Mt. Harvard

Route: Harvard and Columbia Traverse
Posted On: 7/1/2014, By: addrock528
Info: I went up Columbia first and traversed to Harvard. No snow up Columbia. Some snow patches coming down the backside of Columbia. Around the lowest point of the traverse there is quite a bit of snow still. I could have used microspikes, but didn‘t bring them. But considering it‘s East facing it looks to be melting fast. The rest of the traverse on the Harvard side is pretty clear. 

Route: Harvard and Columbia Traverse
Posted On: 6/27/2014, By: PappaBear
Info: The approach on the south slopes to Harvard was wet and muddy with water flowing along the trails. The last 200‘ had patches of snow which were not easily avoided. I crossed in normal shoes without too much trouble. The traverse looked clear of snow and I saw 2 groups doing the crossing. I did not do the traverse but opted to try to follow the lower line on the East side of the ridge. To avoid snowpacks and crossings, I had to travel to the bottom of the basin, ~12,200 on Columbia‘s NE face and then traveled up to the top while trying to avoid remaining snowpacks. I descended Columbia‘s west slopes which was not a good idea, I see why Roach discourages it. The remaining snow on Harvards south face will probably melt in the coming week but not before this weekend. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 6/16/2014, By: Dex
Info: Gaiters recommended for wet areas. No snow shoes or other equipment recommended. There is snow in shaded areas and across the trail as you make the final push to the summit - but it can be avoided or if you are not comfortable with that, microspikes. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 6/8/2014, By: OutbackDobbs
Info: Attached is a picture I took from Mt. Yale looking down into the basin between Mt. Harvard and Mt. Columbia. There is still a lot snow in the basin between the two mountains. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 6/11/2014, By: kwajdreamer
Info: Hiked up to camping area on 6/5 and up to Bear Lake and back down on 6/6. Still lots of snow. Started hitting snow after around 3 miles and lots of post holing from then on. There were two large areas clear of snow for camping around the treeline. Hard to see/stay on trail given snow. Was melting pretty good (trail was like a stream) so may be much better soon. Weather was good and still had a great time on this scenic hike. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 6/1/2014, By: Nelson
Info: I went up on the 30th and camped at 11,200. I attempted Harvard on the 31st but got chased off at 13,500 by a fairly significant Thunder, Lightning, wind storm. That was unfortunate as there had been a decent freeze the night before and I was moving well. On the 1st of June I tried it again. The conditions were not good, i.e it was much warmer. Without snowshoes it was postholing at 5 am. I stuck with it and summited at 9:30 after multiple transitions. I was back at the big bowl at 10 or so. The steep part was in good shape for glissading but too late for skiing. At the bottom it was posthole hell. With snowshoes I was breaking through to my thighs. My strategy of staying on the dirty snow worked well but sometimes you can‘t avoid the white snow and I was breaking through again. I have two other thoughts: 1) At the top there was enough steep hard snow to force me into more difficult climbing. I would estimate I did two pitches of class 4. 2) There is sporadic snow from the TH on. It is not a problem until 10,800. From there on there is major postholing. Even there the snow is not continuos so it it not a matter of just putting on snowshoes. It was a beautiful trip but the mountain made me work for it. 

Route: Frenchman creek
Posted On: 2/18/2014, By: SnowAlien
Info: Snowmobile track the first mile, snowshoe track until 10.5k and a skin track through the tree line (~11.7k). The winds were strong so anything beyond the tree line will/has disappeared. It is possible to pick avy safe route and most of the snow in the upper basin is wind scoured. Made for tough ski conditions. Looks like a lot of snow in Horn Fork basin. #1: Summit ridge #2: View of Columbia #3: South Face/Horn Fork basin #4: Frenchman creek drainage 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 2/18/2014, By: emohr
Info: Road has heavy snow about a mile below the usual Winter Trailhead, so it was 4 miles to get to the North Cottonwood Creek TH. Cars have tried driving up (including ours), but have failed miserably (including ours). The 4 miles up to the trailhead has a nice trench that we snowshoed in, and there are some Cross Country marks after the trailhead. Snowshoes are definitely necessary for the approach. Was too cloudy to get a chance to see the slopes of Harvard or Columbia 

