Riding Four Fourteeners in a Day
There are only a handful of places in the world where you can access terrain above 13,000ft (4,000m), and of that bunch there is an even smaller number where you can ride a mountain bike. Most of the highest peaks in Europe are covered in snow year round, and while you could always head to Asia and the Himalayas it just doesn't seem that economical or doable for the average weekend warrior. That's what makes the Colorado Rockies so unique. That densely packed group of peaks from 12,000-14,500 ft, the majority of which are easily accessible and connected by miles and miles of maintained trail. From late spring to late summer these peaks are free from snow, for the most part warm, and other than the afternoon thunderstorms during the month of August, (semi) free from inclement weather. The tallest of these peaks, known as fourteeners for obvious reasons are the crown jewel of hikers, skiers, and in our case mountain bikers and hundreds flock to their summits in the peak summer season. There are 53 of these massive peaks in Colorado but due to restrictions on wilderness areas only 18 are legal to bicycles, and over the past two summers myself and a small group of friends have been slowly ticking them off the list one at a time.
Realizing that if we ever wanted to summit and ride each of the 18 legal mountains we would have to step our game up a bit since our individual work and travel schedules never lined up, and we found ourselves deep into September having not made a summit in over a year. Needless to say it was time for more drastic measures and we began to craft a plan to link multiple peaks in one day. The original idea was to hit two a day for two days, but the over achiever in our group (Joey Schusler) wanted more of a challenge and presented us with a route that on paper looked very doable and encompassed 4 giant peaks in a loop, rideable all in one single day.
Joey Schusler and Thomas Woodson are no strangers to taking on ridiculous missions, sometimes just for the sake of saying they did it, and have coined the term S.A.C. (Stupid Adventure Club) to describe both the proposed objective and the people who have stupidly signed on to carry it out to completion. For this particular outing the Stupid Adventure Club was made up of Joey Schusler, Thomas Woodson, Dacre Dunn, PJ Russell and myself. And while the rest of the crew had been riding at altitude in Colorado all Summer long, I had just returned from 6 weeks in Europe not riding nearly as much as I should have been and living close to or at sea level. Not being one to pass on this kind of fun I tried not to think about how difficult it might actually be for me.
Our goal was to hike, push and if possible ride to the top of Mount Democrat Cameron Lincoln and Bross, a loop affectionately known as DeCaliBro after the initials of each peak. Between each peak there were rideable saddles that dipped back down to around 13,000 feet so other than the very last punch to the summits everything could be done under pedal power. With cold weather predicted for the afternoon we decided it was best to make camp at Kite Lake the night before order to get an early start that would have us to the top of the first peak by sunrise.
In its own right Kite Lake is a pretty unique place, sitting at 12,000 ft above treeline it looks quite out of place surrounded by grassy fields out of which tower massive rocky peaks. No sooner had we set up our tent than it decided to rain, and rain hard. Looks like the predicted late day weather had arrived about 12 hours early. Never the group to be pessimistic we laughed the impending ordeal off over a few beers and went to sleep fully expecting a long and wet day. What's a stupid adventure without a little stupid anyway.
To our surprise when we crawled out of our tents at 4am the rain had stopped the clouds had parted and we were left with a stunning view of the Milky Way firing through the sky directly overhead. Things were looking up, and with a collective sigh of relief we began to 2,200 foot hike a bike to the summit of Mount Democrat with only our headlamps to guide the way. We would hit fog and some brief rain as well as howling cold wind as is common above treeline early in the morning, but onward and upward we pushed until we reached the summit 45 minutes ahead of schedule. We wanted to time our arrival as close to sunrise as possible so we didn't miss out on natures beautiful morning ritual, but not so early that we had to sit on an exposed and windy summit in the cold and dark for too too long. Our early arrival meant we had to down climb a few hundred feet and take shelter in the massive boulder field below. At least it gave us a little time to rest.
