Mt. Antero

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: Via 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: Via 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. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 10/22/2011, By: msmith7361
Info: 4WD road up to the creek around 10,800 ft. is snow-free and only has small patches of ice - able to take Liberty Renegade to creek. About .25 miles above creek there is a long stretch of ice, but by noon much of it was melting and soft. On the zig-zags higher up, snow was predictably drifted on the North-facing sides, though hiking on the sides was not an issue. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 10/22/2011, By: MOJO8800
Info: The first 3 miles of the 4wd road are almost free of snow, with a few icy spots. Just up from the junction / stream crossing, however, at about 11,000 feet, there is a long icy section that would not be fun in any vehicle. I parked just below this. Above tree line, long sections of the road are free of snow, but it gets a little deep approaching the ridge. I left the road, taking "option 1", and found the talus hopping fun and free of snow. I ascended via the ridge crest, but took the "old trail" down. The old trail was in good condition, and easy to follow, at least from this direction. Clear skies and little wind. Happy trails! 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 10/16/2011, By: RJansen77
Info: Climbed Antero today via the Baldwin Gulch 4wd road. Started from the bottom at 7am and summited at 10am. There were three vehicles (two Jeeps and a pickup) parked at the stream crossing around 10,850. Beyond this point there is ice on the road but enough rocks are poking through I imagine you could drive up with decent tires, though finding a parking spot would be another story. You would eventually be stopped maybe 1 mile (this is an approximation) after the road breaks through treeline by snow drifts on the road. These get up to 18 inches deep and there is one point where an ATV or some other 4wd vehicle clearly got stuck and had a fun time getting out a few days ago. I imagine that the road will be impassable beyond this point until next spring. Pretty easy walking on the road, brought the microspikes but didn't use them. 

Route: Baldwin Gultch
Posted On: 9/23/2011, By: ColoradoLawDobe
Info: Route is snow free even if you don't take the road up as far as it goes. However, hordes of ATVs were out and apparently if you don't give them the ENTIRE road they are rather testy about it. Both creek crossings were extremely easy as the water level is very low. 

Route: Little Browns Creek
Posted On: 9/17/2011, By: RJansen77
Info: We attempted Antero today from Little Browns Creek (note: do not confuse this with Browns Creek!) and got weathered off near the top of the 4wd road...or what I think was the top of the road, we couldn't see ANYTHING. It was snowing, pretty cold (upper 20's or low 30's) and winds gusting 35-40 mph, making for ZERO visibility. The snow ranged from non existent to close to knee deep in drifts depending on where you were, and the rocks were slick in places with ice. I imagine most of the snow will melt of with a sunny day or two, but today was a tough one up there, a true whiteout.