Mt. Antero

Route: Baldwin Gulch
Posted On: 10/10/2012, By: Holmoose
Info: 4wd road clear past the stream crossing. Heavy ice on road not far past there and about 1 foot deep snow on the road above 13,000 in sections. Cold and windy on the day we summited. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 9/23/2012, By: wonderfullyrich
Info: 4wd road is open and passable. Both the BMW X5 & Toyota 4runner made it up with no issues. Although snow hit the peak and remnants remain in places, none is on the trail or on the road. Some ice does exist at the end of the 4wd road about a half mile from the summit, however it‘s not currently a threat to vehicles. The river crossings were low and had no issues. It is the tail end of big horn sheep season with many ATVs on the road, so if you camp along the gulch florescent clothing is recommended. 

Route: Little Browns Creek
Posted On: 9/17/2012, By: DaveSwink
Info: The aspens are in full color along the trail and many groves decorate the views from the summit. The creek is flowing from just above treeline. There was a bit of snow lingering on the north slopes but none on the route. There is a four man mining operation happening on the ridge between the 13,700 top of the road and the summit. They are trundling a lot of rocks but there is a trail above their activities. There are several (fifteen?) fallen trees on the trail that require just a bit of detouring. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 9/16/2012, By: zdero1
Info: The standard route is entirely snow free. I camped about 100-200 feet above the stream crossing where there are 2-3 decent camp sites. Many more campsites around 11,800-12,000‘ Light dusting of snow on the north-facing slopes of Antero, PT 13,800‘, Tabeguache. As far as the road goes, it‘s definitely solid grade 4/6 to the stream crossing and I chose to not take my 2011 Forester up it. I ended up meeting a hiker on the trail who offered me a ride down in his Toyota Venza, and he ended up with a busted fender :O Several puddles on the road but no more than 1-2" in depth. 

Route: From Little Browns Creek
Posted On: 9/9/2012, By: whancock
Info: The trail to Brown‘s Lake (unofficial name) is excellent due to what appears to be recent chainsaw work on large areas of blow-down timber. There are ambiguous directions to the trail head. The one starting with County Road 270 are correct. The trail takes you past a short spur trail to Gunnison Falls, a nice place to break. Above Brown‘s Lake, just past the high point of the road, there is no apparent trail and one needs to use some map skills and contour cross country to the east bank overlooking the stream. Follow this drainage all the way up to the jeep crossroads. When the gulley narrows and becomes rocky, there are segments of a trail here and there. It would appear that almost all climbers either use 4WD access or walk up the jeep trails from the west. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 5/29/2012, By: shmaig
Info: Almost completely clear of snow throughout the route. There are a few minor snowfields remaining toward the top, but nothing difficult to walk over or around. The 4.2 mile "jeep" road to get up to timberline is pretty rough. We made it in our Ford Explorer, but we thought it might knock every bolt loose a few times. Do not attempt this road without 4x4 and decent clearance! You will not make it and there are very few places to turn around. Hats off to the trip reporter who drove that road in a Subaru -- Not sure how you made it! The hike itself is relatively easy since you follow the remaining jeep/atv trail most of the hike from timberline. The last section is just a steep scramble up a lot of scree. We were blasted with cold wind most of the hike and didn‘t spend much time on top due to the wind. Very deserted hike for us as we only encountered a few other people the entire route, and this was over Memorial Day weekend! 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 5/20/2012, By: MountainDawg
Info: Most of the snow on the road to treeline is gone. The snow thats left above treeline is avoidable. Looks like summer 

