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I have wanted to do a moonlight hike now for a while. I got an opportunity on Longs last week, just cause you have to start so early, but I was hoping to actually be on a peak and watch the moon set after walking by the moonlight. We got close. We drove up to Baldwin Gulch just outside of BV, 11.8 miles down 162. Baldwin Gulch is a steep rough 4 wheel drive road. And in our usual fashion, with having to get our child situated with grandma, we were late starters on Sunday night.
We left Denver at 7 or so- after subway and gas, it was probably closer to 8. Got to Baldwin Gulch in about 2 hours and then spent almost another hour 4 wheeling in the dark.... NOT EASY, or smart may I add. But my husband is good at it. We ended up stopping at treeline and finding a level place to catch a couple of hours of sleep. I think it was about midnight though when we actually got to sleep. The alarm went off at 3am and we tried to ignore it, but no such luck. I knew this was our last opportunity to catch a moonlight hike before the end of the summer. So we drug ourselves out into the cold night air with the headlamps blaring, so not to trip on the loose gravel on that hainous road. We brought our dog, Walter, and he looked at us like we were crazy when we told him to get up. He was fast asleep, cozy in the sleeping bag. We started off at 4:00 and followed the road and the moon. We ascended the road as fast as the moon was descending behind Mt. Carbonate 13,840ft (I think), which is to the SW of Antero. We continued the road till the very end. The road is smooth in most places, with steep sections and loose gravel in sections. I think there might have been a trail leaving the road on the south ridge, but we didn‘t see it since it was dark. By the time we got to the south ridge the moon had set and the sun had not shown any of it‘s light. It was pretty dark and with the wind and noone else around, I would have to say a bit spooky.
The road climbs steeply on the southeastern side of the mtn and ends abruptly at some bulldozers and mining vehichles. Actually it looked like they were continuing the road down the west side in the saddle btw Antero and what ever the hump is to the south. Anyway- don‘t take that road- it doesn‘t go anywhere. We were definitely on the south end of the ridge and we saw the trail at this point as it was dawn and we had some light. We followed the trail that skirted under a steep ridge and then followed a talus trail that somewhat switchbacked up to the summit of Antero. We got there at 6:20, just in time for the sunrise. It was beautiful!
I had been partially up Antero once before and found it not that spectacular, compared to other peaks, and mostly b/c of the road to the top, but the trail and the talus was better than the road and the summit was a small, but gorgeous summit. We were on top until 7am and then headed down. We were back at the car by 9am. We both slid on the rocks at least once coming down. I hate walking on that road, plus there were a bunch of out of staters 4 wheeling up there. Kind of annoying.
And there was a couple of guys walking up through the gullies. We told them that it was hard on the enviornment, but they said, "well then just this once." Hopefully that really was the case. As much as I hate that road, those gullies filled with eroded rock and scree are much worse. Only in the event of lightning would I take those routes.
Here are some pics from the hike:
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
awsome pictures, those are really something else, makes a relatively uneventful mtn like Antero look amazing. Thats a cool dog as well.
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