Once the first glow of light hit the horizon we scrambled back up to the top and witnessed something you really have to see to describe. If you have never sat at the top of a mountain thousands of feet above the valley floor as the sun makes its first appearance of the day you are missing out. Get up and out there to see it for yourself. And as the Sun lit the sky we could see and inversion of clouds sleeping below out of which each of the nearby mountain peaks emerged. It's the closest to feeling like you are on top of the world.
As we sat and took it all in, out enthusiasm began to build for what lay ahead. A day spent above the clouds with beautiful views as we traversed ridges all in the high alpine to reach the highest peaks in the area was something we knew would be nothing short of incredible. But then all of a sudden, as it does in the high mountains, things began to change and change quickly. The wind had picked up and with it the clouds that had been sitting quietly on the valley floor below. In what looked like a time lapse but in this case unfolding in real time the clouds rose up and completely socked us in within a matter of moments, not only ruining our view but also any sense of direction. It became obvious fairly quickly that our situation was not going to change for the better any time soon, so with a fair bit of haste we descended back down to the saddle that would lead us up to Mount Cameron, and our second peak of the day.
At this point any optimism of a sunny day, epic views, and being dry and warm went completely out the window. As we huddled in a shelter to get out of the wind and fix a flat tire we decided it was time to embrace the adventure and the adversity, to make the most of it, and of course have fun because yes, stupid adventures are always as fun as you make them.
Mount Cameron was a grind of a hike a bike, but once on top the terrain opened up and was actually a joy to ride. The summit it so massive and flat that just about any line is rideable and there is little need to check you speed for fear of flying off a cliff or anything of that nature. After a quick break to refuel we darted along the next saddle to Mount Lincoln which at 14,300 ft would be the highest point of the day, and just below the summit the inevitable happened. Being in cloud cover at that altitude in September it was only a matter of time until we reached the snowline and there it was, first starting as ice which made the smooth rocks all the more sketchy and finally turning to snow just below the summit. Lucky for us the wind was pushing the precipitation down fro the summit and the top was quite dry and pleasant believe it or not which allowed us time to actually relax and enjoy our surroundings for the first time all day.
By this time it was early afternoon and the overhead Sun that had been hidden from view all day finally began to win its battle with the dense layer of clouds we were trapped in. As small and subtle rays of light began to break through and with them some warmth, our extra layers could finally be shed and the ride down from Lincoln was to be the first really enjoyable descent of the day.
Big open screen fields and well worn in ridge lines made for fast and fun riding as we backtracked the way we came before splitting off to the West for the final summit of the day, Mount Bros. Just to make it clear, we did not actually summit Mount Bross as the very very top is in a land ownership dispute and therefore closed. How someone can "own" the top of a 14,000 ft peak is beyond me, but they do and that's that. Lot's of folks summit anyway and most of the hikers we saw headed right up, but being mountain bikers and also knowing we were most likely going to post this story here on Pinkbike we stopped just below the top but still above the 14,000 foot mark in order to say we still hit our four fourteeners in a day.
As friends do when partaking in stupid adventures, they also do stupid things to one another once they are complete and this time it was Thomas Woodson who would be the victim of mine and Joey Schusler's cruel sense of humor. After Thomas bailed out on us Friday night as we partied way to hard, in turn arriving at the campsite to start this days adventure a bit hungover, we had planned out revenge. So on the fourth summit of the day and almost 8 hours of high altitude hiking and riding, we did the most appropriate thing any good friend would do. We Iced Thomas and laughed until we were out of breath as he cursed and complained before taking a knee and pounding his sweet fizzy drink in one big gulp. Cheers, Thomas we love you.
From there it was smooth sailing, or as smooth as could be over terrain made only from rock of various size, 2000 ft straight back down to camp. Of course just below the summit the clouds returned, and they didn't let up until the grassy tundra slopes just above Kite Lake. To which we arrived just in the nick of time, for as soon put my bike on the roof rack of the car the skies opened up and the rain began to pour down.
