Peak Condition Update | Mt. Harvard

Peak:	Mt. Harvard
Route:	Harvard and Columbia Traverse
Range:	Sawatch
Posted By:	ds925
Date of Info:	8/9/2015
Date Posted:	8/10/2015

Details
My girlfriend and I just did this and its was very difficult and dangerous coming from Harvard to Colombia. The route to Harvard was decent and accurate however: the decent from Harvard over to Colombia is not marked and it's very difficulty to locate a trail. We did tons of bouldering and sliding down very steep talus and loose rocks at 1 point I was very afraid I was going to get hurt and fall because the rocks are incredible loose. We were very lucky to make it to the top to Colombia and had very good weather but I am warning everyone to really consider not doing these 2 in the same day because of how dangerous the rock slides are to get over from Harvard to Colombia. We met some really nice hikers and had great company. The total hike took us 14 hours to complete and lucky enough we camp in the night before. Feel free to message me if you have additional questions I can answer.

Details

My girlfriend and I just did this and its was very difficult and dangerous coming from Harvard to Colombia. The route to Harvard was decent and accurate however: the decent from Harvard over to Colombia is not marked and it's very difficulty to locate a trail. We did tons of bouldering and sliding down very steep talus and loose rocks at 1 point I was very afraid I was going to get hurt and fall because the rocks are incredible loose. We were very lucky to make it to the top to Colombia and had very good weather but I am warning everyone to really consider not doing these 2 in the same day because of how dangerous the rock slides are to get over from Harvard to Colombia.
We met some really nice hikers and had great company. The total hike took us 14 hours to complete and lucky enough we camp in the night before. Feel free to message me if you have additional questions I can answer.

Comments or Questions

Liquid Shadow	Traverse 8/10/2015 11:28pm First of all it’s "Columbia" not Colombia. Also if you haven’t been following the recent thread on this traverse, the general consensus is that going from Columbia to Harvard is much more pleasant especially on the way down. I did it the traverse from Columbia to Harvard two weeks ago and it wasn’t bad.
glenmiz	Just as advertised... 8/12/2015 7:28am this is a tough loop either way. I did it last year as you did. My son and daughter did it the now–recommended way. Both are difficult and, without a clear trail, it’s easy to get off–route (I did and felt pretty nervous at one point). Glad you made it safely.
alpinenut	Traverse 8/14/2015 2:02pm A long, unmarked traverse across piles of talus and scree. Not fun in either direction. That’s a tough hike. Congrats on finishing it!! I agree on reversing it but we got off track going that way too.

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