Mt. Antero 14,269 feet Climbing Trip Report with Photos by Rex

July 21st, 2002

Mount Antero is the 10th highest 14er in Colorado and located directly south of Mt. Princeton near Buena Vista. To reach the Baldwin Gulch Trailhead go south on U.S. 285 from Buena Vista and turn right on County Road 162 5.6 miles south of the U.S. 24 & 285 Junction. Proceed 11.6 miles on County 162 to the Baldwin Gulch Trailhead. 4-wheel drive vehicles can proceed 3 more miles up a very rough road to 10,800 feet where the road crosses Baldwin Creek. The road is very rocky and narrow which creates problems when passing oncoming vehicles. The road continues all the way to 13,700 feet and there is numerous camping along the road, but the Junction at Baldwin Creek still leaves you 3470 feet to climb for a legal ascent.

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Since your web browser does not support JavaScript, here is a non-JavaScript version of the trip report. NOTE: the slideshow above with not work with JavaScript disabled.July 21, 2002After climbing Lincoln, Democrat and Bross I proceeded over to Mt. Antero and arrived at the 4-wheel drive parking at 10,800 feet around 5 p.m. The road was much rougher than I thought it would be but definitely was fun to drive up. Planning on leaving at 4 a.m. I had some quick dinner and hopped in the back of my suburban to get some sleep. I snapped the photo below right before I went to bed.

It rained very hard most of the night and the moutains were soon socked in with clouds. The rained soothed me to sleep and the alarm went off at 3:30 a.m. I didn't want to get out of my sleeping bag but finally gained the motivation to get up and start hiking. I had a Powerbar and some Gatorade and was on my way about 4:30. The stars were out but there was some fog until about 11,500 feet. Crossing Baldwin Creek and proceeding up the Jeep road I passed several vehicles and campsites. The photo below was taking on the way down since it was dark when I ascended, but it shows the Jeep road as it climbs through the trees.

Eventually you reach some switchbacks that traverse back and forth across Antero's west slopes. Near Antero's south ridge at 13,089 feet I passed a mom and her 2 daughters hiking. They were camped higher up than me and started hiking at 3 a.m. Roach's book said once on the south ridge to leave the road and hike north over point 13,820. Looking for a trail I didn't see one so I proceeded up the road all the way to 13,700. From here Antero's last ridge and summit are in view in the photo below. I descended Roach's way and would recommend just staying on the road until it ends.

I reached the end of the road and was a little discouraged to see Antero's summit still further away. There was some fellow people from Wyoming sleeping on a mat right in the road and I thought what a bunch of cheaters. Turns out they were mining for aquamarine and not interested in bagging the peak. After a short conversation I continued across the ridge and up the final slope to the summit. The rocks were wet and covered with frost so I was slipping and sliding all over the place. I made the summit at 7:30 a.m. after 3 hours of hiking. There were nice views of Mt. Princeton to the north shown in the photo below.

To the south there were nice views of Mt. Shavano and Tabeguache Peak shown in the photo below.

Having the summit completely to myself, and the ladies I passed on the way up being an hour or more behind me, I had to prop my camera up on some rocks and sit down to get a summit photo. Mt. Princeton is in the background of the photo below.

I stayed on the summit about 1/2 hour eating and taking in the views before I began my descent. I decided to take the route Roach recommended for the ascent on my way down. After the ridge I went right on a trail across a couple of mining sites. The photo below is looking towards the ridge as the trail traverses point 13,820.

The trail ended before I returned to Antero's south ridge so I had to descend straight down the loose rock and scree to the road. The photo below is midway down the scree and shows the Jeep road as it traverses Antero's west slope.

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