We Do Stuff: Mt. Democrat North Ridge and "Decalibron"

September 21, 2024

Mt. Democrat North Ridge, Cameron, Bross, Lincoln

12 miles, 5,100’ elevation gain

Both Laura and I have climbed the four peaks in the past, several times grouping each of the four to complete the so called the Decalibron loop. In 2022, we also climbed Mt. Democrat, in winter, as the first mountain after Laura had returned from a broken ankle.

Ptarmigan in the basin below Democrat

I had mentioned climbing the north ridge in the past and while we discussed the route, we never made an effort to climb it. Today, we were once again looking for a half day trip that was nearby our cabin located in the Placer Valley just above Montgomery Reservoir. Since we wanted something new and did not have a shuttle to exit out to Kite Lake, we decided to start our morning at the Wheeler Lake trailhead located off of county road 4 near Hoosier pass.

Looking at the north ridge of Mount Democrat while approaching from Montgomery Reservoir

We accessed the route by hiking up Wheeler Lake road for about 2.75 miles. The road is easy to follow. About a mile before you reach Wheeler Lake, you cut off the road and hike off trail over easy grassy and rocky terrain to reach Democrats class three north ridge.

View of the Democrat north ridge from the approach

The ridge is about a half mile long and has several sections of class 3 scrambling. At no point is it overly exposed and it is straight forward and quite an enjoyable romp as long as you choose a good path. The ridge leads directly to the generally crowded Mt. Democrat summit.

Justin on the north ridge of Mount Democrat

It took us roughly 2 hours of hiking to reach the ridge. We scrambled along the ridge for only about 30 minutes before reaching the summit. We saw zero other hikers or climbers along our route, but when we reached the summit of Mt. Democrat, there was the usual crowd of hikers who had ascended from Kite Lake.

Justin in front of a collapsed mining structure near the summit of Mount Democrat

Spending just a few minutes at the summit, Laura and I took a selfie and quickly headed toward Mt Cameron. As we walked along the heavily traveled standard route of the Decalibron we encountered kids from 8 years old to folks in their mid-70s. We crossed over the bump on Mt Cameron, collecting a handful of cardboard signs along the way, and continued down the well beaten path until we located easy access that dropped us down to meet up with the trail leading to Mt Bross.

Laura and Justin on Mount Cameron

Walking across the trail we reached Mt Bross in just 30 minutes. As the wind picked up, we took cover at the summit behind the makeshift rock shelter for a few minutes to have a snack. We soon were moving again, and making our way back and over to Mt Lincoln. It took us 55 minutes to reach the summit of Mt Lincoln, where once again, I collected another handful of cardboard signs before descending toward the Lincoln amphitheater.

Laura and Justin on the summit of Mount Bross

USGS marker on the summit of Mount Lincoln

Although the amphitheater descent route is not marked and does not have an established trail, it is an easy enough route to find. Simply pick your path to the east down the rock filled amphitheater gully and descend rocky and grassy slopes for several thousand feet, eventually leading to the upper portions of the Lincoln Falls ice climbs that form in the winter time. From the top of the ice climb cliffs, continue down the beaten path toward Montgomery Reservoir and once again reach your car. It took us 1.5 hours to descend from the summit from Mt Lincoln for a round trip time of 7 hours. In total, the day comes in at just over 12 miles and 5,100' of elevation gain.

Justin walking down into the amphitheater on Mount Lincoln

This is a fantastic alternate route if you have some basic navigation skills and are comfortable in class 3 terrain, and would like to avoid the crowds, if only for the first and last 1/4 of your day.