt. Bross, and took the turn that headed back towards the trailhead. Rox and I made the choice to continue to the summit of Mt. Bross.

I made it! Mt. Bross 14, 172 and #9 in my 30 by 30

We stayed on the sumit for about 2 minutes- then began to hike back towards the trailhead. The trail back to the cars was incredibly steep, but we made it back with good time!

oops!

Looking at Democrat.

It was a fantastic climb, and I had a lot of fun…and I’m now up to 9 on my 30 by 30– which is HUGE!