8/8/2017 Route: West Slopes Posted On: 8/9/2017, By: Herbert Info: Climbed Mt. Columbia yesterday. About mid-day visibility deteriorated and we had sleet blown in horizontally by 60 mph winds, but I was able to complete the hike. We followed the "main trail" which generally follows the contours of the route posted on this website. It is the best of some poor choices. The beginning is marked by cairn right after the talus crossing at the entrance to the gully; another cairn where the trail ascends the flank of the southwest shoulder; another cairn where the southwest shoulder intersects the ridge; and a couple of other cairns along the way. I wore some yaktraks on the loose scree filled sections, and even with those on and sidestepping I was sliding on the way down. I switched to facing inwards to let my heels dig in, and that pretty much eliminated the sliding but slowed me down. |
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7/24/2017 Route: West Slopes Posted On: 7/24/2017, By: AcornMan Info: The Kroenke Lake Trail section from the North Cottonwood Creek trailhead is dry and easy to hike because there is very little elevation gain. After you leave the Kroenke Lake Trail and head northwest on the Horn Fork Trail, the trail becomes steeper (though it's still not particularly strenuous), but there are quite a few spots where it is very muddy. There are numerous camping spots near 11,400 feet, in the area where you leave the Horn Fork Trail to access Mt. Columbia. There are also numerous places along the route where you can get access to water. After you leave the Horn Fork Trail and head east toward the west slopes of Mt Columbia, the trail is easy to follow through the forest. As you leave the trees, there's a big snow field that's relatively easy to cross. It looks like you can get around it if you prefer to avoid it altogether. From that point, the trail, if you can really call it that, is brutal because it is not maintained, it's extremely steep, and it is mostly just loose dirt and gravel. It's a tough ascent that makes a 1.5 mile trip seem twice as long. Plan for more time than you would for other ascents of a similar distance. Once you gain the ridge and start heading north, the going is much, much easier. The final pitch is comprised of large boulders that are pretty easy to navigate. Other than the snow field I mentioned, the entire ascent after you leave the tree line is dry. |
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7/24/2017 Route: West Slopes Posted On: 7/24/2017, By: sibyllec Info: We hiked Columbia today in good conditions. It had been raining or hailing about 1:30 p.m., according to the trail crew working there, but today the rain held off until about 2:30 p.m.. The trail is dry, summer conditions, we crossed only one small snow patch down low . The CFI is building a new trail, and we hiked on part of it -- it's really excellent so far, and avoids the worst of the scree and rubble fields. |
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7/24/2017 Route: Harvard and Columbia Traverse Posted On: 7/25/2017, By: Ptglhs Info: Still a fair bit of snow on the traverse after the initial descent into the gully and up the north east side of Columbia. Once you get above 13.2 it's dry and stable. I had trekkers and still slipped a few times. I'd recommend micro spikes. Not much trail to speak of up there. |
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7/17/2017 Route: West Slopes Posted On: 7/18/2017, By: Rambler Info: The initial gully you ascend from the Columbia trail has snow. Follow it up to find trail turning up to the right. Steep. Brutal. Did the traverse and stayed too high. Lots of snow in the gullys. My microspikes were great, both my cousins had yaktraks. They were not great according to their broken pole each. Finished traverse and double timed to camp. Got off course before and after the traverse but had good route and landmarks during. SMH....recovering in Leadville |
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7/1/2017 Route: Southeast Ridge Posted On: 7/3/2017, By: KrtRcr31 Info: Trail is clear and summer conditions all the way up. Watch carefully for the split from the Colorado trail as it is extremely easy to miss and then route finding through the trees until you get to the ridge is difficult in spots. |
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6/29/2017 Route: West Slopes Posted On: 6/30/2017, By: CMar75 Info: Most of the snow on the trail was gone, so no trouble with routefinding thanks to the 14ers route description and the cairns. One big snowfield to contend with at treeline heading up toward the gulley - used no traction. Beautiful approach in the trees and enjoyed the ridge. The gully was loose and tough (reiterating the last report - definitely bring poles!) as well as the saddle up to the ridge although it was not quite as bad as the gully. Beautiful day in the mountains!! |
