Summit of Mt. Lincoln (14,286′) – click for brief slideshow

Carla, Camden and I set-up camp last week at Kite Lake in the heart of the Mosquito Range in central Colorado.  Kite Lake is conveniently located at the base of four of Colorado’s 14,000’+ peaks.  The following morning we set out on an ambitious climb, although not technically difficult, of all four of these 14,000’+ mountains via their connecting ridges.

The route is named after the first letters of each peak in the cirque:  Mt. Democrat (14,148′), Mt. Cameron (14,238′), Mt. Lincoln (14,286′), and Mt. Bross (14,172′).  Hence the name the DeCaLiBro loop.  It was a beautiful day, which allowed us to take our time and let some of the crowds clear out in front of us, so that we were able to have the final three summits virtually to ourselves.  Camden managed to wear through one of his shoes (after only 7 mountains – c’mon!  Gonna have to send those back!), but other than that we were none the worse for wear after a total vertical gain of 3,700′ over the 7-mile loop. It was yet another great day in the Colorado high-country.

For those keeping count at home, that makes for 14 peaks completed, or 26 more to go, with 32 weeks remaining to do so.  So far, so good.