On Sunday, Sept 14 I was finally able to get the opportunity to do a major hike with Kathy. I've recently come to love the hiking opportunities at Brainerd Lakes recreational area, which is within about 30 minutes from our new place up by Jamestown. Although there are no 14er routes from there, there are several 13ers accessible as well as many lower elevation hikes through various mountain passes and to the alpine lakes in the area that offer spectacular scenery. Mt. Audubon, at 13,223 feet, is one of the 13ers, and when viewing the Indian Peaks from Longmont, it appears to be one of the tallest peaks in the range. This labeled shot from summitpost.org shows it well:
We were on the trail just after 6:00 AM to start our 8 mile round trip with approvimately 2700 feet of elevation gain. For almost a mile, it was a gentle slope into the woods of the Indian Peaks Wilderness.
Eventually we came to an overlook with Mitchell Lake in the distance. It sits in a beautiful valley that is bordered by Mt. Audubon to the right, and Paiute Peak, Mt. Toll and Pawnee Peak sweeping along behind and around the back left. This is a pretty representative view of the rugged scenery all over the Brainerd Lakes area.
After some switchbacks, the well marked trail opens up onto tundra and snakes its way gradually uphill toward Mt. Audubon from the east. Kathy set the pace for most of this part of the hike.
Once over the ridge in the above picture, we got a great view of 14er Longs Peak and its neighbors to the north.
The wind had been present once we left tree line, but in the open it was a very gusty, head on, biting wind. I hadn't considered how much difficulty a head wind can add when climbing, but as constant as it was, it definitely made us tire more quickly than we would have otherwise.
As we cut back to the southwest to make our final push to the summit, the route became much rockier and less defined. We worked our way from cairn to cairn, occasionally pausing to get our balance as the wind, which was getting even stronger, knocked us off balance.
The true summit is actually a short distance behind the false summit in the picture above. By the time we got up there, the wind was furious. Fortunately there were several wind shelters up there that we were able to hide behind for a short recovery without getting our faces blown off. The views from the top did not disappoint.
Above, Paiute Peak is near to the right of center, and the far left peak is Mt. Toll.
In the above picture, Sawtooth, which is very discernible from the low elevations because of its shape, is pretty much dead center of the picture, and Longs Peak and Mt. Meeker are the tallest peaks in the background on the far right of the picture.
It took us about 2:45 to reach the summit. Our faces were feeling the effects of the wind and probably the sun to some degree, as it was exceptionally clear on this day. We were the first ones to the summit that day, and we stayed tucked behind one of the shelters for maybe 10 minutes before making our way back down. We passed a group of about 6 hikers spread out and making their way up the summit block immediately after we left, and a steady stream of hikers coming up most of the rest of the way back down to the trail head. We were back down in about 2 hours and at our car before 11:00. Here is the RunKeeper data.
It was great to finally get a chance to hike with Kathy. I don't know if it was due to the wind or her speedy pace, but this hike was much more tiring than I expected it to be, and I was pretty wiped out the rest of the afternoon (not that I was the only one ;) ). The last couple times I'd been to Brainerd Lakes to hike, the weather was not great and the views were obscured by clouds and/or rain, but this time the sky was crystal clear, and it was great to see this area from above thirteen thousand feet. I'm already plotting out my hikes up the other peaks in the area. :)
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