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6/24/2017 Route: Southeast Ridge Posted On: 6/24/2017, By: Nelson Info: Virtually summer conditions. No snow equipment needed. |
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6/24/2017 Route: Southeast Ridge Posted On: 6/25/2017, By: adamjm Info: Echoing all below about summer conditions on SE Ridge, but adding a photo because we missed (and heard other parties did as well) the turnoff from the Colorado trail. The cairn isn't incredibly prominent, but there are a couple of logs directing the way. Routefinding after the turnoff isn't too difficult, just a matter of locating cairns among the downed trees. |
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6/24/2017 Route: Harvard and Columbia Traverse Posted On: 6/25/2017, By: KatintheHat Info: Approach trail muddy in spots. Route finding was tricky in some areas due to the amount of remaining snow. Found the description of the traverse over to Columbia a little confusing around/after point 13,516 and ended up just following tracks of the other climbers coming down from Columbia. Found my micro spikes to be very helpful to get up the snowfields on the backside of Columbia. Route finding at the bottom of Columbia back to the main trail was also a little challenging due to snow. Lost a galaxy S8 phone somewhere near the north side of point 13,516 if anyone finds it please message me- thanks! |
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6/18/2017 Route: West Slopes Posted On: 6/18/2017, By: kinglouie Info: The trail was snow free for much of the forested section, however toward the end there was snow covering the trail making the route tedious to find. I saw the CFI out there shoveling the snow to make the trail clearer. Everything you've heard about Columbia is true. If you don't bring poles, forget it. Brutal mountain. Probably the least enjoyable of all the 14'ers I've done. Views were great though! |
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6/17/2017 Route: West Slopes Posted On: 6/19/2017, By: Kaydubs17 Info: We started from the west trailhead at about 5:30am, summited at 11:30 and were back to the car at 4:30. Lots more snow on the trail than anticipated. We hiked up towards the Southwest ridge after getting a bit off trail and came down the traditional West trail. It was so steep and loose for sections even with poles. We didn't bring any traction and didn't really need it, but it would have been nice through all of the snow fields. On our way back down we noticed the river was incredibly high and threatening to come onto the trail and was running through the road too. I would highly recommend doing the Southeast ridge as we could see from the top that there was barely any snow on that side. |
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6/11/2017 Route: Southeast Ridge Posted On: 6/12/2017, By: BenThom11 Info: As said in the previous report, the conditions are great. Basically summer conditions, I took maybe 10 steps in the snow. Hot day, 80 degrees in BV and even hot above treeline despite the wind. The trail is pretty faint, but I added rocks to a lot of the cairns in the forest. |
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6/10/2017 Route: Southeast Ridge Posted On: 6/10/2017, By: chicagostylehotdog Info: A few patches of firm snow on the final ridge, most of which can be avoided by rock hopping. Mostly clear the whole way besides the occasional avoidable snowfield or short crossing that doesn't require any special gear. Didn't use traction, axe, or floatation. The worst snow was the wind loaded snow just before gaining the ridge. Follow cairns and you'll avoid most of it. On the way down, if you can't find the trail, stay on the ridge down through the trees. Don't try to drop down the slope too early or you'll be on snow longer than necessary. Snow in trees was still surprisingly firm at 1:00pm today. Wind was brutal, worst I've ever experienced. Not the best hike for a windy day. Lots of exposure to the elements. I didn't get a good look at the west slopes route, so no comment on conditions there. SW Couloir was still full of snow (nearly all the way down to Horn Fork Basin). |
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6/3/2017 Route: Southwest Couloir Posted On: 6/3/2017, By: Nelson Info: Climbed and skied the SW couloir. From the TH to turn off at 10,950 there is intermittent snow. At about 10700 I put on microspikes as the snow is almost continuous. At 11500 I put on crampons and booted the whole couloir. At no point was flotation necessary on this route. You can ski off the summit but only 100ft. Or so if you want to go back to the couloir. I walked down to 13,700 and. Skied the couloir down to 11000. I started skiing about 11:30 and had perfect corn down to the standard trail. Of course, the last 200 feet were a pain because of bushes and trees but even here the snow was firm. An epic day worth repeating. |
