3/9/2019 Route: West Slopes Posted On: 3/10/2019, By: Will_E Info: Had to wear snowshoes all the way to tree line, but the road was easy to follow. A few very large drifts to climb along the way. I wouldn't call what I put in a “trenchâ€, but a decent set of tracks that mostly stayed intact from my ascent to descent. From tree line to summit everything was wind blown so no flotation needed. Enjoyed this much better than when I did it last summer, felt more like a trail and less like a road. |
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2/27/2019 Route: West Slopes Posted On: 2/27/2019, By: CaptainSuburbia Info: Took the same route that Cereal posted a few days ago. Trench is still in excellent condition, in fact, if you get there early you'll be able to boot the first 3 miles or so. Used snowshoes for the last mile to the ridge at 11,800 feet. Had microspikes on from there to summit. Go get it before the next storm. |
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2/24/2019 Route: West Slopes Posted On: 2/25/2019, By: Cereal Info: Any sedan can make it to the Lower/2WD Baldwin Gulch TH (lot on the right side of 162 just before the 277 junction). My Corolla made it without any issue. The road is plowed and in impressive shape! I renewed the trench from this TH to treeline, and it looks like it could stay in good shape for a few days here. I followed bmcqueen's tracks from his report here, and it worked out perfectly: https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/tripreport.php?trip=18469 I was very happy with the line I took when veering left off the jeep road at ~11,700. It put me right at the bottom of the ridge at treeline at 11,800, where I stashed snowshoes. Microspikes from here to the summit and back to treeline also worked out great. FAR less snow above treeline than the photos in PeakSixTD's report from January: https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/tripreport.php?trip=19238 I guess it's been windy up there! Snowshoes above treeline would have been a huge burden yesterday; I was happy I'd stashed them. It was windy, but staying to the east (stay right on ascent, left on descent) of the summit ridge helped a ton - lots of hiding spots to regroup and warm up. I would recommend preparing to make one quick final sprint to the summit for the last ~200 exposed feet if it's really windy. |
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1/13/2019 Route: West Slopes Posted On: 1/14/2019, By: drop_bear Info: There's a good trench all the way from the lower trail head to treeline. The storm on Friday/Saturday dumped 1' - 2' of snow along the western slopes. We put in a trench up the western rib, but with the powdery snow and rocks underneath, it's still a bear to make it up to 13,800' |
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1/10/2019 Route: West Slopes Posted On: 1/11/2019, By: JtheChemE Info: Keep in mind that a significant storm came through the day after I did this. Very large iceflows across the FS277 4x4 road until you turn the corner to head south. Traction mandatory, as runout was often not good. Did not use snowshoes until ~FS279. Beyond that, CreekRunner's trench from 12/29 was heavily blown in but still detectable. I re-trenched, and it should still aid after this storm if you poke around for it. I went directly up a west rib of the 13ernub (13,800?). I used crampons for the rib, as the visible tundra was frozen, and a fall would be ill advised. The "standard" road switchbacks were heavily blown in with snow. After this Jan 11 storm, avy evaluation is prudent if using the road, as the slopes in certain areas would be continuous enough to slide. Once on the 13.8 nubber, I used crampons on the ridge to Antero, as east aspects were bulletproof (ymmv). |
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12/29/2018 Route: West Slopes Posted On: 12/30/2018, By: CreekRunner Info: Trail up to treeline is well formed with plenty of traffic lately. Past there, the wind will probably cover up everything on the road. There are a couple of steep and wind loaded spots on the road too. The final ridge to the summit has some pretty deep snow, but if you stick as close to the ridge as possible you should be alright. You'll need snowshoes obviously, plus an ice axe and full shank boot are useful too for a some short sections |
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11/9/2018 Route: West Slopes Posted On: 11/10/2018, By: RWSchaffer Info: Mostly continuous snow from the lower trailhead to the ridge crest. ATV tracks make for bootpack to timberline. Above timberline, snowshoes and/or microspikes may be useful. On the difficult section of ridge below the final summit pitch, I found it easier to scramble near the mostly snow-free ridge crest (on the descent) than it was to try to follow the very snowy summer path (on the ascent). |
