Mountain Monday- Mt. Bross 14,172'

Recapping our hike up Alex's first fourteener (mountain summit that is over 14,000') and my second, Mt. Bross! The entire hike up is 4.5 miles and is relatively easy (no major rock scrambling), however it still is challenging because the altitude causes more exertion and heavier breathing than normal. We did this hike in middle of July last year and started around 5:30 in the morning (we had headlamps, but it soon got light enough that we didn't need them). There is an established old dirt mining road that you follow almost the entire way up to the summit (a small rock scramble up to the actual summit), which makes it nice and less stressful than others. We also only met 2 other people on our entire hike, so it was really quiet! 

We hit the summit around 9am and the weather was still perfect, so we were able to get a few good pictures. It's amazing that there was still so much history and mining machinery still there. There was also a for-sale sign on the mountain-how amazing would that be to purchase your own fourteener?!

I would highly recommend this for those who are looking to get a fourteener under their belt, but not excited about the possibility of rock scrambling or meeting crowds of people (there are a lot hikers on most 14,000ers during Summer weekends). We drove from Vail to the parking lot of the mountain and it took us around an hour and a half. There are not many places to camp close to the summit, so that is also something to consider. The majority of the hike is above treeline, so remember it would be dangerous to start the hike if weather even has the possibility of turning bad.