Mt. Audubon

Route: North slope
Posted On: 7/11/2021, By: boucry
Info: Summer conditions. Reminder to get reservations at recreation.gov for Mitchell Lake TH to avoid the extra mileage. Was able to snag an early time slot 2.5 weeks out. 

Route: North slope
Posted On: 6/20/2021, By: Emily_Gulanczyk
Info: Hiked Mt Audubon from the Brainard Gateway TH, so it was about 14 miles. Note that there is a reservation system in place this year to access the Brainard Lake TH and the Mitchell Lake TH is closed - although you're still allowed to hike on the trails from the Mitchell Lake TH. There are a few snow fields along the trail, mostly right around treeline. No traction is necessary - no postholing. Lots of running water on the trails above treeline. 

Route: Crooked couloir and east slopes
Posted On: 6/4/2021, By: bangerth
Info: The road from the winter closure to Brainard Lake is dry, but there are still substantial snow drifts on the way to the Mitchell Lake Trailhead. From there continuous snow to Mitchell Lake, Blue Lake, and beyond. The "Crooked Couloir" is in decent shape, but probably only in the early mornings. Before the sun hits it, it's quite icy and you really don't want to slip. It's also quite hard to get steps in; we spent a fair share of the time using just the toe points, having two axes would have been nice. After the sun hit the snow, it became quite soft and we were happy to exit the couloir soon after. Snow conditions suggested not to glissade back down, so we took the summer trail back to the Mitchell Lake Trailhead. There are still large snow fields that could make travel quick and convenient, but with today's temperature, there was also a lot of postholing. The trip down the steep part with the switchbacks was not great fun. At the bottom, the way through the forest was acceptable and reasonably quick. Snowshoes: Yes, from Mitchell Lake Trailhead to Blue Lake, then again for the last half of the way down the summer route. Time: We left at 3:20am and saved a few minutes by taking bikes to the Mitchell Lake Trailhead (but were slowed down by having to push them over snow drifts on the last mile). Even this early departure got us to the base of the couloir later than we would have like. I think that we topped out at around 9am. Getting to the top an hour earlier would have been nice. 

Route: From Mitchell Lake TH
Posted On: 4/4/2021, By: WildWanderer
Info: Parked at the winter closure. Snow started at gate. Route was nicely packed down until Mitchell Lake Trailhead, and from then on it was a trashy trench: lots of postholing but the trail will get you to the ridge. There the trail stops. I went up the west side of the mountian to the summit. Heaviest snow was from the TH to treeline. Ridge was mostly windblown but snow was unavoidable in places. Summit was dry and very windy. I wore microspikes the entire day because I started early, snowshoes would be needed if you started or finished later in the day. The trench needs a good packing down, so if you're inclined, bring snowshoes and use them on your way down to solidify the trench. I didn't see anyone else on the trail today. 

Route: North slope
Posted On: 4/4/2021, By: supranihilest
Info: We booted from the trailhead to approximately Mitchell Lake, then wore snowshoes through the deep snow to treeline, where things dried out significantly. At that point we carried our snowshoes and just booted to the summit in a more or less direct line, since the trail was buried in snow. We continued on the traverse to Paiute, and on the return from Paiute the snow from Mitchell Lake to the trailhead was wet and sloppy but mostly packed on the road. Traction and an ice axe are not necessary, flotation is very nice but might also not be necessary, just be ready to wallow without it. 

Route: North slope
Posted On: 3/5/2021, By: Cereal
Info: (See separate Trailhead Status for Mitchell Lakes.) Great conditions for a winter summit. Not nearly as much snow as anticipated after the forecast for Thursday. Two of us wore snowshoes from car to summit to car. For the road from the winter lot to the Mitchell Lakes TH, snowshoes seemed necessary this morning, but they were not needed in the afternoon. (Yes, we kept snowshoes on anyway. Many folks were hiking the road just fine in bare boots.) From the Mitchell Lakes TH to timberline, snowshoes were definitely needed today. We renewed an existing trench, although a couple times we lost it and then found it again. The worst it got was maybe 5 inches deep, aside from about 30 steps of mid-shin deep here and there. From timberline to summit, you might be able to bare-boot it and rock-hop if you want, but we found it easiest to keep snowshoes on and aim for the snowier parts of the slope. I will try to upload a few photos. 

