Matt Mahoney's 2001 Colorado Vacation

Antero

Aug. 9-10, 2001. I drove to the top of the jeep road climbing to 13,800 ft. on Mt. Antero and camped. The 8 mile drive definitely requires 4WD, and many of them still don't make it. I am so glad the guy at the airport talked me into upgrading from a subcompact.

Nothing grows at this altitude. The terrain is barren rock. Sleeping was uncomfortable. Not only was it cold, windy, and damp, but the thin air (55% of sea level) made it difficult to sleep. I woke up about 20 times during the night to catch my breath.

I made 2 short trips to the 14,269 ft. summit, once in the evening and once the next morning. It is about a 25 minute hike each way.

My campsite with the Antero summit in the background.

The two leftmost peaks are Shavano and Tabeguache, seen from Antero. During Nolan's 14, the lead runners descended to Brown's lake and directly up to the saddle just left of Tabeguache.