Oxford by climbing over Harvard
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Oxford by climbing over Harvard
Has anyone attempted this route? Trying to avoid the gulch again. This way I could get Oxford and Harvard out of the way in one day. Distance? Climb Harvard and then on over to Oxford and back over Harvard maybe Columbia if the day is great.
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Re: Oxford by climbing over Harvard
Michael,
Between the significant distance between Harvard and Oxford, the backcountry terrain, and especially the noteworthy vertical drop down into Pine Creek, this would be a very rigorous day. By my calculations, if you camped high in Horn Fork Basin, you would have about 3,000 ft. to Harvard, about 3,400 ft. down to Pine Creek, 3,200 feet up Oxford, 3,200 feet back down to Pine Crek, 3,400 feet back up to Harvard, and 3,000 ft. down to Horn Fork camp. That's 9,600 ft. vertical gain and loss in one day! I'm not saying you can't do it -- that's your call -- but objectively, this is much longer and more involved than hiking Oxford from Missouri Gulch and Harvard from Horn Fork.
An AWESOME alternative is setting up a base camp in the Pine Creek drainage, doing Harvard one day, and Oxford another. Pine Creek is isolated and beautiful and offers interesting alternative routes up both peaks. Here is a trip report I found: http://www.14ers.com/php14ers/triprepor ... ki=Include.
Hope this helps!
Neil
Between the significant distance between Harvard and Oxford, the backcountry terrain, and especially the noteworthy vertical drop down into Pine Creek, this would be a very rigorous day. By my calculations, if you camped high in Horn Fork Basin, you would have about 3,000 ft. to Harvard, about 3,400 ft. down to Pine Creek, 3,200 feet up Oxford, 3,200 feet back down to Pine Crek, 3,400 feet back up to Harvard, and 3,000 ft. down to Horn Fork camp. That's 9,600 ft. vertical gain and loss in one day! I'm not saying you can't do it -- that's your call -- but objectively, this is much longer and more involved than hiking Oxford from Missouri Gulch and Harvard from Horn Fork.
An AWESOME alternative is setting up a base camp in the Pine Creek drainage, doing Harvard one day, and Oxford another. Pine Creek is isolated and beautiful and offers interesting alternative routes up both peaks. Here is a trip report I found: http://www.14ers.com/php14ers/triprepor ... ki=Include.
Hope this helps!
Neil
"On the edge of the porch in the warm evening night
Throwing the bone for the dog I see two passing lights
Well, I wonder where that driver's bound
Is there someone, somewhere, someway out there that I've not found"
-Driving Song
Throwing the bone for the dog I see two passing lights
Well, I wonder where that driver's bound
Is there someone, somewhere, someway out there that I've not found"
-Driving Song
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Re: Oxford by climbing over Harvard
My suggestion is to camp in Pine Creek around Little Johns Cabin. I did Harvard from Pine Creek last summer and did Oxford from Pine Creek last month. Here is my trip report up Oxford from Pine creek.
http://14ers.com/php14ers/tripreport.ph ... m=tripuser" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Mileage wise it seems very doable but the steep trail-less route makes for a grueling day. It took me 4 hours to cover the 1.5 miles to summit Oxford from Pine Creek.
Last summer we camped at Little Johns Cabin in the hopes of doing both Harvard and Oxford in one day but it took most of the day just to bag Harvard with a very steep ascent and descent back down to Pine Creek. Here is the trip report http://14ers.com/php14ers/tripreport.ph ... ki=Include" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://14ers.com/php14ers/tripreport.ph ... m=tripuser" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Mileage wise it seems very doable but the steep trail-less route makes for a grueling day. It took me 4 hours to cover the 1.5 miles to summit Oxford from Pine Creek.
Last summer we camped at Little Johns Cabin in the hopes of doing both Harvard and Oxford in one day but it took most of the day just to bag Harvard with a very steep ascent and descent back down to Pine Creek. Here is the trip report http://14ers.com/php14ers/tripreport.ph ... ki=Include" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;