Cronin Peak, 13,870'

October 24, 2020

Cronin Peak 13,870'

Laura and I drove up to the Baldwin Gulch trail head and parked the Jeep a few hundred yards below the Baldwin Creek crossing because there was a downed tree blocking the road. We started hiking the road at 9:30 am and quickly made it to a point on the road where could see the entire north ridge of Cronin Peak. We cut off the road and went down a short talus field that lead to the very base of the long ridge. 

We climbed to the ridge proper and followed it the entire way to the summit. The lower part of the ridge has some class 3 scrambling and the upper 2/3 is mostly talus hopping and easy walking to the summit. We stopped part way up the ridge at a small area with a lot of quartz. We searched for some gems and minerals since the area around Mt. Antero is well known for its aquamarine. 

We summitted in 3 hours from the car and hid from the wind behind the large rocks on the summit. We descended the southeast ridge all the way to Mt. Antero road, moving slow and looking for more rocks as we went. Eventually we reached the road and walked the 3 miles back to the Jeep, getting back at 2:45 pm.