Mount Audubon (13,223 ft)

We are gearing up for Mount Whitney and headed out to climb a peak we’ve been interested in for years but have never made it around to climbing — Mount Audubon. This peak is in the Indian Peaks Wilderness and while we have been to this Wilderness area, the parking for Mount Audubon at the Mitchell Lake Trailhead is highly sought after and it can be hard to get reservations. This year, we reserved our spot in the parking lot and paid our fees many weeks ago, and committed to this excursion.

I’ll start by saying that the Indian Peaks Wilderness Rangers and staff were really friendly. We started hiking right at 7:00am from the Mitchell Lake Parking lot up the Beaver Creek / Mount Audubon Trail. There were only a few other cars in the parking lot at this time, and everyone seemed to be going to the lakes.

The trail was very nice and we enjoyed the hike through the pine trees. The smell this time of year just makes me feel calm and happy. The weather was amazing and we made good time up to treeline. We did not see anyone on the trail for quite some time. Below are some images from that early section of hiking.

As we moved above treeline, we began to notice all the wildflowers. What was most impressive, was the diversity of life on this trail. We must have seen dozens and dozens of species of wildflowers and we also had multiple animal encounters. Now back to the hike itself. The trail takes you northeast and around a more gentle climb up to a “saddle” between an unnamed point to the east and Mount Audubon to the west. Because of this, you can’t really see the impressive views until you get higher up. You only get glimpses of the ridge with Mt. Toll and Pawnee Peak. See below.

We did find two ptarmigan on our climb, and one was a mamma who had multiple chicks. They were very cute. We also saw a coyote, which was a neat find. There were lots of butterflies (and actual flies).

As you climb higher, you do get some glimpses of Long’s Peak, which is pretty cool.

Then, as you crest the ridge, you get a really amazing view of the Front Range with Long’s Peak taking center stage (see images below). From here you turn left and begin the climb up to the summit. There are multiple trails, which can be a bit confusing, but generally speaking, you just go up. You would be hard pressed to get yourself into any trouble by taking one path or another. You can get into some boulder hopping if you get off one of the trails. We took a trail on the climbers right and then the opposite side coming down. It does get a little steep here and it is rocky with some scree/loose dirt and possibly boulder hopping.

In the image on the left, you can see the trail below that you hiked up, and then a small trail veering to the towards the camera; there isn’t an obvious trail in the image, but it’s there. In the middle image you can see a large cairn in the bottom-right of the picture; the trail is visible in the middle-left of the picture. The image on the right is taken from a small flat area on the way up to the summit.

We felt like we probably had more hiking, but we crested a small ridge and were at the summit. It’s a long summit and you can keep going to Paiute Peak if you are so inclined. We weren’t interested in the loose scree and called it a day on Audubon. Due to the permit system, it is not too crowded and we only saw a couple people on the summit. Below are some images and a pano.

After giving Paiute some consideration, we headed down, which we found was easier than going up in terms of finding a good trail. Once back on the grassy saddle we took one more look out towards Long’s Peak and the Front Range and then started descending down and around towards the trees. The flowers were amazing and it was really beautiful.

Once we had returned to the parking lot, we actually opted to go on another trail out to Mitchell Lake, which was very short, but gorgeous. Mitchell Lake is about 2.0 miles round-trip from the parking lot (the Mitchell Lake Parking Lot) with maybe 220 feet of gain. The only thing I didn’t like about the lake was the mosquitoes! We probably would have stayed longer if they hadn’t been biting.

Below are some images of Mitchell Lake as well as a collection of wildflowers we saw on the hikes.