Our Hike of Mt. Democrat (14,148ft)

We got to the trailhead at about 7:45am  and paid our $3 parking fee.  This was actually much later than I wanted to be since I had Cole (7yrs old) with me.  (Note: if you're doing this with a child under 10, you should really target hitting the trail at about 6:30am to give yourself ample flexibility in decision making with the weather.  Of course, start time varies and is detemined by the distance needed to travel for a particular route).  Here is a topo of Mt. Democrat and our route up and down.

The weather that morning was overcast with a lot of clouds billowing over the Mt. Democrat peak.  There was a strong wind and it was fairly cold, so we opted for our zip pants/shorts,  layers of wicking long sleeve shirts, fleece jackets, gloves and hats.  I packed our rain jackets in the 2 Liter Camelbak along with the usual trail goodies (we like Powerbars & Skittles), first aid supplies, sunscreen, lip balm and a helmet for Cole.

We started out on the trail at 8:20AM, using our hiking poles for the lower section. We worked our way slowly up to an old Miner's cabin which is now destroyed.  Just as we got to the cabin, the billowing clouds finally got their act together and decided to unleash a flurry of snow for about 10 minutes.  Of course, Cole found this sudden change to a snowstorm to be very interesting!!  At least we were prepared for it and bundled up.

Note: I have fond memories of that old cabin.  Back in 1990, my brother Greg and I had ventured up Mt. Democrat, topped out on the summit and discovered a nasty black weather system heading right for us.  We couldn't see it very well coming up as the peak shielded it.  I remember we stayed on top for 2 minutes, enough to snap 2 pictures to prove we were there, and then we high-tailed it out of there.  We got about a mile down when all hell broke loose.   There were lightening bolts everywhere and a furious onslaught of driving snow pellets.  Greg and I both threw off anything that had metal and alternated between crouching low in spots and running as fast as we could towards the old Miners Cabin - then standing.  We fortunately made it into the cabin and waited out the storm with about 8 other hikers.  God had asked Mother Nature to spare us that day and I am both grateful and forever cognizant of the weather while hiking.

I like to break up the hikes into manageable sections, so the hike to the old cabin and slightly above it could be thought of as the first section.  With snow still coming down, Cole and I continued onward with the second section, which rounds up to the left and really starts the upper base of Mt. Democrat.  From here on the trail is basically all broken rock of varying sizes and some with sharp edges.  The trail in this second section is rather easy to see and follow.  Cole did fairly well through this section, as we were measuring our progress against those coming up behind us. The weather improved to sunny, small clouds and windy.

As you get about halfway up through this broad slope, the trails become numerous and it is hard to determine the 'best' trail because the trail is often filled with rocks which blends with the rocks on the side of the trail.  Thus, you end up picking your own way sometimes.  We were heading for a visible snow patch.  Interestingly, due to this visible fixation, I believe that he and I actually veered off the more traveled trail and instead, went more on a direct route up to the snow patch. See the route picture above.

From this snow patch, which is 100 yards up from the saddle between Democrat and Cameron, the trail angles upward across the slope just until it gets below the false summit.  At that point, there are several trails that lead up over the false summit.  These trails are fairly worn in points and can result in mis-steps and losing your footing.

As Cole and I topped out over the false summit, we saw a snow field stretched out before us and the final couple hundred yards to the summit of Mt. Democrat.  We snapped some pics in the snow field and then ventured on, hand in hand, excited about making it to the top.  The weather had held up and Cole was going to summit his first 14'er in Colorado.

As Cole got to the summit, there was about 8 other hikers up there who gave Cole a round of applause and high '5's, as they were very impressed with his achievement for his age.  We had made it to the summit by 10:45 AM and with the holding weather, we spent about 30 mins on top, refueling, snapping pictures and chatting with the others.  Though the weather was great, I knew enough not to linger up there, so we started on down at 11:20.

We passed the snowfield on our way down and in interest of getting down, we passed having some fun glissading the small snow field.  (Good decision!)  We continued down off the false summit. It is a lot easier to see and pick out the best trails while going down than coming up.  Despite this, the going (slipping, sliding, sharp rocks, etc) still made for some difficult spots, so I watched Cole closely and held his hand in some spots.  As we made the saddle between Democrat and Cameron, I estimate the wind coming through the saddle was whistling by at roughly 30-40 miles per hour, enough to blow Cole (43 lbs) around a bit!!  Fortunately, that section was a 50 yard stretch and once we dropped below the saddle edge, we were sheltered from the full force.

We continued down just fine from there.  About a couple hundred yards from the Cabin, we encountered a couple (late 40s) coming up (roughly 12:20pm).  I was focused on Cole, but still noticed the guy wearing tennis shoes, poorly layered and the woman really struggling.  She asked Cole how old he was and he responded "7 yrs old".  She then said, "Well, if he can do it, so can I".  Of course, I thought to myself - Absolutely No Freakin Way!, but I didn't have time to stop and educate them on the fallacies of comparing oneself to another on a mountain.  Remember, I was focused on getting Cole down.  Some other pics on way down.

Sure enough, about 1/4 mile from bottom, at the Cabin,  the clouds began to build across the Democrat peak.  We picked up our pace and made it to the car just as the storm hit and opened up with hard pellet snow/hail for almost 7 minutes.   I have the whole storm burst captured on video and it is just WILD!   Several people, inluding the unprepared couple, would had to have been caught up on the ridges.  Thank goodness we didn't take 1/2 hr to glissade the snow patch at top.  What a day and hike.  We started with a snow storm, had beautiful sunny weather from 9:30 to 12:30 and ended with a snowstorm.