July 6th, Mount Audobon
Today we hiked Mount Audobon in the Roosevelt National Forest. The mountain is part of the Indian Peaks mountain system. Mount Audubon is approximately 13,300 feet high, but we started at approximately 11,000 feet. The trail starts off in a dense pine forest. There were visible signs of recent rock slides. When we started, the hike was pleasant and easy to hike. However, the trees started thinning pretty soon and the climbing bacame more difficult. After days of heavy hiking, my body seemed to be crumbling. The air got considerably thinner and I was having difficulty breathing. The elevation effect was catching up with me. The trail evened out a bit and alpine vegetation covered the area not under snow. The views were breathtaking, but my breathing got rugged. Pretty soon I was hyperventilating. We sent our son ahead with our friends, while Joe and I slowed our pace. Another mile of slow going and I felt much better. We picked up pace as reached the boulder strewn slope leading to the top and pretty soon caught up the rest of the group.
Clouds started swirling and strong breeze picked up as we reached the top. Despite the fear of thunderstorms, we were impacted enough by the view to stick around for a while. Going down turned out be quite easy as we hopped from boulder to boulder, covering large distances in each leap. All in all a moderate enough day. This was going to the last hike for the trip as were going to fly back to Boston the next day. So, it was with a mixed feelings of sadness and relief that we made our way back to Longmont.