RMdaytripsgrl - Feb 27, 2006 2:07 am Date Climbed: Sep 7, 2002
Route: South Slopes
A beautiful hike for my husband and I. Did the Harvard/Columbia combo via ridge traverse. A long day with some weather to deal with on the (LOOSE) descent of Columbia.
Camped a little below treeline near a stream and a beautiful site. Other camp sites nearby. Took a leisurely start the next AM. By the time we summitted it started to get cold, even had a few flurries. The summit block consists of a few Class 3 moves. Fairly straightforward.
Route Climbed: Horn Fork basin Date Climbed: June 1999
By far, one of the prettiest 14ers to hike into or summit. The flowers are amazing and the views were tremendous. A hot day with only 4 people in the basin. The air was actually 'sweet' smelling due to the wildflowers. Amazing!
Route Climbed: standard (trail) Date Climbed: Sept 20th, 2005
This hike starts with a pleasant hike streamside up through an old-growth forest. Treeline reveals a very large basin that stretches for a couple of miles to the real climb. The summit is mabye a third of a mile away geographically, but almost 2000 feet above. The trail is VERY easy to follow for such steep terrain as it winds left, then right as you ascend the summit ridge. A pleasant surprise at the end, the last 25 feet are on large boulders that invlove, in my opinion, a fun and easy little scramble that exceeds class 2.
Route Climbed: Frenchman Creek Date Climbed: September 24, 2005
Started at the lower (9,300 ft) TH. Despite the super early alpine start of 7:30 we luckily didn't have any weather aside from wind on the hike. 'Twas a bit breezy up top; I was almost blown over a couple of times. Summary-a relatively long approach for a short section on fun, easy scrambling along the summit ridge! The views from the top were amazing though-what was left of the Fall colors looked like little rivers of fire on the flanks of the surrounding peaks.
Route Climbed: From Mount Columbia Date Climbed: Sept. 6, 2005
A grueling 12 hour day covering 16 miles and over 6,000 feet of elevation gain. It was all worth it though because I made it to the top of both peaks in the same day. The day started with rain and sleet, but eventually became just cloudy. Very lucky that I was able to spend all day out there without the threat of storms.
Met only 2 other hikers on Columbia, and I had Harvard all to myself. I descended into the basin northeast of Columbia and then climbed up Harvard's SE ridgeline. Left trailhead at 6:30 am (late), summited Columbia around 11:30 am, left for Harvard around noon, and summited Harvard around 3:30 pm and returned to the trailhead around 6:30 pm.
Saw a whole herd of mountain goats in Horn Fork Basin above Bear Lake. At least 30 of them (see pic).
Route Climbed: South Slopes Date Climbed: Sept 4, 2005
Summited w/ sp'er ahansen54 and our father. Set up high camp at 11,600 in Horn Fork Basin. Summitted Harvard early in the morning -- foggy morning so not much for views. Then followed the long long ridge to Columbia.
Route Climbed: North Cottonwood Trailhead Date Climbed: September 3, 2005
Hiked Harvard, then bagged Columbia. The Harvard trail was a very nice gentle trail with a short fun scramble at the top- and of course, beautiful views!
Route Climbed: From North Cottonwood Creek TH Date Climbed: Saturday August 27, 2005
Started up at 4:40AM under starry skies and not another person on the trail until I was well up into Horn Fork Basin. Reached the small summit at 8:10 and had it to my for 20 mins, then back down into the basin in search of the trail to Mt Columbia. My 19th 14'er and another fine Colorado morning. Sweet!!
Route Climbed: South Slopes - N. Cottonwood Creek TH Date Climbed: July 23, 2005
There is excellent camping down by the creek (left side of the road) from Silver Creek TH to the parking area at the end of the road. If you find a campsight that suits you, it will serve for summits of harvard, columbia and yale. On this date, there was 4 or 5 snow crossings that didn't require gators, but we punched through a bit. Dry from 13300 to summit.
Route Climbed: South Slopes Date Climbed: July 17, 2005
Great trip with Annaleen, Mike, and Marella. Camped Saturday on the meadow below the south ridge dropping from Bear Lake and climbed Sunday morning. Excellent trip, despite some discomfort with the altitude.
RMdaytripsgrl - Feb 27, 2006 2:07 am Date Climbed: Sep 7, 2002
Route: South SlopesA beautiful hike for my husband and I. Did the Harvard/Columbia combo via ridge traverse. A long day with some weather to deal with on the (LOOSE) descent of Columbia.
Mike N - Feb 19, 2006 11:29 pm
South SlopeCamped a little below treeline near a stream and a beautiful site. Other camp sites nearby. Took a leisurely start the next AM. By the time we summitted it started to get cold, even had a few flurries. The summit block consists of a few Class 3 moves. Fairly straightforward.
Mountain Jim - Feb 9, 2006 11:56 pm
Route Climbed: From Horn Fork Basin Date Climbed: August 1968Round tripped Harvard & Columbia via Horn Fork basin in about 8 hours. That connecting ridge is interesting.
Kiefer - Jan 23, 2006 10:40 am
Route Climbed: Horn Fork basin Date Climbed: June 1999By far, one of the prettiest 14ers to hike into or summit. The flowers are amazing and the views were tremendous. A hot day with only 4 people in the basin. The air was actually 'sweet' smelling due to the wildflowers. Amazing!
barratt - Jan 19, 2006 8:54 pm
Route Climbed: Standard - Horn Fork Basin Date Climbed: September 5, 2005Beautiful backpack trip. Camped near 12,000 ft. Red vegeatation high on Harvard was visible from miles away.
