Trip Report: West Slopes Route, Mount Antero, CO 8/15/98
A friend (Paul) that works with my wife invited us to spend the weekend at his cabin near Leadville. Last winter, we had discussed hiking a 14er with Paul, so this seemed like the perfect time to finally do it. No decision had been made on which 14er before we arrived at the cabin, but Paul suggested Antero. We agreed this was a good choice and it was quite nice to be able to sleep in a little being so much closer to the mountain than coming from Colorado Springs or Ft. Collins.
The drive to the Baldwin Gulch Trailhead starts out pleasant on the graded County 162. It follows Chalk Creek named for the high Chalk Cliffs on the south side of Mount Princeton that the creek runs past. Antero is a shapely peak with what I think is the best names of all the 14ers (Antero was a Ute Indian chief I believe). Upon reaching Baldwin Gulch Road, I quickly realized that this would be where my wife and I would have parked if we weren't riding in Paul's Jeep. Paul did a good job of driving us up the rough and sometimes narrow 4x4 road stopping around 11,000 feet just after crossing Baldwin Creek.
The hike started out unpleasantly as some people were repeatedly firing guns in the woods near where we parked. Starting around 9:30 AM, we quickly walked up the 4x4 road climbing above the tree line and leaving the gun noise behind. The majority of this hike is on the 4x4 road that climbs Antero's west slopes to around 13,800. We hiked at a decent pace climbing the long switchbacks of the road taking in the nice views of Baldwin Gulch and a high, rust colored peak that I believe was Boulder Mountain.
Crossing over a shoulder on the southwest side of Antero the road then becomes a series of short, steep switchbacks. We managed to beat the "Jeep Camp" and their long caravan of vehicles to this point. Fortunately they turned off and went down into the Browns Creek drainage while we stopped for a short snack. We continued up the road passing several slower hikers and finally reaching the end of the "road that wouldn't end." There were several people on the slopes below where the road ended digging for Antero's fabled gemstones. Unfortunately, there were scattered T-storms in the area, so we didn't have time to do some prospecting of our own.
The last part of the climb is quite pleasant crossing Antero's rugged south ridge and up a short talus slope to the summit. We passed several people coming down from the summit and reached the top at around 1:00 PM. Antero really makes up for the crowds and 4x4 noise that you experience of the way up with spectacular views. The Collegiate's to the north and Tabeguache/Shavano immediately to the south. The narrow spine of the Sangre de Cristo's could be seen to the South-Southeast and I could see the Crestone's just below a large storm cloud. The shadow of Pikes Peak was on the horizon far to the east. Unfortunately, we couldn't stay long as storms were all about the area, so I snapped off a few pictures and we started the long march back.
The hike out was uneventful and we even managed to stay dry for whole trip back. We reached the car around 4:15 PM and after a short rest drove back to Paul's cabin in Leadville. Paul's a good hiking partner and quite knowledgeable about this area of Colorado. We enjoyed hiking with him and hope we can do some more hiking together in the future.
All in all, Antero is definitely not the best place to go if you want to avoid crowds (but then is any 14er?). It might be better to try this climb via the Little Browns Creek route to avoid a large part of the 4x4 road. The views from the summit are some of the best in the Sawatch Range and make up for a lot of the unpleasantness of the climb. It might also be fun to do a little digging for gemstones if you have the time. Oh well, it's off to Hawaii in a couple of weeks for a completely different hiking experience.
Stats:
RTD - Mount Antero by West Slopes Route: ~10 miles Elevation Gain - Mount Antero by West Slopes Route: ~3200 ft.