Ascent of Mount Democrat on 2016-07-03Others in Party: | Kristen Budahn Bryan Budahn Kathryn Mancewicz Joel Mancewicz
| Date: | Sunday, July 3, 2016 | Ascent Type: | Successful Summit Attained | Motorized Transport to Trailhead: | 4x4 Vehicle | Peak: | Mount Democrat | Location: | USA-Colorado | Elevation: | 14148 ft / 4312 m |
Ascent Trip ReportCamp was high at 12,000ft. My first night (coming from sea level) was rough. I woke up with a splitting headache and feeling like I was going to vomit. After driving to Denver and back to meet up with the others I felt much better. The second night was much easier. We did an acclimatization hike up to Lake Emma on the second day. It was a beautiful hike. A bit wet and rainy, but not too bad.
On day three we started the hike with 5 of us (Kristen, Bryan, Kathryn, Joel, and I). We summited Democrat first which was a good hike. Kathryn and Joel started struggling due to tiring out from the altitude. They pushed through to Cameron and then decided to turn back (which was the right choice and better than a descent via Bross). Cameron was a boring summit and didn't feel like a peak at all, but more like a hill between Democrat and Lincoln. It was also overcast so we had no view from Cameron.
Kristen, Bryan, and I did the out and back to Lincoln which was an interesting peak. I started to feel the altitude on Bross so we hit the summit and moved on to the descent quickly. It's a huge summit and a slow increase in altitude from Lincoln which makes for a lot of time at 14,000 feet. The descent on Bross was on some nasty scree with no solid footing. Bryan went a bit too fast and nearly slid off the side, but we all made it down in one piece.
Overall it was a very good hike and felt good to hit four peaks in one day. |
Summary Total Data | Total Elevation Gain: | 2148 ft / 654 m | Total Elevation Loss: | 768 ft / 234 m | Round-Trip Distance: | 2.6 mi / 4.2 km | Grade/Class: | Class 2 | Quality: | 3 (on a subjective 1-10 scale) | Route Conditions: | Maintained Trail | Gear Used: | Tent Camp | Weather: | Pleasant, Calm, Clear Good Conditions | Ascent Statistics | Gain on way in: | 2148 ft / 654 m | Distance: | 2.1 mi / 3.4 km | Route: | Democrat East Ridge | Start Trailhead: | Kite Lake Trailhead 12000 ft / 3657 m | Time: | 0 Days 2 Hours 0 Minutes | Descent Statistics | Loss on way out: | 768 ft / 234 m | Distance: | 0.5 mi / 0.8 km | Route: | Democrat + Cameron => Saddle | End Trailhead: | Democrat + Cameron => Saddle 13380 ft / 4078 m | Time: | 0 Days 0 Hours 45 Minutes | Ascent Part of Trip: Democrat/Cameron/Lincoln/Bross (3 nights total away from roads)
Complete Trip Sequence: Total Trip Gain: 3504 ft / 1069 m Total Trip Loss: 3504 ft / 1068 m |
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