1mvertical - Jan 4, 2006 4:58 pm
Route Climbed: Frenchman Creek Date Climbed: July 05, 2005Barely any snow. Very well maintained trail.
LS - Dec 26, 2005 5:04 pm
Route Climbed: standard Date Climbed: 15-sep-2005See the trip-report here: http://distantpeak.com/web/mountains/n-america/mount_harvard
iceisnice - Oct 4, 2005 3:17 pm
Route Climbed: traverse of yale, harvard, princeton Date Climbed: July '05boring hike.
dunking_deutschman - Oct 1, 2005 3:10 pm
Route Climbed: standard (trail) Date Climbed: Sept 20th, 2005This hike starts with a pleasant hike streamside up through an old-growth forest. Treeline reveals a very large basin that stretches for a couple of miles to the real climb. The summit is mabye a third of a mile away geographically, but almost 2000 feet above. The trail is VERY easy to follow for such steep terrain as it winds left, then right as you ascend the summit ridge. A pleasant surprise at the end, the last 25 feet are on large boulders that invlove, in my opinion, a fun and easy little scramble that exceeds class 2.
ajdonner - Sep 27, 2005 12:50 am
Route Climbed: Frenchman Creek Date Climbed: September 24, 2005Started at the lower (9,300 ft) TH. Despite the super early alpine start of 7:30 we luckily didn't have any weather aside from wind on the hike. 'Twas a bit breezy up top; I was almost blown over a couple of times. Summary-a relatively long approach for a short section on fun, easy scrambling along the summit ridge! The views from the top were amazing though-what was left of the Fall colors looked like little rivers of fire on the flanks of the surrounding peaks.
charles97 - Sep 16, 2005 7:44 pm
Route Climbed: From Mount Columbia Date Climbed: Sept. 6, 2005A grueling 12 hour day covering 16 miles and over 6,000 feet of elevation gain. It was all worth it though because I made it to the top of both peaks in the same day. The day started with rain and sleet, but eventually became just cloudy. Very lucky that I was able to spend all day out there without the threat of storms.
Met only 2 other hikers on Columbia, and I had Harvard all to myself. I descended into the basin northeast of Columbia and then climbed up Harvard's SE ridgeline. Left trailhead at 6:30 am (late), summited Columbia around 11:30 am, left for Harvard around noon, and summited Harvard around 3:30 pm and returned to the trailhead around 6:30 pm.
Saw a whole herd of mountain goats in Horn Fork Basin above Bear Lake. At least 30 of them (see pic).
jhansen007 - Sep 8, 2005 5:56 pm
Route Climbed: South Slopes Date Climbed: Sept 4, 2005Summited w/ sp'er ahansen54 and our father. Set up high camp at 11,600 in Horn Fork Basin. Summitted Harvard early in the morning -- foggy morning so not much for views. Then followed the long long ridge to Columbia.
ahansen54 - Sep 5, 2005 7:19 pm
Route Climbed: North Cottonwood Date Climbed: September 4, 2005Climbed this and Columbia with SP'er jhansen007. Great (long) day, great weather.
ktiffany22 - Sep 4, 2005 11:32 pm
Route Climbed: North Cottonwood Trailhead Date Climbed: September 3, 2005Hiked Harvard, then bagged Columbia. The Harvard trail was a very nice gentle trail with a short fun scramble at the top- and of course, beautiful views!
myrone - Aug 28, 2005 11:47 pm
Route Climbed: From North Cottonwood Creek TH Date Climbed: Saturday August 27, 2005Started up at 4:40AM under starry skies and not another person on the trail until I was well up into Horn Fork Basin. Reached the small summit at 8:10 and had it to my for 20 mins, then back down into the basin in search of the trail to Mt Columbia. My 19th 14'er and another fine Colorado morning. Sweet!!
Mike Mc - Aug 28, 2005 10:17 pm
Route Climbed: South Slopes Date Climbed: July 30, 2005Beautiful Trail! Nice summit block
shansen - Aug 8, 2005 11:34 pm
Route Climbed: South Slopes - N. Cottonwood Creek TH Date Climbed: July 23, 2005There is excellent camping down by the creek (left side of the road) from Silver Creek TH to the parking area at the end of the road. If you find a campsight that suits you, it will serve for summits of harvard, columbia and yale. On this date, there was 4 or 5 snow crossings that didn't require gators, but we punched through a bit. Dry from 13300 to summit.
kilimanjaro1 - Jul 31, 2005 9:43 pm
Route Climbed: South Slopes from N Cottonwood TH Date Climbed: July 19, 2005A fun climb with a group of men from my church.
alpine master - Jul 24, 2005 5:32 pm
Route Climbed: South slopes Date Climbed: Oct. 5th 2004Climbed in combo with columbia.
pksander - Jul 18, 2005 10:31 am
Route Climbed: South Slopes Date Climbed: July 17, 2005Great trip with Annaleen, Mike, and Marella. Camped Saturday on the meadow below the south ridge dropping from Bear Lake and climbed Sunday morning. Excellent trip, despite some discomfort with the altitude.