Climbed with a larger group but only 3 of us were able to summit due to the raging early fall blizzard on the peak. 50mph+ winds and a lot of blowing snow, felt like January. I'll have to go back sometime to get a view!
Climbed from the trailhead. After thinking better of the posthole hell that getting to Columbia would be, I decided to scramble the other direction to UN 13580. Ended up being a ridiculously fun scramble on overhanging blocks above Missouri Basin.
bjd5578 - Sep 14, 2006 3:04 am Date Climbed: Jul 16, 2006
Harvard and Columbia
Packed in to below treeline and tackled Harvard and Columbia the next day. Mt. Harvard was a sheer joy - a beautiful hike, Columbia, on the other hand, was not nearly as much fun.
odysseus - Aug 28, 2006 8:29 pm Date Climbed: Aug 24, 2006
From camp below Horn Fork Basin
Packed in late Wednesday afternoon with Mountain Girl and camped below timberline. Up early Thursday for the summit hike. The summit rocks presented a bit of a challenge! Weather moved in while on top and forced a fast descent through a heavy grapple storm. Very cool climb!
bc44caesar - Aug 28, 2006 2:58 pm Date Climbed: Aug 27, 2006
South Ridge
Started from the North Cottonwood TH at 6:10, reached the summit at 9:40. The upper part of the mountain was covered in snow (and cold), and the summit scramble was treacherous. The slick rock and possible weather moving in made me change my mind about scrambling over to Columbia. Too bad the afternoon turned out to be great weather! RT in 7h.
RMdaytripsgrl - Aug 27, 2006 4:06 am Date Climbed: Aug 26, 2006
The dude again
I just can't stop climbing with this dude, even though we just don't really seem to get along that well. He's IRRESISTIBLE. Anyhoo, Harvard is fun. Hail is fun. (Why am I always getting hailed upon?) One of our friends we were with was initiated into the dudethatmusthurt fan club when dude pulled the guy up the last slab as he was about to break down from fear of heights. Aren't we all dudethatmusthurt groupies, when we really sit down and think about it????
DudeThatMustHurt - Aug 26, 2006 4:43 pm Date Climbed: Aug 25, 2006
North Cottonwood TH
Was a VERY long day, took some folks fresh from sea level to the summit. The trekking was very slow but everyone had great spirits throughout the day. Everyone ended up thankful for the summit and I was glad to help these people attain their first Colorado 14'r, I am thankful for Rebecca asking me to help with this adventure, Got blasted with Hail for about 15 minutes. Felt like needles hitting your head. GOOD TIMES!
cftbq - Aug 16, 2006 9:24 pm Date Climbed: Sep 15, 1976
SW ridge from Horn Fork Basin
Again, uncertain about the exact date; just updating my history. Camped high in Horn Fork Basin the night before, after summitting Yale. Made the summit well before noon, then spent the rest of the day struggling over to Columbia. My 4th fourteener.
Brad Snider - Aug 9, 2006 3:04 am Date Climbed: Aug 8, 2006
sunrise ascent
3 1/2 hours to the summit in the cover of darkness via standard route. Awesome sunrise! Then on to Columbia...
Camped in Horn Fork. Bad mosquitos. Summited Harvard the following morning in under 3 hours. Followed the entire ridge over to Columbia. Rapped once down 30 feet or so of some real exposed technical stuff. Went unroped over 3rd, 4th and some low 5th the rest of the way. Didn't get to climb the rabbit :(
Very hot and clear day. Great views all around, tricky and interesting connecting ridge. Mosquitoes weren't afraid to tag along for the ride below tree line to and from camp at North Cottonwood TH.
Matt Mahoney - Jul 6, 2006 10:57 pm Date Climbed: Jul 5, 2006
Harvard to Columbia SE ridge
Climbed Harvard via Horn Fork trail, then traversed to Columbia via Frenchman Creek and descended the SE ridge. This is the best route on Columbia but I would recommend the other direction because the ridge has no trail and is very steep below treeline. The N. Cottonwood road has gotten worse this year so I had to park 2 miles east of the Silver Creek TH where the route ends. This made it a 20 mile hike in about 10 hours.
ElliottDavis - Jun 26, 2006 3:07 am Date Climbed: Jun 17, 2006
Harvard to Columbia via "Rabbits" Ridge
Tip for heading South on the connecting ridge: the trail hugs the ridge and heads for the sketchy towers called the Rabbits. If you don't want to do them, leave the ridge early. There is a long slash of a ridge heading down into Frenchman Creek basin, and it will block your way, offering you unpleasant rocky footing and steep, loose scree. You can't see this ridge from the Harvard side till you're on it. If you want to avoid it, head down the grassy slopes, which will feel early.
