Decalibron: Solo Summiting Four 14ers in Under 24 Hours

By Hayley Babbitt

Me at the Mount Lincoln summit of Decalibron, Colorado. 2021 by Hayley Babbitt.

They say that the mind is so powerful that it can override your physical limit. The first time I experienced this phenomenon was on a trek in central Colorado, summiting multiple peaks along one of the rocky mountains' highest ranges. Decalibron, the name given to these four 14,000+ ft. (4200+ m for my foreign friends) mountain summits (Mt. Democrat, Mt. Cameron, Mt. Lincoln & Mt. Bross), would be a great feat for a novice mountaineer like myself. With only a couple of months of hiking experience under my belt, I had made my initial goal to be content with only summiting one of the four peaks. But once I got to the trailhead, having all four summit signs made on shreds of cardboard, I knew I had gone to finish all of Decalibron - all four "14ers" in less than 24 hours.

Precautions

Typically, it takes the average person several months to prepare for one 14,000+ ft. summit. Any peak that is over 14,000 ft. can be challenging for several factors and they typically vary depending on the person and the conditions of the weather and terrain. At around 8,000 ft. (2,400 m) elevation is when some people will start to need oxygen assistance (although not too common at this low of elevation, the numbers increase rapidly with elevation gain). Add in unpredictable weather and possibility of severe storms after passing 5,000 ft (1500 m) to the mix and you've entered the territory of true mountaineering.

Key Altitude Thresholds and Effects:

Moderate Altitude (6,000-8,000 ft./1,800-2,400 m): Mild symptoms like headaches, dizziness, or shortness of breath can begin as oxygen saturation drops.

High Altitude (9,000-12,000 ft./2,700-3,600 m): The risk of altitude sickness increases; supplemental oxygen may be needed if symptoms are severe or ascent was rapids. Most individuals tend to be fine at this elevation.

Extremely High Altitude (13,000-20,000+ ft./3,900-6,000 m): Acclimatization becomes harder and severe conditions like High Altitude Pulmonary/Cerebral Edema can be a major risk, sometimes requiring oxygen.

"Death Zone" (26,000+ ft./8,000+ m): The body cannot adapt; even pure oxygen at ambient pressure isn't enough to sustain life long-term. Few extreme mountaineers attempt to summit some of the tallest mountain peaks in the world without oxygen, even fewer succeeding.

Aside from the weather and altitude risks, the only other precaution worth noting for the Decalibron Loop is to not descend on Mount Bross. Seriously. I obviously did not do my research as thoroughly as I should have, resulting in a crazy descent on Mt. Bross that I will never forget. If you like sledding, that's exactly what a descent on Mt. Bross will be like. Although it would be a grueling ascent, at least it would be safe.

With this being said, let's dive further into my trek and summits of the Decalibron Loop.

The Trek

Screenshot of the Decalibron Loop Trail via AllTrails.

First and foremost, it is wise to use a map when hiking in general. I personally use AllTrails, and pay for the premium membership in order to download maps offline (not sponsored). Above is a screenshot of the AllTrails version of the Decalibron Loop map, which is what I used on my hike of the loop.

The only thing to correct on this screenshot is the length of the trail, which I will warn is a decent bit longer than 7 miles. Although the range itself might measure out to be around 7 miles, most people start at trailheads farther down from the range, such as the Kite Lake trailhead. I opted to start at Kite Lake myself, which added 1.5 miles each way. On top of this, I had to park about a mile south of the trailhead due to the trailhead road being un-driveable for most vehicles (like my van). In the end, the total on-foot mileage ended up being closer to 12 miles when completed.

Me on the top of Mount Democrat, Colorado. 2021 by Hayley Babbitt.

Having decided to move clockwise around the loop, my first peak to summit was Mount Democrat. I started my trek to the base of Democrat from Kite Lake trailhead around 9:00 a.m. to give myself plenty of daytime for this hike, although starting earlier would have been even better. This first ascent is the hardest climb up out of any of the peaks, aside from those who start counter-clockwise up Mount Bross. I found that going up Democrat was decently challenging, but probably wouldn't have been too difficult if I had prior high altitude hiking experience. Compared to all 14ers in Colorado (there are 58), I would assume Mount Democrat would be labeled as easy-moderate.

When I look back now, I think that the most challenging part of summiting Democrat on a clockwise route is the point where Kite Lake merges into the climb up the range. After exerting energy on the steady 3 mile uphill climb to the bottom of the range, you will probably be huffing a little bit before you even start the actual ascent. I would consider it a great warmup for the more challenging climb up the peak.

View from the summit of Mount Democrat, Colorado. 2021 by Hayley Babbitt.

At the peak of Democrat, there were 3 large, body builder type men taking a rest after summit. Although I was not feeling great by this point, feeling pretty fatigued and starting to ache already, the three men at the top looked ten times worse than I did. It was at this moment I learned that what I had just done is more than just a workout or physical exercise; I had just climbed to the top of a 14,000+ ft. mountain.

After the three men started their descent back down Democrat, all looking and feeling miserably altitude sick, I saw another man struggling to come up the peak. When he got a bit closer to the top, I asked him if he was planning on doing the rest of the summits. To my surprise, the 30-something-year-old guy gasping for air replied that he intended on finishing them and so that's what he'd do. Immediately I thought to myself that if he could do this then I could, too, and so we set off onto the next peak on our trek: Mount Cameron.

