Baker Mountain was a small, family ski area that operated from 1950 to 1953 in this remote corner of Middle Park. Two Kremmling ranchers (Joe McElroy and Willard Taussig) were tired of hauling their family all the way to Winter Park to ski, so they cut some tress, rigged up a couple 500-foot long rope tows and opened for business. The area was described as having "aspen, open parks, ample snow and no wind," A lifetime membership was said to cost $70. It closed after 3 years, in part, because it was too much of a struggle to plow the access roads.
If you look northwest from the geocache location, you are looking right at Baker Mountain. You might even be able to make out the traces of the east-facing ski runs and lift cuts. You can access the mountain from a parking lot on the south side of Hwy. 40, about 1.5 miles west of the junction of Hwy 40 and 14. I will probably return this summer and place a geocache at the old base area, then make this one into a multicache stage. So if you want to claim an easy park & grab, you better act fast!
One final historical note: McElroy is generally credited with first use of the term "Champaigne Powder" to decsribe the snow on Baker Mountain. The term is now copyrighted by, and exclusively used by Steamboat Ski Resort, 30 miles to the northwest.