Monday, July 20th was my biggest planned day in Colorado on our weeklong summer vacation, to summit 4 14ers in one hike. I’ve been wanting to summit another 14er ever since hiking to Colorado’s highpoint (Mt Elbert) 2 years ago.
Well in Colorado they make some easy and some difficult. Each of these would be fairly easy but the cumulative total of 4 of them and continued exposure at 13,500ft + would make it a challenge for an out of shape person from Wisconsin 2-days removed from a difficult bike race. Where there is a will, there is a way however and because everyone else had plans to go rafting Monday was the day!
The trailhead was roughly a half hour drive, from Breckenridge over Hoosier Pass to Alma and then up to the Kite Lake trailhead. They recommend a high clearance two-wheel drive or four wheel drive to get to the trailhead but the Avalon is never scared and handled it all smoothly (I went to much worse trailheads on this trip.) I left Breck at 5am with coffee in hand and got to Kite Lake a little after 5:30. It took some getting ready at the trailhead but I got started before 6pm with a belly full of fuel. This was the first hard solo hike I’ve ever really done so I was a little on the anxious side as it was just me versus the mountains, no Larkin or Jess or someone in it with me. There were only 3 groups that Icould see that started out ahead of me. I’ve never actually felt stronger on a tough hike than I did this morning. The afternoon before we hiked McCullough Gulch (one of the world’s best hikes) and I wasn’t feeling particularly strong. But when I set out today I quickly caught a group of 4 who started about 5 minutes ahead of me. They all looked fit but in group hiking you are only as fast as your slowest, who wasn’t as fast as me I guess. On my way up I got the first glance of the sun! 
I passed another group before I hit the saddle that separates Mt Democrat (my first goal) and Mt Cameron (my second goal.) This is where life got rough!This video (taken sideways, oops) shows how windy it was. I estimate a sustained 60-70mph wind but it wasn't very gusty. It was cold. This part rips right through a valley that channels it through and the only escape was for the wind to blow over here. The cool part was most of the trail was protected from this, but probably 20% of the time I was dealing with wind. I saw people ahead however and read it could be windy so I kept rocking it. The way up was awesome. Words can't explain how badly I wanted (needed) to be at the top of Mt. Lincoln. So I chugged it hard! I got up to the false summit and there was a snowfield to walk through, how awesome!
I had passed everyone else that day so I summited all by myself! The emotions were strong as this summit was symbolic of a resolution of all the struggles I've had the past 2 years. It was cold and still a little windy but manageable. The weather was starting to cloud up so I had to make sure to keep watching it as there is no place to hide. 
I hung out for only about 5 minutes as the weather wasn't great but got some awesome photos and was able to see and identify several other 14ers across the land! I headed back down the same way I came to get back to the saddle. When I got to the snowfield I had to piss like a racehorse. There are no trees or anything so I went over to the side of the snowfield to "write my name in the snow" because I am still 10 apparently. Of course about 2/3 of the way through a hiker came up towards my front and she just happened to be a nice young lady. I was able to turn around so she didn't see what I was doing (she knew full-well what I was doing, minus the writing my name thing). When she approached me, she wanted me to take her photo and she took one for me in return so no big deal, just a funny memory! Here's the photo. 
The rest of the way down wasn't too bad, the wind was a little more mild (like 30-40mph) and I quickly made it back to the traverse. People were afraid of the weather at this point and either turning around or deciding on just doing Mt Democrat. I had no time for decisions and I was 50:50 on whether I should continue but there was no way I was actually going to quit so I headed up towards Cameron. 
This seemed to be the sketchiest part of the hike weatherwise. It was long and seemingly took forever. I did get a look back at the trailhead and now I realize why they call it Kite Lake.
I even got passed by a couple people younger than me who were jogging up, crazy! Mt Cameron isn't an "offical" summit because of how close it is to Mt Lincoln and there isn't enough of an elevation change between the two. 
But Cameron has a very cool summit, you could see all 4 of the summits of the hike from this one, an awesome snow field and cliff and this pond that had snow in it and couldn't be more than 33F. Crazy stuff!
I was having good momentum at this point and the weather remained bad. Plus I had the most technical accent ahead, that of Mt. Lincoln. The top of Mt Lincoln was smaller than most and had a sheer face on one side but the views were great as you could see all the mountains to the north, east and south (Pikes Peak, Grays & Torreys, Quandary, etc.) Got a good self photo:
Made quick work down and then took the traverse over to Mt. Bross. There was some confusion as to whether Bross was open or not but supposedly the route most take to the top was open so I passed by some routes to the top to take the one that wasn't closed. 
I finally made it after alot of walking and the size on top had to be about a quarter mile long by an eight mile wide, enormous. Bross was famous for allowing 4 wheelers (which aren't allowed currently) at the top but again I had a summit to myself.
The weather got bad as I assumed a storm at any moment so I found the quickest way down from the summit. I decended 500 feet on what might have been a trail. The footing was so loose and it was so rocky that parts of it did not resemble a trail. While I thought the decent down Bross would be easy, it was the hardest part of the trip. It was so loose that I almost fell so many times and was a bit out of control. The trail was awful with rocks big enough to kind of support you but small enough to slip without notice. I took one fall but mostly it was an unfun 40 minutes of trying not to get hurt. Then I got down to some flora and the trail leveled out and got nice again. I came across this icy waterfall, so beautiful, and the weather got nice!
I looked like I was so close to the lot but then you have a good mile to go with a couple stream crossings. But I hustled and made it! I felt like a rock star.
I finished off the day with a wade in Kite Lake, which was cold but felt great on tired feet and ankles. The trout were plentiful too, I'd love to camp here for a day! A Dr. Pepper and a granola bar later I was back on to Breck where I met back up with part of our crew for some lunch at my favorite restaurant, Empire Burger.
I can't believe how well it went. The weather made me keep pressing on and I couldn't wait to get back up for Quandary Peak 3 days later!
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