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A Last-Minute Decision: Harvard-to-Columbia Non-Technical Ridge Traverse
Sign me up for exciting Class 3 and easy Class 4, especially for sustained lengths. That usually means avoiding the Sawatches. But the Harvard-Columbia Traverse along the ridge, with a handful of gully circumvents, offers a tasty and surprisingly enjoyable (though in retrospect) adventure. In retrospect, I say, because I wish I studied the route beyond making a Strava track based on the heatmap to better ascertain what is fun solid Class 3/4 versus loose sandy gully. This is in part a cautionary tale, because first, I traversed too many loose sandy gullies, which present conceivable dangers of large boulders becoming dislodged (hence I often breathlessly zig-zagged), and second spotty Strava tracks can lead to the blind leading the blind. Having said that, I, being solo, fully expected to either backtrack or descend to the main traverse; however I never felt the need to.
Here is my finished track (right) that follows very closely the spotty Strava track along the ridge. My downloaded track kept me on course, but I used reasonable judgement to not follow it exactly. I went clockwise.
I took a 30-hour midweek break day to drive out from the Front Range to enjoy peak fall colors (mostly along the drive) under close-to-ideal conditions before the freeze-thaw cycle ushers in shoulder season.
Up to N. Cottonwood Creek Trailhead.
Achieved setting up camp before sunset.
Sunset on Mt. Yale.
Harvard casts a long shadow.
Summited at about 7:30 am.
I mostly stayed on the east side due to my ignorance, thus missing a knife edge (apparently from other reports).
The highly eroded ridge looking toward Columbia.
The downclimb of the first portion of the ridge was continuously knee-buckling. Confidence dropped, but my endurance remained, so I continued. At one point, I felt not necessarily cliffed-out, but an exposed hard Class 4 descent lay before me, hence I back-tracked and found myself slogging across the loose gullies in no mood to take photos.
Soon spirits brightened as "The Rabbits" appeared along with more solid rock.
Better rock in sight.
Now things changed for the better, and the apprehension faded away.
Rabbits above.Looking back.
On top of Columbia after a torrid climb up the final 500 feet.
The Horn Fork Basin is quite barren.
I had visions of doing a marathon-length Antero, Tabeguash, Shavano circuit. Good thing I chose otherwise, because I'm both not in shape, and I would have probably encountered rain. Heard some thunder in the direction of Princeton.
Princeton drenched.
I wrote this report to say that if you enjoy adventurous scrambling but not technical climbing, the Harvard-Columbia ridge traverse is quite nice in ideal conditions. If I had it to do over again, I would do it with a buddy and study before hand. Most importantly, be aware of potential loose boulders!
Times- the traverse took 3 hours. I started at 5:05 am, and got to Columbia at 10:30, finishing the loop is 7:30.
My GPS Tracks on Google Maps (made from a .GPX file upload):
But this motivates me to carry an SLR with me, instead of my Pixel 6.
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