Route: Frenchman Creek
Posted On: 12/28/2013, By: Yikes
Info: Trench to summit. Jeff (Mickeys Grenade) and I broke trail to camp at 11600 on Friday. Then summited today in perfect weather. 4wd road is packed down by snowmobile to the Wilderness boundary. I felt the avy conditions were very low; snow was very stable. The upper basin is pretty wind scoured. Some amount of post holing on the long summit ridge. Long day. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 11/3/2013, By: DanielL
Info: Climbed the standard South route up Mt. Harvard yesterday from Horn Fork Basin. There has definitely been some snowfall since the last report a week ago - most of the trail through the trees was covered in a thin layer of ice under a few inches of fresh snow, and from treeline to the top of the talus slope (12,900') above Bear Lake, the snow was a bit deeper and the trail was completely hidden in a few places. Looking up from 12,900' (actually, the whole hike from treeline), the final 1,400' vertical to the summit appeared to be a lot drier, but the angle was deceptive - it actually held deeper snow with a few more postholing sections - quite often, rocks hidden under the fresh snow were slick and added to the challenge. We considered taking the traverse to Columbia, which looked drier than Harvard, but decided not to in the end. As far as gear, gaiters and hiking poles were very helpful, and we brought microspikes but didn't need them. All in all, it was a great November day and I'm looking forward to more of the same! 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 10/28/2013, By: swalshdog
Info: Climbed Harvard Sunday 10/27. Great conditions, very little snow. Microspikes were useful on the first mile for some icy stretches but not necessary, and I didn‘t take them out of my pack the rest of the hike. Not much snow the rest of the trail--only a few patches of ankle deep drifts. Though by the time you read this that may change? And the road to the trailhead is in great shape. Beautiful day up there! 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 10/13/2013, By: Gaseous84
Info: Trail had a dusting to ankle deep snow in the morning, some drifts above 12,000‘ were slightly higher. However, this was mostly melted off and muddy by the afternoon. Aspens on the road to N Cottonwood Creek trailhead were prime. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 10/8/2013, By: 2 left ft
Info: Very few snow patches and muddy in spots. Never even thought about putting on microspikes. 

Route: Harvard and Columbia Traverse
Posted On: 9/16/2013, By: alpinenut
Info: Spent the weekend in the Horn Fork Basin. Sat was beautiful. Sat was the ideal climbing day. There were a few rain showers in the afternoon (with thunder up high). Summits were covered in clouds during that time. Sat night was nice. Sunday the coulds rolled in around 8am at about 13k. This made navigating the traverse very difficult. As another poster said make sure you follow the route. We were really happy to have a GPS. Precip started around 10. Rain and snow mix. Snow level was about 13k. The snow was only sticking above 13,800. Of course the rocks were slippery and trail was muddy. Probably snowed about 1.5-2 inches between 3 and 5. It cleared for a awhile but it seemed like more storms were moving up the valley as we hiked out (storms moved in from the E). Wind was no greater than about 15mph at the summit of Harvard. BTW, the trail for the South Slopes route on Harvard was really nice. Especially between 13k and 14k. If anyone reading this worked on that trail. Thank you!! Great job!! 

Route: Harvard and Columbia Traverse
Posted On: 6/23/2013, By: ezabielski
Info: No problems with snow on trail. Some sections of the trail in Horn Fork Basin were very muddy in the early morning. The traverse to Columbia has very little snow on the "route" we took. If you want to follow the 14ers.com traverse route, download the route pictures to your phone beforehand with the app, or print the pictures, and follow them carefully. Otherwise, just follow your nose, but you'll probably drop down pretty low (~12,500). The traverse is short mileage wise, but is mostly off trail and requires crossing boulderfields and a very steep uphill hike on the Columbia side. Do not try the traverse if there is any forcasted weather, or if clouds are forming on Harvard's summit. We took about 3 hours summit to summit. Some groups take five hours.