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| Hiking | 9.21 Miles |
3,684 AEG |
| | Hiking | 9.21 Miles | 9 Hrs 28 Mns | | 1.54 mph |
| 3,684 ft AEG | 3 Hrs 30 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Note: This trip report involves 4 peaks - Bross, Lincoln, Cameron, Democrat...
I read some other trip reports for this loop and decided to tackle it in reverse order because (a) I didn't have poles, and (b) I didn't want to attempt going down the steep Western slope of Bross mtn without poles. It seemed like most of the hikers I met along the way did the loop clockwise. Some had poles and some did not.
I arrived at the trailhead a little after 8 am. I had to park in a lower parking area because the top parking lot was full. The forecast seemed to be great this day without rain or storms. If the weather cooperated, I thought I would be able to reach my goal of finishing all 4 peaks. Near the trailhead, I took the unmarked branch which went in the direction of Mt Bross. It was extremely slow going because of the steepness of the trail and the elevation. I was breathing heavy and just went along at a comfortable pace. About 80% of the way to the top, I met a couple from England and they were coming down, finishing the whole loop quite early. We chatted for a while and they gave me a few words of encouragement that the trail would flatten out and that there was no problem going to Bross, even thought it was technically on 'private property'. When I got closer to the top, there was a trail junction with a trail going up and a trail heading around Bross going North toward Cameron/Lincoln. There was a sign saying something to the effect of 'Private Property - Stay on trail', and the trail going to the trail was in fact a very well-maintained trail, so it seemed to be completely fine to do this summit. When I got there I had the summit to myself for a few minutes. Then, I saw another hiker coming from the other direction (Lincoln side). He offered to take my photo. I took a few summit photos and a video then headed toward Lincoln peak.
I was thrilled to see that the ridgeline heading toward Lincoln peak was relatively flat. I did need to drop a few hundred feet in elevation but it was not nearly as steep as my ascent up Bross peak. As I continued North toward Lincoln peak I passed a few other hikers coming from that area and they said they saw 2 goats laying down resting. When I got over to the saddle between Lincoln and Cameron, I didn't see the sheep but others said they took off. I continued on my way to Lincoln peak. There was a false summit but once beyond that, the peak was right there. When I got to the peak, there were a few other people and then a guy named David appeared. He said it was his 50th birthday and left a sign there at the top. We chatted about some of the of the other peaks in the area and the rest of his family that was slightly behind. By the way, I would like to take this time to mention that Lincoln was a Republican. Seems like most non-republicans did not know this. What did Lincoln do? He freed the slaves. Wish he was around today to free the democrats from their irrational illogical worship of the party of slavery while they seem to hate the party who is fighting for our freedom and liberty.
From the top of Lincoln, a few of us spotted 2 goats walking on the trail in our direction. But, the goats turned off the trail and headed down to lower elevation. About 20 minutes later I was able to look North from the Lincoln summit and see the 2 goats below. I decided to take a break and have some snacks and water here. It was just before Noon, I felt great, and I felt like I was going to be able to accomplish all 4 peaks today.
After having lunch I took some photos and a video. The views looking North and West were some of the best views all day. I started heading back down to the saddle I was at previously, West of Mt Lincoln. Mt Cameron seemed to be an easy hike with a gradual trail leading up to it and not a lot of elevation gain. Someone else's trip report said the saddle between Lincoln and Cameron was at over 14,000 feet elevation. I confirmed this while analyzing my GPS track.
I got to the top of Cameron peak which was a long flat area. I wouldn't have known exactly where the high spot was had it not been for a small rock pile and a cardboard sign on the ground with a rock over it so it would not blow away. I had the summit to myself so I used my tripod to take my photo. At this point I had 3 of the 4 peaks finished and only had Demoncrat peak left. This was going to be a harder one because there was considerable elevation drop on the West side of Cameron and considerable gain going up to Mt Demoncrat. I continued going down the West side of Cameron. This involved nearly a 900 foot drop in elevation before getting to the lower saddle East of Mt Demoncrat.
I could see the trail heading up from the distance. There were some distinct switchbacks and I was told by other hikers that it was a nice trail and very well maintained. After getting higher up, I actually got a little off-trail because there was a confusing branch apparently. I went around a huge rock pile, then looked up and saw a sign and a section of trail. This is where I needed to be. I did the open Country scramble up to the trail section and I was back on the proper channel. A fast hiker passed by me on the trail and another one was going down the trail. I got to the false summit and could see the very top from here. It looked like only 100 more feet of vertical gain and I was there. There was a large patch of snow on the ground alongside the trail. The trail took me all the way to the rocky summit. From there, there were very nice views. Because of the angle, I did not have a view of Kitt Lake, but I had amazing views in all directions. I had another snack, took some photos and a video and started to head down. By this time it was already 4 pm. I was ready to head down the trail to complete my loop. I guessed that it would take about 1 hr 30 mins and that's about exactly what it took to go down the well-maintained trail that had over 2,000 feet of elevation gain.
On the way down I had some very nice photos of Kitt Lake, along with some photos of the surrounding mountains. All in all it was a challenging hike and I'm glad I did it. I will probably remember this place for the rest of my life!
Interesting fact: The town of Alma is the highest incorporated town in North America at 10,578 feet in elevation. Unfortunately, I had no cell service and no internet service while in the town of Alma, but on various peaks at 14,000+ feet in elevation, I had 4G service and even 5G at times!
Stats: (for entire loop)
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9.21 miles RT
3,684 feet AEG
strava moving time 5 hrs 56 mins
strava elapsed time 9 hrs 28 mins
Free camping area
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I found a free camping area which I stayed at 2 nights. The night before the loop and the night after. The dispersed camping area is off the forest service road marked 417.1A on the topo map.
location: 39.280249, -106.069841 |
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Michael Williams
IT Professional
Rocky Point Vacation Rentals
Ocean Front Condo in Rocky Point, Sonora, Mexico
www.beachfrontmexico.us
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Route Editor
Route Scout
Route 
Democrat was now free of people going up. Nick cruised while I tried my best to keep up. Finished up with beer and burgers. Great day with the Needle.
