Let’s meet at the Coorstek lot in Golden by 04:55 so we can get a 05:00 departure. There’s seven eight of us, so two cars should suffice. Travel time should be 1:20. We’ll park in the lot on the east side of the lake, as the last bit of road to the Mitchell Trailhead is not open.
From what I can glean on conditions, I think there might be a bit of snow. 😃 Seriously, there will undoubtedly be more snow than we’d like, but that’s the theme of the summer. Expect to posthole before we get to the scramble. As I’ve not done this route, we’ll gauge conditions as we go. As it’s a ridge, I hope the snow has cleared. The crux is a notch (down then up-climb) and I’m not sure if the snow will make this worse of better. If worse, be prepared for a turn-around and a breakfast burrito in Boulder.
Once atop Audubon, we’ll assess whether to try the Paiute traverse or descent the East Slopes of Audubon. If Paiute, I expect there’s going to be a few glissading opportunities, so we’ll use those ice axes.
Bring helmets (of course), ice axes, microspikes, clothing to roll around in the snow in, and — I dunno — optional snowshoes?
- early start
- drive to Mitchell Lake TH
- Southeast Ridge to Mount Audubon (class 3)
either
- Traverse to Paiute Peak via Paiute East Ridge (easy class 3)
- Descend via Paiute Southeast Face
- 7 mi RT, 3,300′
or
- Descend via Audubon East Slopes
Photo:
Audubon with our ridge is the one in the middle:
Paiute Peak, pointy peaky center right is the SE face of Paiute Peak aka the descent route:
(from Ben, taken on Sat 22 Jun)
Map:
[Route in magenta]
Trip Reports:
- https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/tripreport.php?trip=17997
- https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/tripreport.php?trip=4665
Weather Forecast
https://forecast-v3.weather.gov/point/40.0991,-105.6159
Attendees:
- Greg W
- Heather K?
- Cyndi L
- Dave L
- Karin H
- Ben B
- Jan B
- Ken Y