Decalibron loop with Dionne!

It's officially the off-season for me now! I like it that way sometimes, because without a specific race goal in mind, I can actually do more fun things like adventure runs and long distance spur-of-the-moment runs. For some people, having a race helps motivate them to run. Personally, while I enjoy testing myself in races from time to time, the motivation to do fun runs and exploration runs stems from my inner desire to collect a variety of different trail experiences.

So with that in mind, my Labor day plan was to mark off four fourtneers from the bucket list! The Decalibron loop is a very popular peak bagger loop, and I was very happy to be invited on this adventure by Dionne! We opted to do the four peaks in the order of Bross > Lincoln > Cameron > Democrat.

Dionne and I set out from the trailhead just before 6am, while it was still pretty dark. We only needed our headlamps for a brief time as the sun began to rise quickly.

Soon the mountains all around us were illuminated in the sharp morning light! And it was not much longer before we were atop Bross already. I loved the steep climb up to Bross. I was glad we decided to do the peaks in this order.

One down, three to go! The long, flat saddle on the way to Lincoln was easy running. And there were these amazing little red succulents dotting the whole saddle! I am always amazed by the plants that are able to survive such a harsh, high altitude environment.

From part of the saddle, we could see Kite Lake and the parking area down below.

And very soon we were already on top of Lincoln!

That's the summit of Quandary Peak way off to the right! Quandary is a very popular 14er outside of Breckenridge. With my small compact binoculars, I was able to see a line of people headed up the trail to the summit!

The sign on top was dated the 1st, but we actually climbed on the 2nd! Still, we took photos with the sign anyway.

And quickly we were headed toward Cameron! The whole morning felt like it was flying by so quickly, and we were moving right along.

The view to the west along the ridgeline was superb.

And if you look back towards the east, you'll see in the center background of the photo, Pikes Peak making an appearance!

Once I found Pikes with its unique shape, I was excited to keep spotting mountains that I was familiar with. I just think it's so cool that you can see so many of the 14ers statewide from these central 14ers in the Decalibron loop.

Soon we topped Cameron's summit.

The longest part of the day for me felt like the connection from Cameron to Democrat. Perhaps this is because there is a very steep climb on the way to the Democrat saddle that I knew I'd have to go back down, which was going to be tricky for me (I'd rather do technical ascents than descents!)

But after about 4 hours total (including breaks) we made the final summit, that of Democrat.

I loved looking out west from the summit of Democrat, seeing the unique summit of Mount of the Holy Cross. It's the one with a weird little right-sided summit if you can spot it in the photo. From this angle, it's the tallest background mountain.

I took my time on the long rocky descent, and we reached the car 5 and half hours after we had left it, including the extra mileage as we parked a little below the top lot.

What a successful day! Four 14ers off my list, making it a total of five 14ers I've summited. And hoping to get plenty more in the upcoming month. Autumn is ideal 14er season in Colorado. Getting an early start usually means you'll avoid the bad weather.

I have to thank Dionne for taking me to this adventure, and being my guide. Looking forward to more autumn fun soon!