Mt. Harvard

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 9/15/2025, By: drewskiclimbs
Info: 2" of snow up top made the final 1500 ft of gain pretty slick. I planned on completing the H to C traverse but nixed the idea due to the slippery rocks -- had to descend Harvard and ascend Columbia via the standard route. It was mostly melted out by midday, will be gone quickly. Recent rains have made some lower sections of the trail a bit muddy, easily avoidable and likely gone soon. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 8/31/2025, By: ericwolf88
Info: Perfect summer weather - the road has been filled in so it is a 2WD road for nearly all vehicles as of 8/31/25. Started at 6:00 and got probably the last parking spot, summited 9:45, back to the car at 2:00. Similar to Columbia, a long approach where the first 5 miles are more of a leisurely walk until all the gain hits you. Harvard didn't feel as steep as Columbia going up or going down, but the last mile and a half are definitely tiring. Trail is excellent all the way until the top, which requires some minor scrambling on the last put to get onto the summit. A busy Labor Day weekend with probably 40-50 people climbing it. About a quarter mile from the parking lot on the way out ran across 3 moose all together going from the stream to the upper hills so keep an eye out. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 8/8/2025, By: marcusmartin
Info: There are no campsites at the North Cottonwood Creek TH. There is a sign at the TH parking lot posted "no camping." However, about a quarter mile before the TH, on your left there are short spur roads off CR 365 (CR 365A and CR 365B) that have nice/flat sites nestled among trees with fire rings. These sites are far enough off CR 365 that cars won't bother you. The only other thing to note: CR 365 is a nice 2WD road, with one major exception: approximately 2-3 miles before the NCC TH there is a major road washout with deep gulleys across the entire road for about 20-30 feet. My 4WD Toyota 4 Runner had a rough time on this short section. If you have a 2WD vehicle you might want to know what you will find here. You'll be fine if you make it past this section. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 7/31/2025, By: ECF55
Info: Full summer conditions. The monsoon surge has all of the streams pumping. There was also conversational snow above 13,700 feet, but none on the trail. Oxford and Belford also had some light snow on their summits. 

Route: Harvard and Columbia Traverse
Posted On: 7/14/2025, By: Paterclimber
Info: My friends and I received dual degrees from Harvard and Columbia today. The dog was even awarded dual doctorates.

As you make your way from one campus to the other, you'll still encounter a number of snowfields (see pictures of two examples). Several of them require crossing. Most of them are in the talus field below the connecting ridge. For the ones we crossed, we opted not to use the spikes we had with us and managed fine. One of the last snowfields, as you're approaching Columbia and nearing the end of the talus field, is steep.

Do read carefully the route description of the traverse found on this site. These schools are selective, and receiving dual admission on the same day is difficult. 

Route: Harvard and Columbia Traverse
Posted On: 7/7/2025, By: maraki
Info: Mostly summer, but about 8 snowfields to cross. Spikes would have been nice, especially on one that is a bit steeper. Otherwise, gorgeous conditions. The trail is dry and well-maintained on the front approaches. Some cairns have been knocked down or could be under snow on the traverse. If you take your time, there are enough to get you through it clearly. It's a lot of scrambling.

Full trip report on trip report section. 

Route: Harvard and Columbia Traverse
Posted On: 7/3/2025, By: econner
Info: Summer conditions most of the way. There are a couple of snow fields that I ended up crossing on the backside of the traverse, but they could probably be avoided if need be. Started at 3am, summited Harvard around 6:15am, and reached summit of Columbia at 8:30am. It would have been nice to have spikes for the snow fields, but I managed ok with poles and trail runners. Top of trail up Columbia is a bit loose and washed out, lower newer trail is primo. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 6/27/2025, By: MountainBuhn
Info: Snow a non factor now. Completely summer conditions if you will. Started at 12:30, so no traverse for us today - the route looked fairly drier than the 6/25 report. 2nd time up Harvard. 1st time for the pup. Horn Fork Basin is slept on. Amazing views in the afternoon. Also stopped by Bear Lake (great fishing). 

Route: Harvard and Columbia Traverse
Posted On: 6/25/2025, By: jpriske
Info: About 3-4 snowfields remain on the traverse that require careful navigation. The first few were very solid but the last couple had some very bad postholing (nearly waist deep). You could probably avoid the last couple of snowfields but would be at the expense of losing a lot of elevation. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 6/22/2025, By: 4x4more
Info: There is still 4 or 5 short snow fields up high, but the boot pack has them in good shape. I brought microspikes, but didn't put them on. I just carefully followed the boot pack steps which seemed pretty solid. I did see where some poor soul stepped just a couple feet over and had a deep post hole right next to a big rock which looked like it had to be painful. It was super windy up top so didn't stay up on the summit block very long. Other than the wind it was a beautiful day. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 6/20/2025, By: TT4life
Info: Snow still on the route, including the summit block area. Micro spikes helped and I would consider bringing them for another week. The traverse looked to have significant snow throughout as well. 

Route: Harvard and Columbia Traverse
Posted On: 6/20/2025, By: Ingerfied
Info: Pretty great conditions! Snow has melted out in the Horn Fork Basin. Few snow fields remain headed up Harvard (did not need traction). Ridge traverse started great! I made the mistake of staying too high on the Rabbit Ears and did some fun scrambling, but eventually gave in and did a 50' glissade down to the true (lower) route. Some snow that couldn't easily be avoided: one patch I walked across no problem, the second I postholed hip deep. No snow heading up Columbia from the traverse, a few patches on the summit. The traverse took me about 3.5 hours but that was due to me fiddle-farting (scrambling/climbing) high on the ridge rather than dropping down to the lower route. 15.5 miles, 5,700', 10 hrs total. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 6/16/2025, By: Ssgustafson
Info: Day-hiked Harvard yesterday in absolutely perfect weather conditions! Some inconsequential snow remains on route that can be easily avoided or crossed. 50F and no wind on the summit. A fun 1000’ glissade eased the descent. Microspikes were unnecessary ballast. Go get this one! 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 6/14/2025, By: RussellB
Info: Nearly the end of shoulder season. There were maybe 10 or so short snow fields to cross. There was some post holing, but it wasn't troublesome. Brought spikes and they stayed in my pack all day. A bit wet and muddy, although my shoes never got completely soaked.

If you're considering the traverse, it looked like there was still a fair amount of snow on the NE slopes of Columbia. 

Route: Harvard and Columbia Traverse
Posted On: 6/8/2025, By: Matthew Holliman
Info: I did the Columbia to Harvard traverse on Saturday. Going this direction, and with reasonable route finding to minimise snow (especially on the descent from Harvard), I found no need for snowshoes. Crampons/poles sufficed. I postholed a number of times throughout the day, but never enough for me to bother pulling the snowshoes out of my pack.

More details on PB: https://peakbagger.com/climber/ascent.aspx?aid=2861659