DeCaLiBron

Hiked: 8/20/2025
Distance: 7.7 miles round trip on trail
Summit Elevation: 14154' (Democrat), 14248' (Cameron), 14292' (Lincoln), 14178' (Bross)
Elevation Gain: 3500'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 2.8
Round trip time: 6 hours 15 minutes
Recommended water: 92 oz.
Parking/Fees: $8 Day Use Fee for Parking, Self-Pay
Difficulty: Strenuous

The day after Sneffels, I left Montrose at 3:30 AM for the 3.5 hour drive to the DeCaLiBron trailhead at Kite Lake. Well into the drive, I started looking for a restroom at either a rest area or gas station. Unfortunately, the small towns I was driving through on Highway 50 East had no open gas stations (pumps were open, but not the stores). I never saw any signs for a rest area in over 100 miles. I grew increasingly desperate and eventually did my business at a turn out in the dark. No cars drove by. I continued to the trailhead up a dirt road in the town of Alma, CO. The road was heavily wash-boarded and grew worse past the gate where I paid the $8 for parking. It's self pay at the gate or trailhead. High clearance recommended, though I saw several sedans that made it. The upper lot was at 12000' and almost full. A lot of people were on the mountains.

The name DeCaLiBron is based on four 14ers you can hit in one loop:

• Mount Democrat
• Mount Cameron
• Mount Lincoln
• Mount Bross

Getting four 14ers in one hike was very appealing and not something an average hiker could accomplish anywhere else in the US. It was 36F when I started on a nice trail going clockwise toward Mt. Democrat. My quads were already sore from Sneffels, and they were in for a second beating. The first section of trail gained 1300' to the saddle between Democrat and Cameron. The wind started to pick up so I stopped to add a layer and gloves. From the saddle up, everything was a giant talus field. The climb to Democrat was about 700' and there was false summit at the top of the slope. The summit was another quarter mile away. Several groups were coming down, several going up, and several were on the summit when I arrived. There were no marks and no register on this wildly popular mountain. Views were nice in all directions. I took a short break, then followed the crowd down Democrat and up Cameron. It was another 800' up Cameron to a wide, flat summit with no clear high point. This climb felt harder than the one to Democrat due to the altitude and accumulated gain. I took a lot of 20 second breaks to keep my heart rate under control. Cameron had no register and no marks. A lot of people congregated on the summit of Cameron, so I continued on toward Lincoln, which looked farther away than it was.

Mount Democrat near the start

Mt. Democrat from the saddle

Mt. Democrat summit ahead

Climbing Mt. Cameron

Looking back at Mt. Democrat from Cameron
The drop off from Cameron was only 100', then up 150' over a half mile to Lincoln. Lincoln looked like it might involve a some class 2, but it didn't. Class 1 all the way. Lincoln had a benchmark and reference mark, but no register. It was the highest of the four and had some cool chutes falling away from the summit. I savored a brief bit of solitude on Lincoln and had lunch there before another group arrived. The last section followed a trail that cut across the shoulder of Cameron to Mt. Bross. Like Cameron, Bross was a giant mound with an indistinct high point. The summit was a wind shelter where a group of fifteen was resting and taking photos. I marked a waypoint, then walked about 500' to a wind shelter on the other side of the summit plateau that looked a smidgen higher. However, When I got there, it was obviously lower than the first shelter. The trail off Bross was steep and loose. The main trail dropped off the ridge and was the only part that might have been class 2. I followed advice from 14ers.com and took a use trail further down the ridge, letting me pass about 20 other hikers in a traffic jam on the main trail. When I got back to the parking lot, I packed up and drove north to Dillon, where I had accommodations for the night. I had climbed five 14ers in two days. Looking back, I slightly overestimated the difficulty of Sneffels, and underestimated the DeCaLiBron. 3500' gain at elevation was honest work, though Sneffels was still harder due to terrain. With destroyed quads, my strike mission to CO had come to an end. I flew back to the OC the following morning.

