Route Climbed: Southeast Ridge Date Climbed: August 17, 2000
Did the Decalibron which in retrospect is not that huge a feat, but at the time: being on top of three 14ers in one day was incredible to me. The summit of Democrat was absolutely thick with fog, it was neat climbing into the clouds
Route Climbed: North Ridge Date Climbed: September 2, 2002
Starting at Montgomery Reservoir, Erin and I hiked up to the headwaters of the Middle Fork of the South Platte. We were out early enough to not have to deal with 4WD vehicles attempting this challenging road. We hiked into a small amphitheatre below Traver Peak to gain Democrat's North Ridge above its saddle w/ Traver. The ridge gets very interesting at a notch that you can inspect while on your approach. To stay on or near the ridge crest would be fifth-class of a difficulty unknown to me, but it looked doable. We weren't up to the challenge, though, and traversed out onto the west-facing slopes to evade some of the difficulties. People are very surprised when they see you arrive at Democrat's summit from the north. We descended into Platte Gulch from the Democrat-Cameron saddle. I would not recommend our descent route for an ascent, because it's rather loose. Many 4WD vehicles were on the road to Wheeler Lake along our return trip.
Route Climbed: DeCaLiBron Date Climbed: June 5, 2002
I soloed the DeCaLiBron. I was very pleased that the road had been grated because otherwise, my Prizm wouldn't have made it to Kite Lake. A few inches of snow fell the night before, but it melted very quickly.
Route Climbed: 300' shy of Kite Lake Date Climbed: October 6, 2002
After a couple of weeks of snow in the mountains all of the peaks I wanted to get in before the end of the year was to come to an end after Mount Democrat four short of my goal.
I drove up to Kite Lake knowing that it’s only a 2,000 foot climb to the summit but it was snow all the way to the summit. There were more people up there than I was expecting and we were all going up the wrong way. After passing the little miners shack the trail was lost in the snow so we all went up a little hill and up around a bend and headed straight up the mountain. It was a little loose but nothing like Ellingwood. Once on the ridge I realized that I was looking at the sub-peak the whole time down low. It was another couple hundred feet to the summit but it was easy. It was a little windy but nicer than I though it was going to be on the summit.
Route Climbed: Kite Lake approach Date Climbed: Multiple
I have been on top of this peak several times. Most of them in the winter. Beautiful ridges to look down on from the summit. Usually combine this with Cameron, Lincoln and Bross.
Ryan Kowalski - Apr 19, 2004 12:04 pm
Route Climbed: Southeast Ridge Date Climbed: August 17, 2000Did the Decalibron which in retrospect is not that huge a feat, but at the time: being on top of three 14ers in one day was incredible to me. The summit of Democrat was absolutely thick with fog, it was neat climbing into the clouds
f360driver - Apr 14, 2004 6:39 pm
Route Climbed: Unknown Date Climbed: 7/04Easy scramble. Fun climb.
coloradoiceclimber - Apr 10, 2004 3:58 pm
Route Climbed: From Kite Lake Date Climbed: June 16, 2001Great tripple tick with Nate Lowery. It took 1.5 hrs to the summit from the lot!
RyanS - Apr 9, 2004 5:05 pm
Route Climbed: North Ridge Date Climbed: September 2, 2002Starting at Montgomery Reservoir, Erin and I hiked up to the headwaters of the Middle Fork of the South Platte. We were out early enough to not have to deal with 4WD vehicles attempting this challenging road. We hiked into a small amphitheatre below Traver Peak to gain Democrat's North Ridge above its saddle w/ Traver. The ridge gets very interesting at a notch that you can inspect while on your approach. To stay on or near the ridge crest would be fifth-class of a difficulty unknown to me, but it looked doable. We weren't up to the challenge, though, and traversed out onto the west-facing slopes to evade some of the difficulties. People are very surprised when they see you arrive at Democrat's summit from the north. We descended into Platte Gulch from the Democrat-Cameron saddle. I would not recommend our descent route for an ascent, because it's rather loose. Many 4WD vehicles were on the road to Wheeler Lake along our return trip.
