Mt. Harvard

Wow. What an amazing mountain. I was not planning on reaching the summit. My friend Barb and myself had planned on stopping right above timberline, and waiting for the more experienced hikers in our group to summit and come back down to our resting spot, so we could all descend together. Well, we rested above timberline as planned, but I got a bad case of summit fever, and ended up hitting the summit, making Harvard my second summit, and first 14er! We left our vehicles at 7:22 am. We did the hike via Frenchman's Creek. The beginning of the hike was a great, leisurely, walk. We stopped to eat lunch just above treeline. I was still feeling full of energy, so Barb and I deciced to keep going. after we stopped, the trail turned from a leisurely to a rigerous climb for 2 beginners like us. We watched the rest of our group move like lightning up the mountain. We plugged along at our own pace. With the help of my Father, Aaron Johnson, and a long time friend of the Family, Jim Lierman, Barb and I made it up the wall and over the ridge. It was getting late in the day, so we went as fast as we possibly could over the 1/2 mile of scrambling to the summit. We spent about 15 minutes on the summit, then we had to go. It was 2:00 and we had another 5 hours of hiking in front of us. So, we went as fast as we could back down the mountain. We reached our vehicles at 7:00, making this a 12 hour journey. I slept better than I have in a very long time. This is an excellent mountain! I had a good time, for the most part, and I dont regret a single step! Have fun and be safe!