Route: From Little Browns Creek
Posted On: 5/18/2012, By: atbaritone
Info: The blow-down trees begin just after the side trip to the falls along Browns Creek. However, on 5/15/2012 a crew was beginning to clear trees. They anticipated help from the forest service beginning 5/16, so it is possible that by now (5/18) the trees are cleared all the way to Browns Lake. Trail maintenance will still need to be done. Anyway, Tim and I hopped, skipped, and jumped our way through the downed trees. Ascending the gully to 12,700 feet was a mostly snow-free affair. Beyond that we were on and off of snow on the ridge, never needing micro-spikes. Antero (and Tab, for that matter), should once again be considered climbable from Browns Lake via Browns Creek due to the work of the chainsaw wielders. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 3/26/2012, By: drhansenej
Info: Started at 7am, the snow was rock solid all the way up through treeline. Took the center gully (see picture) that bisects the jeep road up to the point where it last intersects the road. Gully snow was in great shape all the way up. Then followed the snow-covered road up to 13,100 and took the completely dry rock and talus route up to 13,800. Ran out of gas at 13,800 at noon and descended back down the gully. See second picture for a view of the route from 13,800 to the summit. The snow back down the gully stayed solid to about 11,800 at 1pm. Post-hole nightmare from there down to the junction at 10,900, then occasional post-holing in the last 3 miles to the TH. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 3/5/2012, By: RWSchaffer
Info: Broke trail to the base of the mountain. Below the jeep road junction, this was nothing more than compacting an inch or two of spindrift in an existing trench. Above the jeep road junction, new trench was needed, never exceeding knee deep (there‘s a lot of new snow just below timberline). From the base of the mountain, climbed snow, talus, and ridge to the summit (the west flank of the mountain is fairly wind-scoured). Snowshoes and ice axe were necessary, with crampons greatly appreciated for the final stretch of ridge before the summit homestretch. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 2/20/2012, By: janetlightburn
Info: 2-17-12: Started 6:40 am. There was about 2-3 feet of snow on the lower part of Baldwin gulch road and about 3-5 up higher. Dow low there was a packed trail, and I was able to walk without snowshoes the first 1.5 miles. Up higher the snow was deeper and looser, and thus I had to uses the snowshoes. Once above treeline, I stayed as high as possible to avoid crossing a couple of suspicous tougues of snow, and then stayed on the high point of the ridge to reach Antero‘s summit by noon. Down by 4 pm. Great day!!! Janet Lightburn 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 1/3/2012, By: SurfNTurf
Info: We summited via the standard summer route up Baldwin Gulch on Monday, Jan. 2. There‘s a nice track from the parking area to the trail junction about 3-3.5 miles in. Once turned onto the trail for Mt. Antero, the trench isn‘t quite so developed. It‘s still easy to follow. Just expect some postholing. We left the road and took the second shortcut gully about 1.5-2 miles beyond the junction. There was avalanche debris from two separate slide paths in the gully (which is a classic V-shaped terrain trap), but the chutes now appeared pretty dry. We chose a careful line and felt safe. I wouldn‘t recommend this gully once Antero gets even a little bit more snow. We regained the road at about 12,800‘ (stashed snowshoes here) and followed it climber‘s right a few hundred feet to an obvious shortcut trail to the saddle. The backside road was very dry with minimal avalanche danger, so we followed the switchbacks to 13,700‘ where the summit came into view. From there, we followed the ridge proper all the way to the top. Avalanche concerns force you to stay high and bypass the Class 2 standard trail on the east aspect. The result is a Class 3 rock/snow crux at 13,800‘. We found a fairly easy line through the difficulties. It‘s exposed, but the holds are there. Past the rock crux we used axes and microspikes for a brief knife edge of hard-packed snow, and then followed the loose talus ridge to the summit to avoid an unstable-looking snowfield. Gorgeous day...we could see every range in the state and pick out the likes of Castle, Uncompahgre, Blanca and, of course, Pikes. Full TR to follow in the next day or two. 

Route: From Little Browns Creek
Posted On: 11/25/2011, By: atbaritone
Info: Browns Creek trail is passable until about 1/2 mile past the juncture with the trail to the falls. Tree blow downs begin and get progressively worse until the trail is unpassable more than 1/2 mile from Browns Lake. Do not attempt Mt. Antero from Browns Creek without first calling the San Isabel National Forrest Salida ranger station at 719-539-3591 to determine if the trees have been cleared. ASSUME UNPASSABLE UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 11/12/2011, By: tommycli
Info: Jeep road is icy and wasn‘t drivable with our 4WD, so be ready to hike the 3mi approach. Snow was fairly consistently around a foot deep on the trail. Snowshoes could help but aren‘t required. Trail can be icy. Sections of the trail, mostly past the switchbacks on the west face, have deep snowdrifts that are canted towards the downhill side. This section was icy when we did it, so ice axe was required here and made for potentially fatal exposure. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 11/6/2011, By: dannyg23
Info: From the road to the creek crossing there is about 6" of snow. After the creek crossing there is a bit more, probably an average of 8" or 10" with drifts as high as thigh deep. The road is mostly covered in drifts with a small track on the downhill side. Pt. 13xxx was pretty well windblown. The ridge to Antero had a lot of drifts usually waist deep. Anything that was windblown when we got there was way, way more windblown by the time we left. floatation was not necessary but probably would have helped. Crampons were not necessary. We brought ice axes, and although we never needed them I would bring it again if for some depraved reason I was headed back up there.