Mt. Lincoln from Cameron

Mt. Bross from Lincoln

Approaching Bross

Mt. Democrat from Bross

The mountains were teeming with pika

King’s Crown (Rhodiola integrifolia)

Mount Sneffels, CO

Hiked: 8/19/2025
Distance: 6.1 miles round trip on dirt road, trail, and cross country
Summit Elevation: 14155'
Prominence: 3067'
Elevation Gain: 3071'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 2.4
Round trip time: 6 hours
Recommended water: 100 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free on Yankee Boy Basin Road
Difficulty: Strenuous

I flew to Denver and drove south to prepare for Mount Sneffels, a Colorado 14er I'd been stalking since last year. I had the same trip booked last year, but cancelled it last minute due to weather. Colorado weather is notoriously unpredictable and afternoon storms are common in the summer. Luck was on my side this time as the forecast for Sneffels was sunshine all day. I still wanted to start at daybreak to hedge my bets. I drove up Yankee Boy Basin in a rented Jeep 4x4, surprised that the Jeep really struggled up the last 1000' to the lower trailhead at 11274'. I had to disengage the 4x4 Hi to keep it from stalling out. The first couple of miles of the hike were on a dirt road ending at the Blue Lakes trailhead. A couple of other Jeeps were able to drive to the upper trailhead.

A single track departed from there and split into two trails, one to Blue Lakes and the other to Sneffels. The trail ended at a large cairn at the base of the Lavender Col, filled with talus and sand. I tried to stay on the rocks, offering more stability than the steep, packed dirt. Two parties ahead of me split off before the top of the col for a ridge ascent, but it turned out they followed the party ahead of them who went off route. After reaching the saddle, the main route continued up the equally steep Lavender Col. The final mile gained 1800' without mercy.

Alpenglow on Mt. Gilpin

From the Blue Lakes trailhead

Climber following others up a non-standard route

Standard route up the Lavender Col

V-notch is near the top on the left

Looking back down the gully

V-notch, exposed on the left but not visible from this angle
The crux of the route was the V-notch. A class 3 wedge with some exposure on the left side. After the notch was 200' of class 2, leading to a small summit with several climbers taking in the views. Half had helmets, a good idea with lots of loose rock other climbers could knock down on you. I chatted briefly with a few of them and we took turns taking pictures of each other. The views were otherworldly and dramatic: big mountains, lakes, and jagged formations. All sides of the summit dropped off significantly. There was a register, but it was missing a pen and I didn't have one so I didn't sign in. No marks. I spent about 20 minutes on the summit. All parties agreed to stagger our descent to reduce the risk of rock fall. I was the last to leave. At the V-notch, a couple was trying to come up, but were apprehensive. They insisted I come down first, which I did facing the rock. After I got down, the couple made their way up tentatively. It was a very slow descent back to the trail. Hiking back on the road, I dodged many vehicles, including some off road vehicles. Sneffels was a fun scramble and nice test piece. I'd put it in my top ten all time. Shout out to 14ers.com, a really useful site for all the Colorado 13ers and 14ers.

Note the climber starting a ridge descent

Blue Lakes from above

Back down the Lavender Col

Sharing the road with Jeeps on the way back

Mount Sneffels was named following its first ascent in 1874 by members of the Hayden Geological Survey. The name Sneffels appears to be an Americanized form of the Old Norse Snæfell (“snow mountain”).

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North Onyx Point and Onyx Peak

Hiked: 8/12/2025
Distance: 6.1 miles round trip on dirt road
Summit Elevation: 9120'
Elevation Gain: 750'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 0.6
Round trip time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Recommended water: 40 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free on Pipes Canyon Road
Difficulty: Easy

From Highway 38, I turned onto Pipes Canyon Road and parked. There was plenty of parking available outside the locked gate. I suspect it is always locked due to private towers on Onyx Peak (HPS #29). The PCT also passes through here. I started up the smooth dirt road that makes a long U-shape to reach Onyx. I noticed more cedars than pines and the forest was sparse. At the turn, I left the road and headed for an unofficial peakbagger-only peak named North Onyx Point. It was a quarter mile from the road and I thought maybe unlocked some great views, but it didn't. I wandered around trying to find the high point before heading back to the road. I met one large jack rabbit, the kind I usually see at much lower elevations. It was the only wild life encounter of the day. The summit had several towers, some seismic equipment, and open boxes with communcation equipment. Pieces of an unassembled tower were laying on the ground. It looked like an active construction site, but no one was working that day. I found the benchmark and a reference mark, but no register. A small painted sign was propped up next to the benchmark. Views on the flat summit were hampered by trees. On the way back, I decided to take a shortcut down a drainage where the distance to the road below was at a minimum. Fortunately, the forest had plenty of open spaces to walk around the trees. 400' feet down, I crossed a trail. 500' down was the road. It was a surprisingly easy and useful shortcut, and could be used on the way up.

North Onyx Point -- not worth the side trip

Jack rabbit

High tech comms

Drainage shortcut