Another day, another potential 14er to bag. I entered the day hoping to get my first. I’ll spare you any suspense. I made it.

Democrat is part of a loop called the Decalibron, which allows you to bag four 14ers in a single day. Unfortunately for me, this was my last day in Colorado. Even with my 7:30 AM start, I didn’t have sufficient time to summit, drive back to Breckenridge, shower, and return to Denver for my flight.

So I “settled” for Democrat on another beautiful day. The road was difficult to drive but the 4WD 4Runner prevailed. I scouted the road the night before to ensure I had adequate time to reach the trail and return after hiking such that I could make my flight. Good decision. Here is the view from the parking lot.

The trail was easy to follow and no snow gear (outside of gaiters) was required. I quickly made my way up to the ridge. It got extremely windy at that point, but the views were astonishing.

A little more hiking and I reached the “false summit”. Yes, where you think you made it and you look up to see a higher point a few hundred yards away.

I ditched my pack and made for the summit. It was cold (probably between 0 and 5 degrees) so I snapped my victory pictures and headed back down.