RyanS - Apr 9, 2004 4:48 pm
Route Climbed: DeCaLiBron Date Climbed: June 5, 2002I soloed the DeCaLiBron. I was very pleased that the road had been grated because otherwise, my Prizm wouldn't have made it to Kite Lake. A few inches of snow fell the night before, but it melted very quickly.
pphlux - Mar 19, 2004 11:22 pm
Route Climbed: North Face (Platte Gulch Approach) Date Climbed: May 2002Good route. Snow was very thin in platte gulch for this early in the
season. 4x4 road was clear to about 12,000'.
Snow was not consolidated, and was easy to kick steps into, but
looking back, was probably not safe from avalanche yet.
This route was absolutely amazing, and I really do suggest it.
With a high camp in Platte Gulch, all three(four) of the lincoln
group can be climbed in a single day. Descend the saddle between
lincoln and democrat.
Also, watch out, the marmots will eat your stuff.
granddeity - Feb 12, 2004 4:01 am
Route Climbed: Standard Date Climbed: August 2003Summitted, and was most of the way up Cameron when the lightning started heading in, so decended without summiting the other mountains in the group.
neoday - Feb 3, 2004 12:18 pm
Route Climbed: Roughly standard route Date Climbed: December 31, 2003Beautiful mountain, great camp site, wonderfully fun hike.
scvanm - Jan 19, 2004 10:05 pm
Route Climbed: West Ridge Date Climbed: July 12, 2003Father /Son trip with my 12 year old. He is better than me. (cj) did all three)
hhsilleck - Jan 10, 2004 7:12 pm
Route Climbed: from Kite Lake Date Climbed: July 2000Three easy 14ers - but skip this one and head to Lincoln if you just want to do one for the day. Lincoln has the more interesting summit.
Erik Beeler - Jan 7, 2004 9:11 am
Route Climbed: Kite Lake - Face below false S. summit Date Climbed: December 31st, 2003About 10 degrees at the summit with constant 35-40 mph winds. Didn't stay there long. Enjoyed the climb.
JonBradford - Dec 18, 2003 6:54 pm
Route Climbed: Decalibron Date Climbed: July 1, 2000After almost ascending it the preceding evening (trying to get some photos of the sunset) I made Democrats summit on a nice July day.
Jon
photo61guy - Dec 10, 2003 1:39 am
Route Climbed: Southeast Ridge From Kite Lake Date Climbed: August 19, 1996First 14er that I summitted. Fairly easy day hike in nice weather.
bdewoody - Dec 3, 2003 6:39 pm
Route Climbed: Montgomery Reservoir Date Climbed: August, 2002Might as well climb all four.
Grant - Dec 1, 2003 4:52 pm
Route Climbed: 300' shy of Kite Lake Date Climbed: October 6, 2002After a couple of weeks of snow in the mountains all of the peaks I wanted to get in before the end of the year was to come to an end after Mount Democrat four short of my goal.
I drove up to Kite Lake knowing that it’s only a 2,000 foot climb to the summit but it was snow all the way to the summit. There were more people up there than I was expecting and we were all going up the wrong way. After passing the little miners shack the trail was lost in the snow so we all went up a little hill and up around a bend and headed straight up the mountain. It was a little loose but nothing like Ellingwood. Once on the ridge I realized that I was looking at the sub-peak the whole time down low. It was another couple hundred feet to the summit but it was easy. It was a little windy but nicer than I though it was going to be on the summit.
jeffgun - Nov 15, 2003 1:36 pm
Route Climbed: Kite Lake approach Date Climbed: MultipleI have been on top of this peak several times. Most of them in the winter. Beautiful ridges to look down on from the summit. Usually combine this with Cameron, Lincoln and Bross.
IdahoSummits - Oct 12, 2003 11:08 pm
Route Climbed: Kite Lake Date Climbed: August 6, 2003I thought this was the most interesting of the Lincoln group. Some nice views to be had to the south from the summit.
eurobeer - Sep 2, 2003 9:32 am
Route Climbed: Kite Lake Date Climbed: August 23, 2003Camped out the night before, and got an early start. This wasn’t an extremely hard hike. A good warm-up for the next two mountains.
bernardhohman - Sep 1, 2003 10:27 pm
Route Climbed: Kite Lake Date Climbed: September 1, 2003Nice day. Took a Floridian up his first fourteener today. He did quite well.
John Styrnol - Aug 31, 2003 2:50 am
Route Climbed: Kite Lake Trailhead Date Climbed: 30 August 2003Nice little hike, we got snowed on plus the fog was very thick.