Colorado 14er: Mount Antero (14,271')
Mount Antero is the 10th or 13th highest summit in Colorado standing at 14,271 feet. There has been corrections to the height of some of the fourteeners, and when looking at a variety of maps and online resources, everyone has a slightly different number, but they are all over 14,000 feet 😆. Antero has 2 main approaches, 1 being an old mining road off of county road 162 that is actively used by dirt bikes and off road vehicles, as well as miners who still lay claim to several small mining areas on and around the mountain. A wealth of gemstones has been mined here and are still actively mined today. It is a very beautiful and interesting area that has one of the highest concentrations of aquamarine in the United States.
The 2nd route and the one we highly recommend, is a longer and much quieter approach to Antero. We didn’t see another hiker or runner until we were close to the summit. We parked at the Browns Creek Trail Head, which is about a 15 minute drive on dirt roads off of Hwy 285 near Salida. There is ample camping on BLM land in this area. This route is pretty much single track all the way, leading eventually to the mining roads that will take you to the final 500+ feet of talus to the summit. The trail follows Little Browns Creek so you will have plenty of access to water along the way. There are also some beautiful camping spots along the way if you want to take your time and explore the area a bit more.
Mount Antero is named for a Ute Native American Chief who advocated for peace between his tribe and the American settlers during the 19th century. Chief Antero worked to promote peace during the uprisings of the late 1860s and 70s. Mount Antero is one of three southern fourteeners named after Native Americans, along with Shavano and Tabeguache. Before the Europeans arrived, the Ute (which means “land of the sun”) were composed of seven bands; the Mouache, Weeminuche, Uintah, Yampa, Parianuc, Tabeguache and Capote. The latter were dwellers of the San Luis Valley and Northern New Mexico. The Tabeguache lived in the Gunnison and Uncompahgre River Valleys. These diverse bands now make up the present day Southern Ute, Ute Mountain Ute and Northern Ute Tribes. - Resources: thenextsummit.org, summitpost.org
We are really enjoy spending long days on our feet and not rushing through these amazing places. Since moving to Colorado, we have traveled a lot, visiting the surrounding states that we have such close access to now. This year, we have stayed put in our little mountain town and have really enjoyed learning as much as we can about the area’s history, culture, mountains and wildlife. There is so much to do, so many mountains to climb, trails to explore, rivers to navigate and more dirt roads than any cyclists can dream about. So we are just taking it one day at a time and one adventure at a time.