It has not happened often in our travels so far that we have visited the same place twice. When we left Dillon Lake in early August to go pick up our new trailer, we felt like
we left a few things undone and having a five-day gap in our plan between Rocky Mountain National Park and Sylvan Lake, we decided to go back to Dillon and hang out a bit. We stayed in a different campground, closer to the
lake, and again enjoyed the wide-open mountain views, the charming mountain towns of Frisco, Breckenridge, Silverthorne and Dillon. The highlight of the stay, however, was our climbing our first 14er!
Mt. Democrat is one of the easier 14,000-foot mountains to climb in Colorado, but for us it was still a big effort, and so worth it in the end. It was over 2,100 feet of elevation gain and when you start at 12,000 feet, the air gets pretty thin! The trip is covered pretty well
on the Outdoor Project site, so check that our, but here are some highlights of our adventure.
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| The start of the trail with the peak of Mt. Democrat looming above |
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| Our starting point was Kite Lake, visible in the lower left of this shot |
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| It was terrifically windy on the saddle between Mt. Democrat and Mt. Cameron |
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| The climb up from the saddle was rocky and very steep |
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| At the top |
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| Looking south from the peak at 13,000-foot mountains all around |
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| Beginning the long hike down, Mt. Cameron ahead (saving that one for another day!) |
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| Almost down to Kite Lake and our truck |
Climbing Mt. Democrat was great, but we did do a few other things while at Dillon Lake.
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| View of Dillon Lake from the Old Dillon Reservoir trail |
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| This bike path goes around the whole lake--18+ miles |
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| Sapphire Point is a short hike with great views |
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