Bross was the second 14er climbed in 2002 - so far my goal of climbing a 14er each month of 2002 is on track. I picked a good day to climb Bross: sunny, reasonably warm, and not too windy.

I intended to use the Quartzville Creek trailhead, but upon arriving at the site I found many "no trespassing" signs at the trailhead. I drove south a little ways on Quartzville Road and found a small pull-off area with a Toyota truck parked there. The truck obviously belonged to another hiker so I thought it would be okay to park next to it. Snowshoe and dog tracks led up a steep hill toward Bross' summit, so I strapped on my snowshoes and started up the hill. I can't remember what time I started, but it wasn't exactly the crack of dawn... more like 9-9:30. A late start by summer standards, but in winter you don't get the daily cycle of afternoon thunderstorms, so a late start is usually no cause for concern.

About 20 minutes into the climb I removed my snowshoes, and didn't use them again until the descent. I even decided to ditch them behind a fallen tree, because the ridge route I was going to climb appeared to be mostly devoid of snow. I had sworn I wouldn't ditch any gear after losing my trekking poles on Harvard, but the trail here was obvious and in the worst case, I could always find my way to my vehicle and backtrack the 20 minutes of hiking to find my shoes.

Since I started south of the trailhead, my route was a little different than the route from the Quartzville Creek trailhead. Instead of following Quartzville Creek into the basin between Bross and Lincoln, my route would take me along Bross' gentle East Ridge. None of the descriptions in Roach's or Dawson's guidebooks describe this route, but it worked as well as any other. It just goes to show that on an easy 14er like Bross, just about any route will work.

On the ridge, I found a faint trail that switchbacked up the slope. It wound past some old mine ruins and several natural windbreaks. After some time I reached the large summit plateau - it was a little difficult to tell where the actual summit was, but I headed for a built-up windbreak and reached it 3:30 hours from my start. The weather was really nice for February; I didn't even need to have my gloves on the whole time. I brought my handheld ham radio and tried to reach the repeaters I know without success. Several other hiking parties joined me on the summit eventually. I could see people on Lincoln and Cameron as well. After about 20 minutes the clouds were moving in a little and the wind became colder, so I decided to head down.

I postholed in a few places before I reached my hidden snowshoes, but I still think leaving them behind was the best move. I found my hidden cache, put the snowshoes on and made my way back down to the Jeep. I reached the "trailhead" 1:15 hours from leaving the summit. I think my March climb will be Quandary Peak; I'm still not sure what I should climb in April, but so far my winter climbing experiences have been relatively easy.