Mt. Antero - 14,269 ft

La Plata Peak - 14,336 ft

Date:  9-16/17-2005

Climbers: George Barnes (solo)

RT distance:  19.0 miles

RT time: 10 hours 15 minutes

Elevation gain:  7,000 feet

Antero

Route:  West Slopes II - Class 2

RT distance: 11.0 miles

RT time: 4 hours 30 minutes

Time to summit:   2 hours 30 minutes

Time on summit:  15 minutes

Time to trailhead: 1 hours 45 minutes

Elevation gain:  3,400 feet

USGS Quadrangles:  Mount Antero
 

La Plata

Route:  Southwest Ridge II - Class 2

RT distance: 8.0 miles

RT time: 5 hours 45 minutes

Time to summit:   3 hours 15 minutes

Time on summit:  30 minutes

Time to trailhead: 2 hours

Elevation gain:  3,600 feet

USGS Quadrangles:  Mount Elbert, Winfield

Trip Report:

After seeing Ferenc's great pictures from his evening hike up Mount Antero, I was inspired to get up Antero before sunset after work on Friday, and then hike down by the light of a nearly full moon.  Not leaving work until 5:30 pretty well nixed sunset plans, so I took my time and stopped at the Coyote Cantina in Johnson Village to fuel up for the hike.  After driving to the 4WD parking at 10,800 I went far enough to cross the fairly large stream and found a parking spot.

By 9:30 I had changed clothes and began hiking up the road.  The moon was mostly blocked by trees so I hiked by the light of my headlamp.  Below treeline there was almost no wind, so I was hiking in just a long sleeve polypro shirt.

Above treeline the moon was so bright you could distinguish all the neighboring peaks and follow the road without a light.  It was also becoming apparent that I was in for a very windy hike, and at 13,000 I added a mid weight Capilene shirt and a fleece hat.  I had to bump up the volume on my ipod just to hear Chris LeDoux over the wind.  I also started noticing small patches of new snow and frozen puddles, confirming my suspicions that it was below freezing.

Upon reaching the end of the road at 13,700 feet I caught the full force of the wind coming over the ridge and stopped to add my hooded hardshell jacket.  Hanging onto trekking poles had been making my hands cold (even with glove liners and windstopper gloves), so I cached my poles.

The summit's a short run from here so I step up the pace, hoping to make the summit by midnight.  With help from Johnny Cash's Ghost Riders in the Sky I topped out at 11:58 PM.

After calling my wife I searched the summit for a register.  Finding none, I snapped a couple pictures and began to make my way down.  The headwind (40 mph?) was so strong that it made descending back to 13,700 more difficult than ascending.

The road back to my Jeep was long but uneventful.  After a slow drive down 3 miles of 4WD road I found a flat spot to park and get a little sleep.

Three hours later my alarm went off and I made my way back down 162 en route to the Evergreen Cafe for breakfast.  After some biscuits and gravy and four cups of coffee I headed for Winfield via Chaffee 390.  The leaves along the road are starting to turn, and should be prime in another week or two.

I followed the 4WD road past Winfield to 10,700 ft.  There were a few other cars in the lot when I parked at 9AM.  The SW ridge is supposed to be a scenic alternative to the crowds on the other (highway 82) side.  This would prove to be true, as I didn't see another person until I got to 13,000 feet.

At 12,000 feet Roach's guide would take you up a gully on the climber's right side of the basin.  I'd been following a pretty good trail to this point and it seemed to go hard left towards Sayres Benchmark.  I found that the trail does eventually wrap back around to La Plata, and though it's a bit longer (1/2 mile one way?) it's probably easier than scree hopping up Roach's route.

Above 13,000 I began to feel the effects of the previous night's efforts and reverted to my Snail Brother pace.  The numerous false summits on this route were a real buzzkill, but other than that the route is pretty enjoyable.

I had hoped to summit by noon, but had to settle for 12:15.  Elbert, Massive, the Elks and Ellingwood ridge dominate the view from La Plata.  I spend half an hour refueling and taking pictures before heading down.

The hike out goes faster than I expected.  The aforementioned trail above the basin is super steep and loose, trekking poles were a huge help on the descent.  The worst part was crossing some muddy/swampy willows that had been frozen solid earlier in the morning.

Two hours after leaving the summit I arrived back at the Jeep where the first order of business was putting on my Chaco sandals - 7,000 feet over almost 20 miles had taken their toll on my feet!  Not surprisingly, the crux of this climb was staying awake on the drive back to Denver.