Mt. Lincoln – Decalibron – Solo Ascent

Date: Aug 24, 2002
Elevation: 14,286′
Rank: 8th
Route: Decalibron, Grade II, Class 2, 7.0 miles, 3600ft vert.
GPS: N 39° 21.083′ W 106° 6.65′
Team: Matt Esser (Toid)

Pre-climb: The Decalibron, need I say more? For those of you that don’t know, the name Decalibron comes from taking parts of the four fourteeners that you can get all in one hike in one day. Mt. DEmocrat, Mt. CAmeron, Mt. LIncolN, Mt. BROss. However, because Mt. Cameron doesn’t rise 200 feet from its connecting saddle, it’s not an official fourteener, however most people climb it anyway.

Climb: When I climbed my first fourteener, (the West Ridge on Quandary), and I finally got to the top, I saw somebody coming up the East Slopes. After talking to him, he pointed out that you could see all four of the Decalibron mountains. He then quickly pointed out that he did them all in one day. I had just got done with the hardest thing I’ve ever done (West Ridge in November), and I couldn’t even fathom what it must be like to do four in one day. They looked so far apart.

Nine months later here I am. Driving to Kite Lake for my attempt at doing the Decalibron. The first thing I noticed (thanks for the headsup, Chris Woodruff, for the trip report on 14erworld.com) is that they now charge $3 to park. I don’t know how long this has been going on, but it wasn’t mentioned in either of the 14er guidebooks. I was flat broke, but managed to find enough change around the house so I could pay the fee. After a tranquil drive to the trailhead, I started hiking around 6:30am with perfect weather.

Going up Democrat is probably the hardest part of the route. It goes up in a hurry! It’s faily easy to find the trail up until the rocks start getting bigger towards the top. Just head to what you think is the summit, only to find out it’s a false summit. From there though, you can see the real deal. It’s not far. Coming back down off Democrat was rather fun, I had a bunch of energy, and the people I talked to were pleasant. However, going up the ridge to Cameron is what wore me down. I kept glancing over to Quandary to see the route where it all started. It’s still there. Hasn’t gone anywhere. Just about to the top of Cameron I got passed by a guy named Rob, and then about 10 minutes after him, a girl named Wendy. I joined up with them on the summit of Cameron, and continued the rest of the route in their company. They were great fun! They lifted my spirits and quickened my pace. My how it helps to have somebody to talk to when you’re up there! The wind really picked up, so we put on more clothes. While we were doing so, we noticed how insignificant Cameron’s summit is. There’s just a cairn of rocks in the middle of this flat space. It seems like you climb and climb and climb, and then when you’re there, all you look at is Lincoln’s summit! Had the cairn not been there, we decided you would almost walk right over it without realizing you were on Cameron’s summit!

Lincoln was a little more exciting, a pretty exciting finish I must say! We didn’t spend too much time here either, and we quickly went over to Bross. It was smooth sailing! The only thing about Bross’ summit is that it is actually kind of big, and it had a summit register! So far we had been unable to find ones on the previous summits. Everybody exchanged high fives, and then the fun really began! The downhill human bobsled run! There were goodtimes to be had going just straight down, but a lot of rocks did get in my shoes. I stopped once to clean them out, but once you hit the main trail again, you know you’re getting close. I said goodbye to my new buddies, and then began the long drive on I-70 home.

Ahhh, the feeling of climbing a few fourteeners first thing in the morning and being home and showered by 3! What a great weekend!

Drive: 2.5h
Ascent: 1.25h
Summit: 15 min
Traverse: 1.5h
Summit: 15 min
Traverse: 15 min
Summit: 15 min
Traverse: 45 min
Summit: 15 min
Descent: 1h
Drive: 2.5h
Total: 5.5h