Altitude Notes: Entry Eight
Mt Democrat 14,148 Feet Above Sea Level
Mt Cameron 14,238 Feet Above Sea Level
Mt Lincoln 14,286 Feet Above Sea Level
Mt Bross 14,172 Feet Above Sea Level
27-28 May 2022
The Approach
Located just outside of the small mountain town of Alma, in the heart of The Mosquito Range, rest four summits that can be completed in one continuous push.
The route is named the Decalibron for the summits, Mt. Democrat, Mt. Cameron, Mt. Lincoln, and Mt. Bross, respectively.
The summer road was closed at the gate, so I parked a couple miles away and hiked in the night before and set up camp for an alpine start the next day.
The Route
The Hike:
We started up the trail just before sunrise and made the first summit of the day, Mt Democrat, as the sun was warming things up a bit. It was nice to have the sun on my face after a chilly night. With temps dropping into the twenties the night before getting out of my sleeping bag and on the trail was rough.
On the hike over to Mt. Democrat winds picked up quite a bit and the clouds moved in shortly thereafter. The rest of the hike would be a series of near knock you on your ass winds and thick cloud cover, good thing for packing extra gear. We crossed over to Mt. Lincoln and then made our way towards Bross, off in the distance.
We skipped the summit of Bross, since landowners have it closed. I had done the hike before and there was no need to repeat that last section. The hike down from Bross was covered with packed snow, as was most of the trail, making the decent much easier than when it is pure scree, and fighting gravity was a battle, as was my previous experience. While not a calendar winter summit, the conditions were not exactly spring like this go around.
These objectives were conducted to keep alive the memories of three Rangers from 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, who made the ultimate sacrifice during Operation Urgent Fury, on 25 October 1983.
Sgt. Philip S. Grenier,
Sgt. Kevin J. Lannon,
Sgt. Stephan E. Slater
Honorable mention is given to my close friend and man I consider a brother, CW3 Tim R Breneman.
Tim Breneman, who after leaving The Ranger Regiment, went on to pilot Apache helicopters and ultimately lost his life in a tragic accident on September 19, 2006. I had the pleasure of serving with him in 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment
RLTW!
Never Forget!
References:
https://www.14ers.com/route.php?route=bros6