After a total of 3500 feet of climbing and of course descending, 9 hours spent riding above 12,000 feet and four summits all on mountain bikes our stupid adventure was complete and we weren't about to let a little rain ruin Happy Hour. The victory beer I drank out in the pouring rain was the best tasting I've had in ages. #DeCaLiBro was a great success.
Mentions: @yeticycles
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 In mid September as the cold fall air begins to creep in at the higher elevations, the window of opportunity to ride peaks in Colorado's high alpine get's smaller by the day. |
Realizing that if we ever wanted to summit and ride each of the 18 legal mountains we would have to step our game up a bit since our individual work and travel schedules never lined up, and we found ourselves deep into September having not made a summit in over a year. Needless to say it was time for more drastic measures and we began to craft a plan to link multiple peaks in one day. The original idea was to hit two a day for two days, but the over achiever in our group (Joey Schusler) wanted more of a challenge and presented us with a route that on paper looked very doable and encompassed 4 giant peaks in a loop, rideable all in one single day.
Joey Schusler and Thomas Woodson are no strangers to taking on ridiculous missions, sometimes just for the sake of saying they did it, and have coined the term S.A.C. (Stupid Adventure Club) to describe both the proposed objective and the people who have stupidly signed on to carry it out to completion. For this particular outing the Stupid Adventure Club was made up of Joey Schusler, Thomas Woodson, Dacre Dunn, PJ Russell and myself. And while the rest of the crew had been riding at altitude in Colorado all Summer long, I had just returned from 6 weeks in Europe not riding nearly as much as I should have been and living close to or at sea level. Not being one to pass on this kind of fun I tried not to think about how difficult it might actually be for me.
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| Beers were drunk and laughs were had as the rain pelted the outside of the tent. With the potential for a long and miserable day on the horizon it was best just to have a little fun and try to laugh it all off. |
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Our goal was to hike, push and if possible ride to the top of Mount Democrat Cameron Lincoln and Bross, a loop affectionately known as DeCaliBro after the initials of each peak. Between each peak there were rideable saddles that dipped back down to around 13,000 feet so other than the very last punch to the summits everything could be done under pedal power. With cold weather predicted for the afternoon we decided it was best to make camp at Kite Lake the night before order to get an early start that would have us to the top of the first peak by sunrise.
In its own right Kite Lake is a pretty unique place, sitting at 12,000 ft above treeline it looks quite out of place surrounded by grassy fields out of which tower massive rocky peaks. No sooner had we set up our tent than it decided to rain, and rain hard. Looks like the predicted late day weather had arrived about 12 hours early. Never the group to be pessimistic we laughed the impending ordeal off over a few beers and went to sleep fully expecting a long and wet day. What's a stupid adventure without a little stupid anyway.
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| Photo Credit: Joey Schusler |
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To our surprise when we crawled out of our tents at 4am the rain had stopped the clouds had parted and we were left with a stunning view of the Milky Way firing through the sky directly overhead. Things were looking up, and with a collective sigh of relief we began to 2,200 foot hike a bike to the summit of Mount Democrat with only our headlamps to guide the way. We would hit fog and some brief rain as well as howling cold wind as is common above treeline early in the morning, but onward and upward we pushed until we reached the summit 45 minutes ahead of schedule. We wanted to time our arrival as close to sunrise as possible so we didn't miss out on natures beautiful morning ritual, but not so early that we had to sit on an exposed and windy summit in the cold and dark for too too long. Our early arrival meant we had to down climb a few hundred feet and take shelter in the massive boulder field below. At least it gave us a little time to rest.
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| Dacre Dunn Hiking to the 14,100 ft summit of Mount Democrat at 5am |
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| Photo Credit: Joey Schusler |
Once the first glow of light hit the horizon we scrambled back up to the top and witnessed something you really have to see to describe. If you have never sat at the top of a mountain thousands of feet above the valley floor as the sun makes its first appearance of the day you are missing out. Get up and out there to see it for yourself. And as the Sun lit the sky we could see and inversion of clouds sleeping below out of which each of the nearby mountain peaks emerged. It's the closest to feeling like you are on top of the world.