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10/27/2018 Route: West Slopes Posted On: 10/27/2018, By: Squirrellysquirrel Info: Superb hiking experience: spectacular views, decent snow coverage and blue-blue skies. Slept at trailhead just beyond stream crossing and made a 6am start; below treeline was majestic and easy due to moonlit trails (used microspikes, gaitors and trekking poles). Shortly after treeline, I switched to my snowshoes, which helped with the incline and drifts for most of the road/switchbacks until I reached the upper part of the route where I reverted back to spikes for the ridge line traverse. Moved carefully along ridge line due to uneven surfaces, powder drifts, and loose rock terrain. Warmth from sun caused ice crusting on snow surfaces in spots and sticky snow for the decline in the switchback area. Super blustery winds at higher elevation areas; good layering/clothing gear is essential. Overall; snow ranged from a few inches to knee-deep. I saw 4 others on the trail, none of whom used snowshoes, mainly spikes and poles. Should have a good trail for the next few days... wind and weather permitting. **Road conditions: I drove my Crosstrek up the 4X4 road to just beyond the stream crossing to a modest camp site, which ?might be gated in the future? Road conditions were dry, very uneven, slow going; shortly after the crossing: road was snow packed and slippery for my vehicle, but a beefy high clearance 4X4 made it maybe a quarter of a mile further. The 4X4 road is presently doable with AWD/4X4, high clearance vehicle. |
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10/8/2018 Route: West Slopes Posted On: 10/8/2018, By: Curve Info: Snow drifts range from 8-12 inches covering majority of the trail above 13,000. Route is covered in at least an inch of snow from about 11,500 feet up. Didnt encounter much ice just loose powder. Rocks were grippy for the most part. I was able to drive up to about 12,000 feet today but this won't be available for much longer, (See Trailhead Status Report.) |
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10/6/2018 Route: West Slopes Posted On: 10/8/2018, By: generic_username Info: Hiked 0600-1000 from parking at 12,000'. So much fog at the top, quite chilly (not terrible with layers on, but if I took of my gloves my hands would get cold quickly. No snow, although some of the boulders near the top were the tiniest bit icy so watch your footing. |
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9/21/2018 Route: West Slopes Posted On: 9/22/2018, By: scrambling Info: Antero is one of my least favorite 14ers but the hike on 9-21-18 was better than I thought it might be (and recalled from the last time in 2012). The fall colors were great, the road isn't too bad and there were not too many creepy people driving around. I would definitely recommend leaving the road and taking the use trail at 13K. You will see this trail going off to the left and it probably saves you a half-mile of road walking. I tried cutting the switchbacks on the road one other time but concluded it wasn't worth the trouble. In regard to the talus at the final pitch before summit; once you cross the short ridge from the parking area and begin climbing in the talus you will see some cairns leading to the right away from the ridge. I took this route and I'm glad I did. Someone has made a pretty good trail through the talus and brings you out just to the right (south) of the summit. I think this is better than staying on the ridge. Round trip from the lower trail head my Garmin device recorded 15.3 miles round trip with 4,928 feet of elevation gain. |
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7/31/2018 Route: West Slopes Posted On: 7/31/2018, By: LetsGoMets Info: Dry, summer conditions. Lower water crossing easy on foot on the 4X4 road. |
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7/6/2018 Route: West Slopes Posted On: 7/6/2018, By: tcphoto87 Info: Perfect day for it! Drove up in an F150 past the creek crossing and past the 'upper trailhead.' Entire route was completely free of snow. There was a lot of mining work and looked like they were making a new road or something near the summit ridge to Antero. |
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7/1/2018 Route: West Slopes Posted On: 7/1/2018, By: bwleachuk Info: Trail conditions were good on Antero. No snow anywhere. Lots of ATV and Jeep traffic on the trail slightly impairs the hiking experience. A 4WD Jeep or ATV is necessary to go up CR277 -- wouldn't try it without one. Saw mountain goats near the summit. |
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6/30/2018 Route: Little Browns Creek Posted On: 7/6/2018, By: geneseejen Info: Backpacked up the Little Browns Creek trail on June 30. The creek at ‘mid elevation' is running dry, apparently for long stretches; we saw no flow below about 10,400ft except lower down near TH. Fortunately, my hiking partner saw game tracks headed toward the creek, which let to our discovery of water and let us continue the hike. We camped at 10.4 but had to go upstream a little to find water in late afternoon on July 1 (recharged a bit the next morning). Bottom line – flow in LBC seems to be iffy. Probably more reliable above 11K. |