Go to the Brainard Lake Recreation Area, just across from the town of Ward on the Hwy 72 (the Peak to Peak highway). In summer, drive all the way to Brainard Lake (paying the access fee at the gate). Bear right at the lake and look for a right-hand turn to the Long Lake and Mitchell Lake Trailheads. Turn right, and then proceed straight to the Mitchell Lake TH parking area (Long Lake TH is a left turn off this road). The parking area gives access to the Mitchell Lake trail on the left and the Beaver Creek Trail on the right.

Details:

The route to Mt. Audubon begins at 10,500 feet with a mild path through the forest (Photo #1). At around three-quarters of a mile and 10,900 feet it opens out of the forest (Photo #2) and begins a series of switchbacks (Photo #3).

Treeline breaks at around 1.5 miles and 11,300 feet (Photo #4) and the trail splits at 1.7 miles at 11,400 where the Mt. Audubon trails goes left from the Beaver Creek Trail (Photo #5). Go left. Mt. Audubon’s summit comes into view shortly (Photo #6).

Proceed through cairned open tundra (Photo #7, Photo #8) until you approach the saddle north of the summit. You are looking for a cairn on the saddle that indicates you should turn left and enter the talus to begin the summit push (Photo #9). There is a faint trail at this point turning left but it’s easy to miss and walk right over the saddle because the trail you’ve been on continues that way to great views of Upper Coney Lake. The saddle sits at 12,700.

The summit is a moderately steep pile of rocks (Photo #10). There are some cairns and trails leading up it (Photo #11), but there seem to be several routes developing. Just keep heading up (Photo #12). At 13,000 feet it gets a bit less steep (Photo #13)

The pitch levels off at 3.9 miles and 13,200 feet (Photo #14). Walk several hundred feet across the summit and around the many wind shelters to reach the technical summit at 4.0 miles and 13,223 feet.