6/29/2018 Route: West Slopes Posted On: 6/29/2018, By: rgarriott Info: The 4WD road seemed pretty rough from the beginning, and I would suggest driving a high clearance vehicle. A Jeep, an Avalanche, & a lifted truck made it to the end of the road past the switchbacks. The creek crossing is low, and trail is clear of trees. |
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6/23/2018 Route: West Slopes Posted On: 6/24/2018, By: Kcmartinez22 Info: The mountain is in perfect summer condition. I would say the stream crossing has about 4 inches of water with lots of 4wd SUV's parked and camping past the crossing. Beautiful day on the mountain. |
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6/10/2018 Route: West Slopes Posted On: 6/10/2018, By: Krullin_14ers Info: Gorgeous day on Antero. The road/trail is dry to the summit. As a Subaru guy, I would not advise taking yours to the creek crossing. Think of the risk/reward. The added mileage is actually pretty fun and quite mellow to hike - 3 miles and 1.4k...To me, it's not worth the couple of rough patches that may cause trouble. Many Jeeps driving all the way to the top for a half mile walk. Nice. Also, what's up with the rolled over jeep around 13,500? The thing looked pretty fresh...would love to know what happened. Enjoy! |
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6/9/2018 Route: West Slopes Posted On: 6/10/2018, By: chrislowrimore1 Info: See my trailhead conditions report for more detail about the 4WD road. Parked two jeeps at about 12,000 ft, right before the start of the switchbacks (seen if zooming in on photo 1). Road was completely clear of snow except for a 20 yard section at about 12,700 ft that was easy to walk across (seen if zooming in on photo 3). That section is also easily avoidable if you'd rather walk around. Rest of the road/trail to the top of the peak is completely void of snow. Full summer conditions, go get it! |
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6/6/2018 Route: West Slopes Posted On: 6/7/2018, By: jnzaro Info: Dry all the way up from the 2WD TH with a few small avoidable patches of snow. The trail was easy to follow, overall excellent hike. Chatted with one group who took a Jeep up to 11,800, they said the drive took an hour. Saw another group, not sure if they summited as we never actually crossed paths. Summit to myself. Here is a photo of the creek crossing, probably 8/9" deep. |
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6/5/2018 Route: Browns Creek Posted On: 6/6/2018, By: Tri Tri Info: Gorgeous hike on 6/5/18! Camped at Browns Lake to shorten the distance a bit. The "trail" that takes you off the Jeep road and up the gully isn't actually a trail (that I could see) and is more just picking your own path. Once starting up the gully, it's pretty hard to go the wrong way. Follow the road as it switchbacks up further. Once this trail joins the standard route up the ridge, it was easier to follow as it traversed just below the summit rather than climbing up the loose rock up the talus to the summit. Trail completely dry the whole way. One patch of snow just below summit but is not in the way whatsoever. Hiking back down through the gully can get pretty hot in the middle of the day as well. Only met three other people on trail. Beautiful hike, not too difficult or long (coming from the lake), great views. A fun 14er especially if you're into geology. |
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6/3/2018 Route: West Slopes Posted On: 6/3/2018, By: Kevo Info: Road is driveable all the way to treeline with no snow. High clearance 4x4 needed. Saw a brave Subaru outback at the first creek crossing, only Jeeps, Tacomas, 4Runners beyond. Took 1.5 hours each way to drive in 4 miles to treeline in a TRD Off-road 4Runner with good AT tires. No traction needed on the hike. There were a few small sections of snow that are avoidable. |
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6/1/2018 Route: West Slopes Posted On: 6/7/2018, By: ElConrado Info: Excellent hike from just above timberline. Avoidable snow in spots on road switchbacks. High winds, 25 mph, were noticeable in final climb. Great first climb of season. |
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5/31/2018 Route: West Slopes Posted On: 5/31/2018, By: bethyhewes Info: Gorgeous day on Antero. Trail is completely dry. Brought microspikes and didn't even think about taking them out. Only ran into one other hiker on the mountain. Get it while the gettin's good! |
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5/27/2018 Route: West Slopes Posted On: 5/27/2018, By: strayster2 Info: It's summmer on Antero. Hiked up from the 2WD trailhead today. 99% of snow is avoidable. Some water running down the road but it's also avoidable, as well as any mud. There is only one spot where the snow covered the entire road, all other snow on the road is avoidable for a hiker. On the ridge, if you stick to the ridge, you won't encounter any snow. Go get it! |
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5/19/2018 Route: Little Browns Creek Posted On: 5/19/2018, By: dwoodward13 Info: Turn off for the Colorado Trail and then the Little Browns Trail are well marked and easy to find even in the dark. Trail is easy to follow until it peters out and joins one of the roads around 12.5k. Trail is 100% snow free up until ~12k where there's a small 100 ft section to cross. No need for traction or flotation. Small sections of avoidable snow once rejoining the standard route. I would strongly reccomend this route if you want to avoid the standard route. |
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5/18/2018 Route: West Slopes Posted On: 5/19/2018, By: frodacious Info: Route can be done pretty much entirely without touching snow. No ice axe needed. No traction needed. There are two ice sections on the road in the first half mile from chalk creek road. If you can get past these, you can drive pretty much to just below treeline. Looked like people had made it past these ice sections already. I'm a bit of a wuss so I left the truck down low and pretty much did the full 16 miles. There's a downed tree about a half mile after the creek crossing, but again it looked as though somebody had been able to drive past it. Looked tight but doable. Here are photos of the two ice sections as well as the point that I recommend stopping driving if you make it up that far. It is pretty much when you get near treeline and the switchbacks above treeline become visible. There is a line of rocks in the middle of the road and a good turn-around/parking spot on the left. Above that will be hard to turn around and there is a lot of snow making it very hard to get further. |
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5/15/2018 Route: West Slopes Posted On: 5/15/2018, By: Scott Conro Info: Much like the last couple reports. Some post-holing in a couple of quick sections on the way down, but overall the road and trail was clear. Muddy and wet on the way down, but I did it in trail runners and didn't have an issue. Didn't see another soul all day! Seems to be a great time of year to get out before the road clears and the 4X4 party begins. |
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5/12/2018 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 5/14/2018, By: outdoor_sam Info: Climbed Princeton Saturday (5/12) and took a photo of the North Ridge. The gully you ascend is melted out. |
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5/12/2018 Route: West Slopes Posted On: 5/13/2018, By: CoHi591 Info: Same conditions as the last post. There are snow drifts on the road starting shortly after the trailhead, but they are easily avoided. The gully that splits the switchbacks is still mostly filled in, so we used that to shortcut. Used spikes for this going up and down (its not very steep, we didn't bring axes so just walked down the gully rather than glissading) and the trail is pretty snow free higher up and on the ridge. Some might find traction helpful in spots but it could easily be done in trail runners alone. We postholed a handful of times on the way down but nothing significant. Left car near 2wd TH at 430 am, summit 815, back at the car 1145. Really beautiful day, windy summit ridge but otherwise nice. This was a great way to stretch the legs and test the gear and get ready for the season. Pics to come. |