Mt. Columbia

Route: Three Elk Creek
Posted On: 2/3/2018, By: DavidEStaunton
Info: I postholed through sometimes mid thigh deep snow, and lots of less deeper snow.
my route finding skills need improving. Above tree-line, one should gain the ridge ASAP. Please get out there and use my painfully crafted trail before its gone! 

Route: Harvard and Columbia Traverse
Posted On: 1/31/2018, By: Santanoni
Info: I did not do the standard traverse of course, but I used the high basin between Harvard and Columbia on the east side to lose as little elevation as I could. I dropped to about 12300 and used rock ribs both down and up. The little ridge I used up Columbia is probably not so fun in summer but all the rocks were frozen nicely and were like stairs right now. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 11/29/2017, By: casmussen10
Info: To start, I didn't attempt to climb or summit Columbia or Harvard but I did hike/snowshoe into Horn Fork Basin starting out at ~1100hrs. Low-mid 40s all day and not terribly windy. The road up to N. Cottonwood TH was pretty clear. No deep snow but there are a few spots that you might need decent tires or 4wd. I did see a Tesla at the TH...
I put my Yaktrax on after about a mile for the sake of convenience. About 2 miles into the hike, I threw on snowshoes until I turned around to head back (about 4 miles out from TH). In total I climbed about 2000' vertically.
Columbia didn't seem to have much snow on it (as seen in the pano), and I would have attempted it if I didn't get such a late start. However, Harvard looked to be a little bit more treacherous (as seen in the second picture). All in all a good day with good conditions and weather. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 11/24/2017, By: khavos
Info: A friend and I decided to hike Mt. Columbia on Thanksgiving, and it was an interesting affair to say the least. Route to the N. Cottonwood trailhead is pretty good, a bit of snow and ice, but no issues making it the whole way. Had an AWD vehicle with moderate clearance.

The trail from the turnoff for Columbia had not been traveled on anytime recently and is unbroken. The part of the trail that is broken curls around the Harvard section of trail and then presents a split off back towards Columbia. Snowshoes would help greatly on the approach. From the boulder field to the summit, spikes are all that is necessary, though an ice axe would have been helpful in some spots. I only had poles and they were a help on that steep grade. My partner and I tried breaking the Columbia trail from the boulder field to the Harvard junction on the way back, but our route was somewhat circuitous. We did have a GPS and map/compass, but the trail wasn't entirely discernible.

While I am sure this may be general knowledge, don't be fooled by the stats on this hike like I was, it's a pretty exhausting hike in the current conditions, and the trail from the boulder field to the ridge is steep and about as fun as completing your taxes. It may be worth waiting until the new trail is done.

On the bright side, the avalanche danger looked minimal at worst. Happy hiking! 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 10/30/2017, By: rgarriott
Info: N. Cottonwood Creek TH still open on 10/29. No problem getting up road in 2WD. Hiked West Slopes up Columbia. Trail was dry and no traction was needed. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 10/17/2017, By: Eagle Eye
Info: I made the Mt Harvard to Mt Columbia traverse on 10/15/2017. The trail into Horn Fork Basin had patchy snow cover or ice and I used micro spikes almost the whole day. The upper (wide) Horn Fork Creek crossing point presented an icy problem, but there is a much safer place to cross slightly upstream. Mt Harvard's side of the traverse is drier rock, but the lower sections under the “rabbit” ridge formations closer to Mt Columbia are deep with unconsolidated snow. Allow more time, the rocks are too big and far apart to boulder-hop through. The West Slopes descent off Mt Columbia was (typical!) loose and muddy, mixed with snow. The side trail through the woods back the main trail was faint, although there is a noticeable cairn marking the Mt Columbia trail fork at its junction with the main trail. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 10/6/2017, By: bmcqueen
Info: I did the Columbia to Harvard traverse today. Snow above 11,500, but never enough to need my spikes. Gaiters were a good call though. Continuous snow descending Harvard back to the Columbia turnoff. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 9/4/2017, By: joyfulwriter
Info: Weather was beautiful today. Unfortunately for me, I followed the cairns and another hiker too far up the gully where the slopes truly were nasty - or as one fellow hiker said, "truly heinous." I turned around before hitting the ridge due to how loose the rocks were and to avoid setting them loose on anyone below. Talked to a couple who summited but said the trail was miserable even staying close to the shoulder. Looking forward to returning when CFI finishes their trail reroute. What I could see of it looked fabulous. I'll be back! 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 8/26/2017, By: RockyMountainMustang
Info: Mind the route description (pic #6) and hug that shoulder up. I made the mistake of going straight up (possibly worst mistake I've ever made). "The upper end of the gully is steep, loose and ugly." indeed. It was the gully of scree and tears... and enormous loose boulders. If you mindlessly follow the trail, it will seem to go straight up, not curve over. No cairns in that area, and getting to the shoulder is rough too, but worth it. Went down that way (the right way...). By far this is my least favorite 14er so far... it's a slog-opotamus. Loose and nasty. If you go up the gully, I recommend a helmet, but mostly I recommend going up the ridge to the right and not going up the gully - it just gets worse the higher you get. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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 

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.