Mt Harvard and Mt Columbia Traverse, Collegiate Peaks Wilderness, Colorado

We did the Mt Harvard and Mt Columbia traverse in the beautiful Collegiate Peaks Wilderness on July 4th, 2024. We backpacked into Horn Fork Basin the night before, found a great camp spot near the trail junction between Harvard and Columbia, and started hiking the next morning around 4:30am. The weather couldn’t be any nicer and we summited Harvard before 8am. The traverse to Columbia was long and exhausting, as we had to drop down nearly 2000ft to avoid a technical section of the ridge (rated 5.7). There were still some long stretches of snowfield in the traverse which were not bad to walk on with spikes. After 3.5hrs we finally reached Mt Columbia summit. From there we took the standard trail down to complete the loop. Total stats from TH: 16 miles with 5,800ft elevation gain
Music:
Waltz of the Flowers, by Tchaikovsky
Half-Life 2 - Triage by Dawn, Remix by Path of Borealis
0:00 Hike into Horn Fork Basin
4:04 Mt Harvard Summit
8:35 Mt Columbia Summit

[@Miderguy_]

That looked fun. Nice footage. I am going to look into this hike. I did Bluebird Lake today. The wildflowers were insane.

[@rugged9769]

The traverse is a long one with some route finding challenges but nothing technical at all. Good time to check out Bluebird Lake for sure

[@pw2883]

“A little trail running”! I don’t think I would attempt running at that altitude - I wouldn’t last long!

[@rugged9769]

😂 me neither. My friend is a marathon runner and I could only keep up with him for 10 seconds

[@markjeffries5966]

A pleasant (arduous for the hikers) outing with good weather. Fine views. We climbed Mt. Yale in about 1980, but I don't remember any details. Good music with the video.

[@rugged9769]

Thanks Mark. It was a difficult one but something I’ll fondly remember later on