Also of note, the Kite Lake trailhead has become a US Forest Service fee area, and day-parking runs $3, with overnight camping at $7. The money is used to maintain the facilities at Kite Lake, including a restroom and camping sites. Small price to pay.

Mounts Lincoln, Bross, and Democrat are a tightly grouped trio of 14ers that are generally accessed from the Kite Lake trailhead. By quirk of geography, this is one of the few places where you can actually climb three 14ers (or 4, if you include the not-offically-a-separate-14er Mount Cameron) in a day. I actually did this long day back in 1996, and have since returned for climbs of Bross (2001) and Democrat (2003). So this time, it was apropos to climb Lincoln and even out the score!

I bounced into the parking lot around 8:00am on the 25th, and at a glance I could tell this was going to be a bit more wintry of a climb than I thought - the stormy weather of the previous week had resulted in quite a bit of snow around the area, and the trail conditions ranged from windswept to icy to hardpack to a foot or more of soft powder. I was instantly glad I brought gaiters!

From Kite Lake, the peaks are lined up left-to-right; Democrat to the NW, Lincoln (peeking over Cameron's wide, flat summit) to the NE and the huge mass of Bross to the east. For this hike, the first objective is the Democrat/Cameron saddle, almost straight north from Kite Lake. There are a couple trail options, too. One trail leads right along the side of Kite Lake, and runs into a shallow gully and up to the saddle. Another trail climbs the gentle shoulder just to the east (climber's right) of Kite Lake, intercepting the other trail a few hundred yards below the saddle point. Both work just fine.

As you approach the saddle, several climber's trails break off to the left and lead up to Democrat. For Lincoln, climb all the way to the saddle and then turn right as the trail climbs up the ridge toward Cameron and Lincoln. The excellent trail starts on the right side of the ridge and alternates to the left as you approach Cameron. On this particular day, the bright sunny morning had quickly given way to dark, fast-moving clouds that hung low over the Mosquito range. On the ridgeline I encountered everything from patches of sunlight to visibility cut down to a few yards as the clouds formed and re-formed. The ridge had seen about a half-foot of snow, and the trail was snowcovered as well. I found myself on the flat summit of Cameron almost before I knew it, and I could just barely tell I was there.

From Cameron, Mount Lincoln is just about a half mile to the east, and the trail is easy to follow as you descend a couple hundred feet before the "up" starts again. The cloud layer lifted somewhat as I walked off Cameron, and it didn't take long before I was finished up the hike to Lincoln. The last few yards are actually rockier than the rest of the hike, but the trail winds through them without causing any difficulties. From Mount Lincoln, you get excellent views of the other 14ers in the immediate vicinity. Quandary Peak is immediately north, and the Sawatch range is laid out to the west beyond pointy Democrat.

Now as far as the return trip goes, there are two choices. Either return along the same path you climbed, or hike the saddle to Bross and descend from there. They're both about the same effort. I figured what the heck, I'd go ahead and swing over Bross.

...continued on the Bross trip report...