Audubon-Arapaho Traverse

This is a traverse of Audubon and all the named peaks on the continental divide between Paiute and South Arapaho Peak. There's lots of Class 3 scrambling, some Class 4, and one or two short 5.0-5.4 sections. The distance is about 17 miles with 8,500' elevation gain. It's been done in under 7 hours, but most people will take much longer.

1. Start at Mitchell Lake trailhead, and hike up the trail to Audubon.

2. Hike across to Pauite's east ridge, and scramble up the ridge.

3. Hike down to the base of Mt. Toll. In mid-August we found a small pool of meltwater here, one of the few water sources at that time of year. Climb Toll's north "ridge" (really the NW face), Class 4 with a 20' 5.4 corner. See Buzz Burrell's comment under

https://www.mountainproject.com/route/105758278/north-ridge

and

https://www.mountainproject.com/photo/114957967

. Or traverse south at the base of the face, and climb a gully on the west side (loose 3rd class).

4. Hike across Pawnee Peak.

5. Hike across the Pawnee Pass and up Shoshoni Peak.

6. Traverse from Shoshoni to the start of the "Chessmen",

https://www.mountainproject.com/route/105764475/kasparov-traverse

. Most of the towers can by bypassed by Class 3 and 4 scrambling on exposed ledges, initially on the west side and then crossing over to the east. The final tower, the "King", is climbed via the ridge crest and ramps on the east side (Class 3). Scramble to the summit of Apache.

7. Hike SE and downclimb (exposed Class 3) towards Navajo. Bypass "Dicker's Peck," and follow a 3rd Class ramp across the SW side of Navajo until a deep west-facing gully comes into view. Climb the gully (Class 4) to the base of a short, steep cliff band. Traverse south on an easy ledge, then double back and follow Navajo's SW ridge to the top.

8. Reverse the top part of Navajo's SW ridge. Hike down scree to a tarn at the base of a snowfield on the NE side of the Navajo-Arikaree col. This is a good water spot and the only place where the route deviates by more than a few hundred feet from the ridge crest. (Ironically, the snowfield appears to be partially outside the City of Boulder watershed boundary.) Scramble up the north ridge of Arikaree or ledges on the ridge's east side.

Alternatively, it's possible to stick to the ridge crest between Navajo and Arikaree. This is considerably more difficult and bypasses the water spot. Tommy Caldwell did it this way in August 2020.

9. From Arikaree, hike down and across a flat section, then up and over Point 12,887, until the ridge narrows. Follow the ridge crest for several hundred feet to a notch. At this point there is an old airplane wreck. According to

https://planecrashmap.com/plane/co/N609Z

and

https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19631207-0

, these are the remains of a Curtis C46 cargo plane that crashed in December 1963. Climb gingerly past the wreckage and up a corner (Class 4). Follow ledges on the E side just below the ridge crest and drop down to a notch the base of the north ridge of "Deshawa" (unmarked on USGS maps). Alternatively, from the notch near the wreckage, downclimb (loose Class 3) towards a small tower, traverse south along ledges at the base of steep cliffs, then climb up to the notch below "Deshawa". The latter variation may be covered by snow until late summer. Either way, once at the notch below "Deshawa", climb a short 5.0 corner near the ridge crest then a Class 3 ramp on the east side to the summit.

10. Scramble across to the base of the NE ridge of North Arapaho Peak. Where the ridge steepens, climb Class 4 slabs on the right side of the ridge crest, move back left to the ridge crest, bypass a short vertical step (very exposed), then move back right, and climb more slabs to regain the ridge crest where the angle eases off. Follow a long Class 3 ramp on the east side until one can cross over easily to the west. Hike a few hundred feet up scree slopes to the summit.

11. Follow the well-trodden Class 3 traverse to South Arapaho Peak,

https://www.mountainproject.com/route/105756721/south-ridge

. Run, walk, or hobble down the trail to the 4th of July trailhead.

A dowloadable GPX track can be found here:

https://caltopo.com/m/83QV

.

Anton Krupicka's trip report:

http://antonkrupicka.com/blog/audubon-to-arapaho/

.

Start at Mitchell Lake trailhead (Brainard Lake area), and end at the 4th of July trailhead below South Arapaho Peak.

If you think you need protection on easy Class 5 then this route probably isn't for you.