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Peak(s)  Mt. Columbia  -  14,075 feet
Date Posted  10/09/2017
Date Climbed   10/08/2017
Author  HikesInGeologicTime
 Mt. Columbia - West Slopes Wild Ride   
Brace yourselves, GoT and 14er fans. Winter isn't coming. Winter is already here.

Okay, so it's not as bad on all the peaks as this picture
Image
Yale from Columbia summit
makes it look. Columbia, for instance, had intermittent snow the whole way up, but most of it could be avoided. I brought microspikes and was glad I did so, but I didn't wind up putting them on.

But even though Columbia wasn't in full-on winter conditions yet, it was still a slog of a hike. I wore every piece of ski gear I own, save for the skis and boots (and helmet, which could come in handy on this one...more on that soon), and even though I didn't need it for protection against the snow, I did need all of it to stay warm in the winds.

I didn't get blown over this time the way I did on Harvard three weeks ago (according to the National Weather Service, I only had to deal with 35 mph gusts yesterday vs. 55 mph gusts on 9/19!), but they were violent enough that when they let up for brief periods, I'd spend a few seconds staggering in the direction they'd come from because I'd gotten so used to hunching into them.

The only reason I spent more than ten minutes on the summit was that my phone rebelled against the cold by dying on me, forcing me to dig through my backpack for my iPad (on which I had the route description and pictures downloaded and should've dug it out earlier...more on that to come x2) so I could snap the rest of the surrounding peaks. I didn't want to have any regrets about pictures not taken compelling me to return to that godawful mountain!

After all, this peak is enough fun without adverse conditions. I've heard it said that this is one you only do if you're looking to fulfill the full fourteener quota, and sure enough, as I was dragging myself over the plethora of false summits on the ridgeline (I lost count at around 6 or 700, but bear in mind that my math gets really fuzzy when I get up at 2 a.m.), I decided that if I had my way, this mountain would be downgraded to a thirteener with a steroid problem to save others the pain of feeling obligated to climb it.

I think it'll be better in a couple years, though, once CFI finishes the new trail they're working on. I think this because I wound up on that trail going up (I started out on what I'm pretty sure is the current trail, saw something that looked more like a "real" trail - with footprints and everything! - on my right, figured I must've missed the cutoff, and worked my way across talus over to it) and, despite a few obvious-in-hindsight indications that it wasn't ready for public use yet (switchbacks that didn't align properly, unsecured stones in the middle of the trail), thought it was a lovely path and wondered why all the remarks I'd heard and read about Columbia were so negative.
I figured it out when the trail ended abruptly around 12,500 or so.

I did eventually blunder my way over to the current "trail" that leads up the shoulder, but the process involved a lot of tripping, stumbling, and sliding up a steep slope with very little in the way of notable features. Guilt and the constant second-guessing over whether I was at least headed in the direction of the right way made me determined to stick to the current trail on the way down.

Insert line here about the best-laid plans of mice, men, and hikers - I don't know whether the trail got obscured in a patch of snow or whether I would've lost it anyway, but after going down the same slope I came up more with my ass than my feet, I spotted a giant cairn off to my right, hurried over to it as I admired the persistence of the gravel that wormed its way into my underwear, and found myself back on the trail-in-progress.

I feel bad enough about that that I donated money to CFI, but considering how nice that portion is compared to everything between it and the ridgeline, I have to guiltily admit that I'm happy I wound up on it. If you're in no hurry to finish your fourteeners, I'd recommend holding off on this one until 2019, which is when the new trail is supposed to be complete!



Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
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