The Decalibron (less Democrat)

Day 1...3:30 am....time to wake up, pack the car, and hit the road!  Thus my life as a mountain girl starts.  The plan for the day is to tackle the Decalibron (less Democrat).  For those who do not know, the Decalibron is made up for 4 mountains in the Mosquito Range, Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln, and Bross, traditionally hiked in that order (take the first couple/few letters of each to get "Decalibron").  I already did Democrat last year with my old roomie Kristen who was visiting from Chicago, so bypassed it this time around.

The hike up Cameron, Lincoln, and Bross was successful!  Day started as planned around 7 AM.  Luckily the drive to the trailhead was clear/dry.  Some of the trail was under water, and the exposed rocks to get across were still covered in ice that early in the morning, so I had to get a little creative to get across a couple streams.  Nothing too concerning though.  

There were sections of the trail still covered in snow, but I made it across without putting microspikes on.

As I reached the saddle between Democrat and Cameron, the wind started to pick up.  Despite some wind, the weather was great all morning.  The trails to Cameron, Lincoln, and Bross were all pretty solid and easy to follow.  Here is the trail up to Cameron:

And the view from the top of Cameron, looking over to Lincoln:

The marker at Lincoln's summit, and some great views:

The most difficult part of the hike was the descent from Bross.  Mt. Bross is actually technically closed, so the trails are not super well kept at the moment.  There was a bit of loose rock and some steep portions.  But here I am all smiles trying to navigate down:

Getting back to the trailhead, the day had turned pretty warm, so it was nice to enjoy the rest of the day in Fairplay.

Just a note on the Hike Summary, I am still trying to learn how to use my Garmin eTrex so hopefully I will get a little more specific with my route stats once I figure that out.  Not sure if anyone has one, but for some reason I am having a hard time trying to figure out this super-un-user-friendly device.  Let me know if anyone has some tips (mostly interested in learning how to "start" and "stop" the tracks....since as of now even when I reset it, it tracks all miles cumulatively....hmmmmmm...oh ya, and how to load my maps onto it, as the approach explained by Garmin via its online videos is not working).  Anyway, great start to my sabbatical.

Hike Summary
Date:	Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Mountain:	Cameron, Lincoln, Bross
Hike Start Time:	7:00 AM
Summit Time:	Cameron - 9:00 AM Lincoln - 9:25 AM Bross - 10:30 AM
Hike End Time:	12:00 PM
Miles:	6.00
Elevation Gain:	3,000