Mount Harvard, Columbia, & Huron

Mount Harvard,

Columbia, & Huron

Mount Harvard,

Columbia, & Huron

Colorado

August 24 - 25, 2024

Harvard and Columbia are two fourteeners that stand in Colorado's Sawatch Range.

The trailhead is about 30 minutes outside of Buena Vista and 2.5 hours from Denver. At 14,420ft Mount Harvard is the fourth tallest peak in the lower forty-eight behind Whitney, Elbert, and Massive.

Climbing each mountain individually (via the Mount Harvard Trail and Columbia West Slopes) is class two hiking. The traverse that connects the two mountains (I’ve read/heard mixed reviews) sounds like a slog of a class three scramble with considerable route finding and potential rock fall hazard. The access road to the trailhead is well maintained and plenty of dispersed camping sites line the road and the trailhead. I arrived the night before and set my alarm for 2am in anticipation of a long day.

I started up Horn Fork Basin Trail at 2:15am. I ventured through the woods and stayed left at the fork to continue towards Mount Harvard (a right turn brings you up to Columbia).

I ascended the rocky switchbacks that led up to the summit. At 6:30am after four hours, 6.5 miles, and 4,500ft of vertical I arrived to a completely socked-in summit with 30 mph gusts. I gave it twenty minutes to wait for improved visibility but the sun never burned the cloud cover off.

I ventured out a bit on the Mount Harvard and Columbine Traverse that connects the two 14ers but with the horrible visibility, 30+ mph gusts, and slick rock I decided to turn back and go with Plan B. I trekked back down to 11,450ft and took the fork up towards Mount Columbia via the West Slopes at 9:15am. This added quite a bit of mileage and vertical to the route but was a safer bet with the weather.

Some bees hard at work in a thistle at 13,000ft on the climb up to Columbia

It was a slog up to Columbia and I was slowed down by a curious mountain goat that kept following me and cutting me off on the trail ahead of me.

The top of Columbia is a big pile of rock and I only got a brief view of the traverse and Mount Harvard through the clouds. On the way down from Columbia I was soaked to the skin in a brief downpour/hailstorm and I hustled for the trees. In all it was a bit of a sufferfest. The route I took (up both mountains) was 19.8 miles and 8,050ft in total vs 14.6 miles and 5,770ft via the traverse.

That evening after Harvard and Columbia I drove north of Buena Vista towards the Huron Peak Trailhead.

I had been warned that the drive to this particular trailhead can be rough. Huron Peak just barely qualifies as a 14er with an elevation of 14,003ft.

Be advised the AllTrails directions bring you to the end of the 2-wheel drive road. There are plenty of campsites on this road and just some potholes that can easily be avoided in a low clearance car. The further trailhead is an additional few miles and ~30min driving that definitely requires a 4-wheel drive car (I saw Jeeps, a couple Subarus, 4Runners, and trucks). It’s a bumpy ride and I was grateful for the high clearance. In the 4Runner it was a blast and I saw some pretty epic dispersed campsites.
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I woke up at the trailhead and set off by 5:30. The trail is super clear and there’s really no scrambling until the last 300 feet. As far as 14ers go it’s one of the easier ones. I summited at 8:30am and enjoyed some sunshine and the views peaking through the cloud cover. In total the Huron Peak hike was 6.5miles, 3,500ft, and took just under 5 hours.