Michael Hoyt - Jun 19, 2006 12:10 am Date Climbed: Jul 21, 2003
North Cottonwood TH ,Ascend Harvard S Slopes to Columbia N Slopes, Descend Columbia W Slopes
This double is a long hard hike, especially doing Harvard first. The descent from Columbia is a down climb on braided trails of skree. If I ever do this again it will be an ascent of Columbia and a descent on the "stairs" from Harvard. Someone has done some "serious" work on the Harvard trail. It's great!
crzyjt - Jun 6, 2006 4:05 pm Date Climbed: Jun 5, 2006
North Cottonwood Creek TH with traverse to Columbia
Awesome day, beautiful weather. The full circuit is a long hike.
Ratton - Jun 3, 2006 6:39 am Date Climbed: Jun 1, 2006
North Cottonwwod TH to Harvard Peak
Camped in Horn Basin and summited about 1:30 pm.
Had the summit to myself, as my partner's low exposure tolerance kept him about 10 feet below the summit. We had never been there and were a little suprised that the summit was not a simple walk-up. Easy, easy, class 3, no doubt, but for those with no exposure tolerance, it can be too scary. Be sure to approach the summit from the right (NE) instead of approaching from the left (SW) where the big cairns are, if you want to avoid any class 3.
My partner didn't want to posthole through the large snow bank under the summit rocks, nor did he want to down-climb and try another approach, so we had coffee just below the summit on the ridge, enjoyed the weather, the views, and the marmots. Fat little buggers! Have you all been feeding them? They seemed pretty unafraid ...
boisedoc - Dec 17, 2006 4:11 pm Date Climbed: Aug 3, 1999
gruntSeemed endless, steeper than some Sawatch summits
chicagotransplant - Sep 17, 2006 9:57 pm Date Climbed: Sep 16, 2006
South Slopes RouteClimbed with a larger group but only 3 of us were able to summit due to the raging early fall blizzard on the peak. 50mph+ winds and a lot of blowing snow, felt like January. I'll have to go back sometime to get a view!
Gahugafuga - Sep 14, 2006 2:39 pm Date Climbed: Sep 13, 2006
South SlopesClimbed from the trailhead. After thinking better of the posthole hell that getting to Columbia would be, I decided to scramble the other direction to UN 13580. Ended up being a ridiculously fun scramble on overhanging blocks above Missouri Basin.
bjd5578 - Sep 14, 2006 3:04 am Date Climbed: Jul 16, 2006
Harvard and ColumbiaPacked in to below treeline and tackled Harvard and Columbia the next day. Mt. Harvard was a sheer joy - a beautiful hike, Columbia, on the other hand, was not nearly as much fun.
odysseus - Aug 28, 2006 8:29 pm Date Climbed: Aug 24, 2006
From camp below Horn Fork BasinPacked in late Wednesday afternoon with Mountain Girl and camped below timberline. Up early Thursday for the summit hike. The summit rocks presented a bit of a challenge! Weather moved in while on top and forced a fast descent through a heavy grapple storm. Very cool climb!
bc44caesar - Aug 28, 2006 2:58 pm Date Climbed: Aug 27, 2006
South RidgeStarted from the North Cottonwood TH at 6:10, reached the summit at 9:40. The upper part of the mountain was covered in snow (and cold), and the summit scramble was treacherous. The slick rock and possible weather moving in made me change my mind about scrambling over to Columbia. Too bad the afternoon turned out to be great weather! RT in 7h.
DudeThatMustHurt - Aug 27, 2006 11:11 pm
Re: The dude againNow you have me blushing, your awesome Rebecca
RMdaytripsgrl - Aug 27, 2006 4:06 am Date Climbed: Aug 26, 2006
The dude againI just can't stop climbing with this dude, even though we just don't really seem to get along that well. He's IRRESISTIBLE. Anyhoo, Harvard is fun. Hail is fun. (Why am I always getting hailed upon?) One of our friends we were with was initiated into the dudethatmusthurt fan club when dude pulled the guy up the last slab as he was about to break down from fear of heights. Aren't we all dudethatmusthurt groupies, when we really sit down and think about it????