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| It's a glamorous life waiting in the cold and wet wild for the clouds to blow through and the sunrise to begin. |
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| Joey Schusler just a few steps from the 14,100 ft summit of Mount Democrat |
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| Photo Credit: Joey Schusler |
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| The eyes tell the tale. It was a cold and very wet morning above tree line. |
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| No sooner did the sun come out than the clouds rose from the valley floor, covering all the surrounding peaks and taking away all sense of direction. |
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As we sat and took it all in, out enthusiasm began to build for what lay ahead. A day spent above the clouds with beautiful views as we traversed ridges all in the high alpine to reach the highest peaks in the area was something we knew would be nothing short of incredible. But then all of a sudden, as it does in the high mountains, things began to change and change quickly. The wind had picked up and with it the clouds that had been sitting quietly on the valley floor below. In what looked like a time lapse but in this case unfolding in real time the clouds rose up and completely socked us in within a matter of moments, not only ruining our view but also any sense of direction. It became obvious fairly quickly that our situation was not going to change for the better any time soon, so with a fair bit of haste we descended back down to the saddle that would lead us up to Mount Cameron, and our second peak of the day.
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| once it became apparent the clouds were not going to burn off or blow out any time soon, it was time to descend into the unknown. |
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At this point any optimism of a sunny day, epic views, and being dry and warm went completely out the window. As we huddled in a shelter to get out of the wind and fix a flat tire we decided it was time to embrace the adventure and the adversity, to make the most of it, and of course have fun because yes, stupid adventures are always as fun as you make them.
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| It's a mountain bike. Ride it in the mountains |
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| Joey Schusler, PJ Russell, and Dacre Dunn on the 13,500 foot saddle that connects Mount Democrat and Mount Cameron. |
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| Much of the day felt like being in a fishbowl |
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| The summit of Mount Cameron is so massive and flat it doesn't even feel like the top of a 14k foot mountain. |
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| Sitting on top of Cameron, we could see in the distance through extremely heavy cloud cover the summit of Mount Lincoln. At 14,300 feet the summit of Lincoln would be the tallest peak of the day. |
Mount Cameron was a grind of a hike a bike, but once on top the terrain opened up and was actually a joy to ride. The summit it so massive and flat that just about any line is rideable and there is little need to check you speed for fear of flying off a cliff or anything of that nature. After a quick break to refuel we darted along the next saddle to Mount Lincoln which at 14,300 ft would be the highest point of the day, and just below the summit the inevitable happened. Being in cloud cover at that altitude in September it was only a matter of time until we reached the snowline and there it was, first starting as ice which made the smooth rocks all the more sketchy and finally turning to snow just below the summit. Lucky for us the wind was pushing the precipitation down fro the summit and the top was quite dry and pleasant believe it or not which allowed us time to actually relax and enjoy our surroundings for the first time all day.
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| PJ Russell puts in one last big effort as the saddle between Cameron and Lincoln began to go straight up. |
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| Thomas Woodson traverses at the snow line to reach the 3rd summit of the day. |
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| Three down, one to go |
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By this time it was early afternoon and the overhead Sun that had been hidden from view all day finally began to win its battle with the dense layer of clouds we were trapped in. As small and subtle rays of light began to break through and with them some warmth, our extra layers could finally be shed and the ride down from Lincoln was to be the first really enjoyable descent of the day.
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| Never one to sit still for too long when bikes could be ridden, Joey Schusler was the first to drop back in. |
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| With Lincoln in the rear view it was time to surf the scree fields down to the ridge line that would lead up to Mount Bross. |
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| To say it felt as it at any moment you could fall off the Earth here would be an understatement. The combination of rocky narrow and exposed ridges and dense fog was not for the faint of heart. |
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| This is why they are called the Rocky Mountains, and with loss of elevation the size color and texture of the the trail surface begins to change. |
Big open screen fields and well worn in ridge lines made for fast and fun riding as we backtracked the way we came before splitting off to the West for the final summit of the day, Mount Bros. Just to make it clear, we did not actually summit Mount Bross as the very very top is in a land ownership dispute and therefore closed. How someone can "own" the top of a 14,000 ft peak is beyond me, but they do and that's that. Lot's of folks summit anyway and most of the hikers we saw headed right up, but being mountain bikers and also knowing we were most likely going to post this story here on Pinkbike we stopped just below the top but still above the 14,000 foot mark in order to say we still hit our four fourteeners in a day.
