Mount Democrat

September 21, 1998 - from Kite Lake

 

Climbing Democrat, this time after a ten-year climbing drought, was the start of a new type of climb, i.e. I drove to the climb from home.  I had been to Kite Lake during an August blizzard years before so the route was familiar.  I arrived at about seven and by that time, there were a dozen cars at the road terminus and many folks ahead of me on the route.  I added a truck to the collection and headed on up the trail past the mine ruins to the saddle connecting Cameron and Democrat.  From the saddle, I hiked on up to the summit, crossing two small snowfields that had survived the summer, and signed the register.  After a ten-year hiatus, climbing a new 14’er was a good time to say the least. . . a new phase of climbing had begun.