Mt. Antero Trip Report 02/17/2011

Peak(s):	Mt. Antero - 14,271 feet
Date Posted:	02/17/2011
Modified:	06/30/2011
Date Climbed:	09/26/2010
Author:	mt_turtle

When Summer Refuses to Leave
I'll preface this report with the following. After reading many very exciting and awesome winter reports. I was worried this report (I know out of season) might come across a little boring. But with Spring around the corner hopefully Summer will push it's way in early, just as it refused to leave last fall. Even though the calendar said it was fall, summer did not want to leave us. For all of us who enjoy the 14ers in great weather, we were truly blessed with an extended summer climbing season. This made for a fairly easy and fun fall hike. Below you can see one of the few clouds we encountered all day just above Cronin Peak (Elevation: 13870 ft). After a long stroll up the 4wd road, we reached it's end. From here you get a great view of the route to the summit. One small piece of advice I have to offer: after you cross the ridge, follow the trail that stays highest on the south face of Antero. We took a lower trail that ended, and that choice left us crossing loose and somewhat steep talus. My dog knew we were off trail and tried to convince us to backtrack (you can see him in the middle of the photo below). He has a great nose and can follow any trail whether obvious or not. But stubborn me continued on all the while wondering why this seemed harder then it should've been. After traversing the face, we reached the East Ridge, and then started towards the summit. We met back up with the main trail, and, as you can see from the picture below, my wife was so excited she was running up the trail. Actually I have no idea what she was doing, but she was definitely enjoying herself. Here is a great shot of Shavano and Tabeguache in the distance. Tabeguache is the last Peak I have to avenge after being turned back by weather. An absolutely beautiful day on the summit! Our dog Copper gives us a nice summit pose. He was checking out Mt. Princeton, which he climb earlier this year. He climbed seven 14ers this year. Not bad for a year old pup. On the way down we stayed on trail, and it was much easier. Making both the wife and dog happy. Here are some of the vehicles at the top of the road. We passed their owners hiking up from here to the summit on our way down. Antero is known for it gems. I looked as much as I could, but my wife had no interest. Every time we would take a break, I was scouring the mountainside. Unfortunately, I found no treasure. A look down at the winding road we had to take was a bit discouraging, but it actually flew by. It is very easy on the legs coming down. We camped down by the creek crossing, but drove to this point to begin our hike. It is always nice to see your car again. For what should've been a cool day, we were definitely a little overheated from this very warm fall day. The road up was one of the roughest we have been on. Our Jeep has been an invaluable investment for getting to the 14ers. Honey, we just need to upgrade the tires and maybe a little bit of a lift. 8) Mt. Antero gives you a very unique experience from the surrounding Sawatch 14ers. I like how Jerry Roach describes this experience in his 14ers guide book; he writes, "Mountaineers should keep their eyes open while hiking up Antero, because it is still possible to find a modest prize. It is much more likely, though, that you will see only people-many people- looking for gems and views. Most of them drive up the four-wheel-drive road that goes up Baldwin Gulch and reaches 13,700 feet on a shoulder south of Antero's summit. On a busy summer weekend, you can hear the sounds of four-wheel-drive vehicles grinding up this road from Tabeguache Peak, 4 miles south of Antero. Antero does offer a choice of routes, but don't expect solitude." Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

When Summer Refuses to Leave

I'll preface this report with the following. After reading many very exciting and awesome winter reports. I was worried this report (I know out of season) might come across a little boring. But with Spring around the corner hopefully Summer will push it's way in early, just as it refused to leave last fall.

Even though the calendar said it was fall, summer did not want to leave us. For all of us who enjoy the 14ers in great weather, we were truly blessed with an extended summer climbing season. This made for a fairly easy and fun fall hike.

Below you can see one of the few clouds we encountered all day just above Cronin Peak (Elevation: 13870 ft).

After a long stroll up the 4wd road, we reached it's end. From here you get a great view of the route to the summit. One small piece of advice I have to offer: after you cross the ridge, follow the trail that stays highest on the south face of Antero.

We took a lower trail that ended, and that choice left us crossing loose and somewhat steep talus. My dog knew we were off trail and tried to convince us to backtrack (you can see him in the middle of the photo below). He has a great nose and can follow any trail whether obvious or not. But stubborn me continued on all the while wondering why this seemed harder then it should've been.

After traversing the face, we reached the East Ridge, and then started towards the summit. We met back up with the main trail, and, as you can see from the picture below, my wife was so excited she was running up the trail. Actually I have no idea what she was doing, but she was definitely enjoying herself.

Here is a great shot of Shavano and Tabeguache in the distance. Tabeguache is the last Peak I have to avenge after being turned back by weather.

An absolutely beautiful day on the summit!

Our dog Copper gives us a nice summit pose. He was checking out Mt. Princeton, which he climb earlier this year. He climbed seven 14ers this year. Not bad for a year old pup.

On the way down we stayed on trail, and it was much easier. Making both the wife and dog happy.

Here are some of the vehicles at the top of the road. We passed their owners hiking up from here to the summit on our way down.

Antero is known for it gems. I looked as much as I could, but my wife had no interest. Every time we would take a break, I was scouring the mountainside. Unfortunately, I found no treasure.

A look down at the winding road we had to take was a bit discouraging, but it actually flew by. It is very easy on the legs coming down.

We camped down by the creek crossing, but drove to this point to begin our hike. It is always nice to see your car again. For what should've been a cool day, we were definitely a little overheated from this very warm fall day.

The road up was one of the roughest we have been on. Our Jeep has been an invaluable investment for getting to the 14ers. Honey, we just need to upgrade the tires and maybe a little bit of a lift. 8)

Mt. Antero gives you a very unique experience from the surrounding Sawatch 14ers. I like how Jerry Roach describes this experience in his 14ers guide book; he writes, "Mountaineers should keep their eyes open while hiking up Antero, because it is still possible to find a modest prize. It is much more likely, though, that you will see only people-many people- looking for gems and views. Most of them drive up the four-wheel-drive road that goes up Baldwin Gulch and reaches 13,700 feet on a shoulder south of Antero's summit. On a busy summer weekend, you can hear the sounds of four-wheel-drive vehicles grinding up this road from Tabeguache Peak, 4 miles south of Antero. Antero does offer a choice of routes, but don't expect solitude."

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

djkest

Cool report
9/2/2011 6:55pm

I like it! Nice blu skies that you get late in the season. You are right about the Jeep, new tired make a huge difference. I got +1 sized Nitto TerraGrapplers and the difference was pretty huge.

Gotta do this sometime. Nice that the 4wd trail makes the decent a little more tolerable.

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