Peak of the week No. 5: Mount Bross (14,177 feet)
Elevation rank: 22nd of 54
Location: Mosquito Range
Directions: Take U.S. Highway 24 west 65 miles just past Hartsel. Turn right on Colorado Highway 9 and go 23.1 miles to Alma. Turn left onto Buckskin Street and follow it 5.5 miles to the trailhead.
Mount Bross is named for William Bross, who owned mining property near Alma.
Bross climbed Mount Lincoln with Father Dyer and was so captivated by the views that he spoke of them incessantly. Lincoln already was named, but soon local miners began to refer to the summit to the south as Mount Bross. The summit is so rounded that a small plane once landed on it.
The peak is a part of a trio of fourteeners (Mount Democrat and Mount Lincoln being the other two) that can be hiked in a single loop and easily completed in a day.
This trail had been controversial because of private property issues up until a few years ago, when Alma officials took it upon themselves to get landowner permission and work with the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative to secure access and build a public trail.
Unfortunately, Bross is the problem child of the three. The summit lies within private property and the land owners have not granted public access to hike to the summit. Currently, hikers have three options — to avoid Bross, to trespass or to climb an alternate summit.
There is a narrow strip of public land that leads to a spot within 25 feet of the summit. While hiking this path might feel silly — you must carefully navigate unseen boundaries — it keeps you on the right side of the law, appeases the land owners and puts you so close to the top you’ll hardly know the difference.
The best way to hike Bross is to climb it first in the loop. I’m not sure why, but most people hike the loop in the other direction. Begin your trek with an alpine start as the trail that was developed on Bross is reasonably easy to follow by headlamp.
Bross is about 1.5 miles from the trailhead and the summit offers fantastic views to the east. Starting an hour or two before dawn will put you on top in time to watch the sun rise. Anyone who hikes fourteeners should catch at least one sunrise from a summit, and Bross is an ideal choice.
Take warm clothes and a warm drink to keep the shivering at bay. Then sit back and wait for the show to unfold. It takes only a few minutes to go through the full spectrum of colors as the sun rises so enjoy it from start to finish. Once you’re able to break away, the second stop lies a short distance away.
