The DeCaLiBron Loop

The DeCaLiBron Loop is composed of four 14ers in Pike National Forest. With 3,700 feet of elevation gain over 7.5 miles, and most of the route highly exposed above 13,000’, this route will get your attention. Located in the Mosquito Range of CO, it is only about 30 minutes over the pass to Alma from Breckenridge. I did this route on August 21st, a nice distraction from the Leadville 100 pre-race festival I was supposed to be at that was cancelled due to COVID-19. Even though I arrived in the parking lot at 0530, the trailhead was parked full and I ended up parking on the access road about 200 yards out. By 0600 our group was moving up the trail towards our first climb of the day. After reaching the saddle, we turned left and summited Mount Democrat. The last 1000’ is all boulder scramble and pretty technical, but not overly dangerous. But if you aren’t comfortable with exposure, you might find this a bit challenging. After retreating to the saddle, the route takes climbs to the next two summits in somewhat close succession before a mile plus traverse to the final summit. The final descent seems to go on forever and is clearly the most dangerous part of the journey. Poles and shoes with great traction were definitely valuable to navigate this part of the trail. At the very end of the loop and within sight of the trailhead, we descended past a couple small waterfalls. My elapsed time for the loop was just under 5 hours which included about 10 minutes at each summit. While I certainly didn’t push hard, it was a challenging day and great training. The views were less than spectacular due to the heavy smoke from the forrest fires west and north of the range, but it was still a gorgeous day. My thanks to my Coach Ryan Krol and Boundless for organizing the day and the experience.