Me on top of Mount Cameron, Colorado. 2021 by Hayley Babbitt.

Right off the bat, Mount Cameron might have had the most false summits I have ever seen on a mountain hike. Although annoying, I guess you could say it only made for greater anticipation to get to the top. The stretch between Democrat and Cameron was also the second longest section of Decalibron, so it felt like it took forever at some points despite the summit seeming very close.

Along my way to Cameron's summit, I met a couple of avid hikers from Fort Collins, Colorado. After telling me a bit about their experience hiking 14ers, such as the famous Longs Peak, I knew I wouldn't be able to match their pace for very long. After they left me to finish the climb, I met up with them again on the top of Cameron where they took my picture on the summit.

It was on top of Cameron that I felt the most tired, finishing my Poptart I had packed to ration amongst the four peaks for the day (stupid move, I know). I was extremely fatigued by this point, and also made another stupid realiztion: I now had to finish all four peaks. Ignorantly, I though back on Democrat that I didn't have to summit all four, but could do maybe two or three and be done. Obviously, like the map shows, that's now how Decalibron - or most any mountain range for that matter - works. If you decide to move on from your first peak to the next, your only options are two summit backwards to get down or forwards, since there's no bail routes down the middle of any two peaks. Now feeling tired and dumb, I accept my commitment to move onwards and finish what I started by completing the next two summits.

Me on top of Mount Lincoln, Colorado. 2021 by Hayley Babbitt.

The avid hiker couple decided to make a push to Lincoln, leaving me to make a slower trek with the 30-something-year-old man I met on Democrat. Spending most of our time on this stretch groaning and talking about how we ached, we also made small talk about the incredible view from where we were. We both had our minds fixated on our physical task of completing two more, and only two more, peaks. The closer we got to Lincoln, the more our bodies adjusted and our morale boosted.

The stretch between Cameron and Lincoln was the shortest and also the quickest of the Decalibron sections. By the time I reached the summit, the avid hiker couple was still at the top enjoying the views. My buddy from the first peak needed to take a long and well rest, but I was more determined on just getting this thing finished at this point. After snapping a quick photo at the top, I moved onward with the couple to the last peak: Mount Bross.

Despite the stretch between Lincoln and Bross being the longest, I was getting well acclimated to the environment and picking up the pace. My mind was quite literally overriding my body on this section, as I was only focussing on getting to the final summit. The avid hiker couple slowed their pace to match mine for the last portion, as they were now getting tired from their speed run of the first three peaks. With a long, scenic trek to the last peak, we had a full view of the previous trails in the distance that we had taken to the prior three summits.

A view of a stretch of trail while ascending Mount Bross on the Decalibron Loop, Colorado. 2021 by Hayley Babbitt.

Halfway to Bross it started to lightly blizzard on the range. The sky had turned fully gray and visibility gradually got worse. Worriedly, I checked the time to find out it was almost 3:00 p.m., which is too late to be on a mountain of such altitude. Before setting out for Decalibron, a wise mountaineer had warned me to not be high in the mountains passed 3:00 p.m. to be clear of high elevation storms. With this information, the three of us kicked it into high gear to get to the top of Bross. Luckily, the snow came and went before we even managed to make the summit.

Me on top of Mount Bross, Colorado. 2021 by Hayley Babbitt.

Finally reaching the summit of Mount Bross fell short of making me feel accomplished. Even though I had now well exceeded my expectations of making at least one summit, I was still not finished. As they say, the true summit is home. And there was one thing I was sure to not underestimate: the final descent. After a brief 10 minute break on Bross, we decided to make our way down back to the Kite Lake trailhead.

Now, if there's one thing I learned from Decalibron, it's to not expect the way down to be easier than the climb up. Descending Mount Bross was no laughing matter, as the face of the mountain seemed pretty much straight down. It was almost unbelievable to see the trail downwards and accept that as a feasible hiking trail. With a deep breath, we headed down the face of the mountain with caution.

Earlier on Mount Lincoln, the woman hiker of the avid hiker couple had taken note of my hiking poles and told me she's never used them, despite her extensive 14er experience. Now descending Mount Bross, they would come in handy to her. At the start of our descent, the hiker lady kept falling and tumbling down the mountain and her partner would catch her from sliding off the face. On her last fall, she was about to slip off of the mountain's edge before catching onto the hiking pole I had extended to her at the last second. It was a life saving moment that I will never forget, and a learning lesson for the lady to buy some durable trekking poles. I now will never go into the mountains without my hiking poles.

The descent down was painful as my body ached and my toes felt on fire as they crammed into the front of my shoes. The way downwards took about an hour and a half, which at the time felt like 3 or four hours of physical pain down the steep mountain face. As we scaled the straight downward mountain path, all of us now out of water, we noticed a small waterfall halfway down. It felt God sent, and I ran straight to the waterfall and creek with my Life Straw to get a drink and fill up my water canisters. Now having had a drink, I was ready to push onto Kite Lake.

After roughly 7 hours of scaling rugged mountain sides and summiting all four peaks of Decalibron, I instantly plopped into the back of my van in my bed to rest. I was exhausted more than I had ever been in my life, but also felt more accomplished than I had in a long time. Four peaks in less than 24 hours, I thought to myself. I was now officially a mountaineer.