"Democrat?" you say. "Don't you mean Democrat, Lincoln, Bross and Cameron?"

Well, no. We did Democrat by driving up to the Kite Lake trailhead, and the road was easily navigable by a standard car with careful driving except for the last 1/4 mile or so. Democrat, Cameron and Bross are visible from the lake, and you can see why most people do them together. They all share a ridge-line and have little vertical drop between their summits.

The path up Democrat was obvious, and well traveled. We had a great time hiking up and talking to people along the way. Don't do these peaks in the summer if you want to be the only ones on the mountain. The trail varied between moderate and fairly steep in places, but overall was pretty easy. After you gain the ridge and turn left towards Democrat, the trail becomes indistinct and you do some Class 2 scrambling up big rocks to the summit. This was our dog's first fourteener, and although he had a little trouble picking a path among the rocks, he never got scared. I saw another dog that whimpered and cried and refused to climb the rocks, so I guess you never know what your dog will do.

At the summit, it was ham radio day, and there were some enthusiasts making contacts with people who has summitted other fourteeners with their ham radios that day. My friend had warned me that the view from the summit of Democrat is actually worse than the view from the saddle because at the summit, you have a great view of this hideous factory on the far side of the mountain. I had to see for myself, but I must admit he was right. You get no new views at the summit except for some ugly strip-mining and buildings.

By the time we descended back to the saddle, my dog was dragging a little, and weather was moving in. We decided to descend, and save the other peaks for another day. Many people never even checked the weather and began heading for the other peaks. An hour later, about 10 minutes before we got to our car, it started hailing so hard it hurt a lot to be out in it. We sprinted to our car, and I am sure the lightening danger (and pain factor) on the ridge was very high. Just a good example of how fast bad weather can move in, and how you should be prepared for it.

All in all, it was a good hike, although as I said, the summit is somewhat anti-climactic. Dog-friendly.