DudeThatMustHurt - Aug 26, 2006 4:43 pm Date Climbed: Aug 25, 2006
North Cottonwood THWas a VERY long day, took some folks fresh from sea level to the summit. The trekking was very slow but everyone had great spirits throughout the day. Everyone ended up thankful for the summit and I was glad to help these people attain their first Colorado 14'r, I am thankful for Rebecca asking me to help with this adventure, Got blasted with Hail for about 15 minutes. Felt like needles hitting your head. GOOD TIMES!
cftbq - Aug 16, 2006 9:24 pm Date Climbed: Sep 15, 1976
SW ridge from Horn Fork BasinAgain, uncertain about the exact date; just updating my history. Camped high in Horn Fork Basin the night before, after summitting Yale. Made the summit well before noon, then spent the rest of the day struggling over to Columbia. My 4th fourteener.
Brad Snider - Aug 9, 2006 3:04 am Date Climbed: Aug 8, 2006
sunrise ascent3 1/2 hours to the summit in the cover of darkness via standard route. Awesome sunrise! Then on to Columbia...
seth@LOKI - Jul 26, 2006 8:11 pm Date Climbed: Jul 23, 1999
Rabiit Ridgeafter three spring attepts up the basin, finally got it.
lindasyh - Jul 24, 2006 10:28 pm Date Climbed: Jul 21, 2003
North Cottonwood TH ,Ascend Harvard S Slopes to Columbia N Slopes, Descend Columbia W SlopesTough day for me. I'll never cheer for Harvard or Columbia in the NCAA tournament again!
slowpoke - Jul 24, 2006 4:56 pm Date Climbed: Jul 22, 2006
Harvard to Columbia - Ridge RouteCamped in Horn Fork. Bad mosquitos. Summited Harvard the following morning in under 3 hours. Followed the entire ridge over to Columbia. Rapped once down 30 feet or so of some real exposed technical stuff. Went unroped over 3rd, 4th and some low 5th the rest of the way. Didn't get to climb the rabbit :(
kylerlott - Jul 17, 2006 9:26 pm Date Climbed: Jul 15, 2006
Mt Harvard and Mt. ColumbiaVery hot and clear day. Great views all around, tricky and interesting connecting ridge. Mosquitoes weren't afraid to tag along for the ride below tree line to and from camp at North Cottonwood TH.
Matt Mahoney - Jul 6, 2006 10:57 pm Date Climbed: Jul 5, 2006
Harvard to Columbia SE ridgeClimbed Harvard via Horn Fork trail, then traversed to Columbia via Frenchman Creek and descended the SE ridge. This is the best route on Columbia but I would recommend the other direction because the ridge has no trail and is very steep below treeline. The N. Cottonwood road has gotten worse this year so I had to park 2 miles east of the Silver Creek TH where the route ends. This made it a 20 mile hike in about 10 hours.
ElliottDavis - Jun 26, 2006 3:07 am Date Climbed: Jun 17, 2006
Harvard to Columbia via "Rabbits" RidgeTip for heading South on the connecting ridge: the trail hugs the ridge and heads for the sketchy towers called the Rabbits. If you don't want to do them, leave the ridge early. There is a long slash of a ridge heading down into Frenchman Creek basin, and it will block your way, offering you unpleasant rocky footing and steep, loose scree. You can't see this ridge from the Harvard side till you're on it. If you want to avoid it, head down the grassy slopes, which will feel early.
Michael Hoyt - Jun 19, 2006 12:10 am Date Climbed: Jul 21, 2003
North Cottonwood TH ,Ascend Harvard S Slopes to Columbia N Slopes, Descend Columbia W SlopesThis double is a long hard hike, especially doing Harvard first. The descent from Columbia is a down climb on braided trails of skree. If I ever do this again it will be an ascent of Columbia and a descent on the "stairs" from Harvard. Someone has done some "serious" work on the Harvard trail. It's great!
crzyjt - Jun 6, 2006 4:05 pm Date Climbed: Jun 5, 2006
North Cottonwood Creek TH with traverse to ColumbiaAwesome day, beautiful weather. The full circuit is a long hike.
Ratton - Jun 3, 2006 6:39 am Date Climbed: Jun 1, 2006
North Cottonwwod TH to Harvard PeakCamped in Horn Basin and summited about 1:30 pm.
Had the summit to myself, as my partner's low exposure tolerance kept him about 10 feet below the summit. We had never been there and were a little suprised that the summit was not a simple walk-up. Easy, easy, class 3, no doubt, but for those with no exposure tolerance, it can be too scary. Be sure to approach the summit from the right (NE) instead of approaching from the left (SW) where the big cairns are, if you want to avoid any class 3.
My partner didn't want to posthole through the large snow bank under the summit rocks, nor did he want to down-climb and try another approach, so we had coffee just below the summit on the ridge, enjoyed the weather, the views, and the marmots. Fat little buggers! Have you all been feeding them? They seemed pretty unafraid ...