When NOAA says 70% chance of rain, just start earlier
I planned to start at 2 am but couldn't sleep, so I left the Frenchman Creek trailhead a bit earlier at 1:45 am. Spent 20 minutes backtracking to find the trail where it had been washed out by a torrential slurry. Route-finding on the tundra in the dark was a challenge as the trail was non-existent and I couldn't see the ridge. Fought my way through the willows and located the fun class-3 rib, which I followed to the summit ridge. Reached the prickly summit of Harvard at 5:30, still before sunrise. It was too cold to loiter so I started on the traverse at 5:45. An incredibly loose but thankfully shallow gully yielded entrance to the boulder-field at 12900'. After some boulder-hopping I contoured to Columbia's northwest ridge and climbed the class-3/4 rock to summit at 8:15. Started the descent at 8:30. My tired legs enjoyed much talus on the way down to the trail. I returned to the trailhead at 10:30. My goal was 10 hours, so I was pretty happy with 8:45.
3300 Hits
74.01% Score
4 Votes
Page Type:
Image Type(s):
Comments
Post a Comment