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As friends do when partaking in stupid adventures, they also do stupid things to one another once they are complete and this time it was Thomas Woodson who would be the victim of mine and Joey Schusler's cruel sense of humor. After Thomas bailed out on us Friday night as we partied way to hard, in turn arriving at the campsite to start this days adventure a bit hungover, we had planned out revenge. So on the fourth summit of the day and almost 8 hours of high altitude hiking and riding, we did the most appropriate thing any good friend would do. We Iced Thomas and laughed until we were out of breath as he cursed and complained before taking a knee and pounding his sweet fizzy drink in one big gulp. Cheers, Thomas we love you.
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| Thomas Woodson follows Joey Schuler down the final descent off Mount Lincoln. From here it would just be a 500 foot climb to the final summit of the day. |
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| There is nothing quite like Icing one of your friends as he reaches the final summit of the day. Technically The real Mount Bross Summit is 75 ft higher than this but a dispute over land ownership has closed the very very top. |
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| With the days mission accomplished it was time to enjoy the 1200 foot gnarly descent back to our camp on Kite Lake. |
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| Joey Schulser, Dacre Dunn & Thomas Woodson just on a scree field below the summit of Mt. Bross |
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From there it was smooth sailing, or as smooth as could be over terrain made only from rock of various size, 2000 ft straight back down to camp. Of course just below the summit the clouds returned, and they didn't let up until the grassy tundra slopes just above Kite Lake. To which we arrived just in the nick of time, for as soon put my bike on the roof rack of the car the skies opened up and the rain began to pour down.
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| Once you get below 13,000 feet the rocks below your tires get a bit smaller and the sides of the trail begin to grow a bit softer. |
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| Photo Credit: Joey Schusler |
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| Behind that cloud is actually Kite Lake and the end to our adventure in the Colorado Rockies. |
After a total of 3500 feet of climbing and of course descending, 9 hours spent riding above 12,000 feet and four summits all on mountain bikes our stupid adventure was complete and we weren't about to let a little rain ruin Happy Hour. The victory beer I drank out in the pouring rain was the best tasting I've had in ages. #DeCaLiBro was a great success.
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| #DeCaLiBro... Mount Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln, and Bross all in a days work. |
Mentions: @yeticycles
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Member since Feb 26, 2008
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I rode up and over Estes park once. Riding through a pack of goats, bighorn sheep and Elk was a little nerve racking. I had no money at the time and my xt rapid fire shifter was broken so I could only use half of my rear cassette. I found that if I pulled hte cable with my hand and held it I had some granny gears until the cable slipped in my hand. Talk about ghetto.
good times. : )
www.pinkbike.com/u/trekalways/blog/Pikes-Peak-Barr-trail-I.html
It's more climable for sure, but the descent to Kite lake is 100% rideable vs. Barr a little less for the top 1000 feet.. a 8000 foot descent beats this 1500 foot one though!
Can you provide some more info about the 18 Peaks? How easy is it to get to,etc, etc?
Muchos appreciated if you can.
Also, Mt Cameron technically isn't a 14er but I'll let it slide ;-)
Summiting, ye?
Or...
"Submitting to..."
Also good.
Photographers, please just show us what it was actually like to be there, tell us story visually. Its pointless showing us the latest grade, look or technique, thats what photo-nerd sites are for. It's unnecessary if anything, and at worst, distracting…. or i'm completely wrong and you guys edited out the bit where you dropped acid before setting of?
Maybe you should read the first comment up top ;-)
And I believe a photographer can process photos to evoke whatever feel and mood they want.
By all means we'd all love to see your stuff.