I cannot think of a better way to spend a birthday than hiking in the high country on a perfect Indian Summer day. How often can you be above 13,000 feet in late September in shorts and a t-shirt? Mt Audubon was a perfect destination. The views from Brainard Lake are always incredible, but when I got above treeline, rounded that first corner, and caught that glimpse of Chiefshead, Pagoda, Longs and Meeker, I feltl like they were reaching out to me.
At the summit, you have 360 degrees of views. To the south, all of Indian Peaks, with Navajo and Apache in the foreground.
Birthday girl on the summit with Arapahoes, Navajo, Apache.
There is a last gasp of fall color on the tundra. Bright red rosettes of big rooted spring beauty are hiding in every rock crevice near the summit. Monument plant (green gentian) glows golden. The willows have turned a burnished gold on the mountainside, providing texture to the otherwise stark landscape.
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