Route: North slope
Posted On: 2/1/2021, By: 9patrickmurphy
Info: Road to Brainard Lake from the winter closure is packed snow or dry in places. Easy routefinding to Mitchell Lake TH, bring a GPS if fresh snow. We followed someone's tracks up the Audubon trail, easy bootpack until the switchbacks. We then had a hell of an effort getting up the headwall (switchbacks in summer, trail buried) and then stumbling through knee-deep drifts above that. Turned around at about 11,300 because we were behind schedule and having no fun. Bring snowshoes, basically. Ridge looked dry from what we could see through the trees. 

Route: North slope
Posted On: 1/1/2021, By: dolfh
Info: The Brainard Lake rd is closed 2 mi in from HWY 72 making the hike 14 miles RT. Excellent bootpack to Brainard lake. Decent trench from Mitchell lake TH to switchbacks. Some deep drifts near treeline. Deep snow is avoidable above treeline. 

Route: North slope
Posted On: 9/15/2020, By: Ptglhs
Info: Route is great right now. A couple small patches of snow but very minimal. No traction needed. No running water either. After the cairn at the saddle between Audubon and North the trail becomes harder to follow but eventually cairns and the path of least resistance lead you there. 

Route: North slope
Posted On: 9/1/2020, By: Mountain_hiker100
Info: Summer conditions. Getting a little later in the season, so the air at the top is starting to become cold. So don't go on a windy day. 

Route: North slope
Posted On: 9/5/2020, By: kingshimmers
Info: Posted this conditions report solely for the picture - the wildflowers are gone and the tundra is in full fall colors! 

Route: North slope
Posted On: 7/16/2020, By: BROWNIE1037
Info: Started very early. The park currently accepts 80 % capacity only. The gates open at 6 AM and we were there at 6.05 AM MT and were about the 7th car in line. Once we got up front, they only had 4 more parking spaces available for the Audubon trailhead (there is another, easier trail that starts there). Weather was beautiful and we passed about 2 couples and then were alone on the trail. We started at 6.45 AM and summited about 8.30 AM. Spent some time up on the top to enjoy the view and the silence. Upon our decent, we saw a lot of people trying to hit up the summit (you can also hike into the park which ads about 6 m RT to your treck). We were back at the car at 10.45 AM. No snow on trail, everything super dry. Beautiful views of RMNP and Longs Peak. 

Route: SE Ridge
Posted On: 6/29/2020, By: nickle
Info: Climbed Audubon via the SE ridge, traversed to Paiute and then descended the Paiute/Toll saddle. Winter gate is still in place, scheduled to open on July 1st though. Almost all of the route is summer conditions until the Toll-Paiute saddle. Some snow fields but mostly avoidable. 'The Notch' on the SE ridge was 100% snow free on the climbing section. Where present, the snow was firm enough to not require flotation all the way until 10:30 when I made it past all the snow on the descent (it was a cloudy morning though). Nice glissade from the Toll-Paiute saddle, intermittent snow drifts all the way to Mitchell Lake. Photo 1: SE ridge of Audubon Photo 2: SE ridge of Audubon Photo 3: Paiute looking back on traverse from Audubon Photo 4: Brainard lake basin Photo 5: Snowfield from Toll-Paiute saddle 

Route: North slope
Posted On: 6/23/2020, By: Kitten
Info: Basically summer conditions. A few patches of snow to cross below treeline. Summited Notabon (12,706) and Audubon via standard route. Pic 2 taken from Notabon summit 

Route: North slope
Posted On: 6/19/2020, By: lbethel
Info: Trail is almost clear of snow. There are a few small piles of snow at the bottom. 2 short sections (approximately 100 feet) of snow just below treeline that can be crossed easily. No snow above treeline.