Summary

Mount Antero Elevation 14,276ft. (July 10, 2004) "West Slopes" trail from Baldwin Gulch 4X4 TH. The Baldwin Gulch  trail up Antero is a class 1 to 2 trail that runs (11.2 miles rt. with 3,430ft. gain). Having already been up the 4X4 road the previous year, I was not too concerned about navigating the road. I choose a campsite that was a little further up from the creek crossing at 2.2 miles this time. We still camped in the trees and were thankful for a warm and rain free evening of camping before climbing the next morning.

The 4X4 road was not in that bad of shape and there was not snow to contend with. There were vehicles driving up to 13,500ft. through out he day Saturday. I have a full size pickup with an extended cab and made it up the road no problem. Some people think the road is really bad, but it is far easier then the road up to South Colony Lakes for the Crestone Group. The road is however worse then the Mount Princeton radio tower road.

In the morning we headed out took the direct route up the snow chute ravine that short cuts all the switchbacks. On my previous trip the chute was fill with snow and that made the travel easier in both directions, but none the less the route up the chute was step but the footing was good. At the shoulder of the mountain we managed to find a nice way up to the upper mines an the ridgeline to the summit. You can take the road around the back site if you like but the route we found was not difficult. We however had a little difficulty finding our way back through this boulder section on the way back down.

From the end of the road or the upper mines, you traverse the ridgeline over to the summit. The Ridgeline is not difficult however the route from the ridgeline up to the Summit is tedious and some loose talus exists there. On top we enjoyed the views that we did get. The skies were cloudy but nothing that looked organized enough to create a weather problem.

Down from the ridge on our way back we stopped and Courtney took a nap while I hunted for rocks. There were a number of vehicles stop on the 4X4 road with no other agenda then to look for rocks. I found some good smoky quartz and a few very small pieces of Aquamarine. We then had lunch and head down before the weather looked any worse. On the way down we encountered about 10-20 minut3es of light rain and sleet, but that was not that big of a deal.

After relaxing at the truck for a while and replenishing some energy we headed to the Princeton Hot Springs and then on to supper and back to Denver.