Mt Harvard (14,420) by Brian Schultz Thursday July 10, 1997
From Buena Vista I drove to the North Cottonwood trailhead on a crummy but doable road. I started at 6:35 on another excellent trail. Although not as steep as Yale, it made up for it in length. It's a long trudge through the woods and over 6 miles one way to the summit. I crossed many streams and snowfields once I got into the Horn Fork Basin. When I gained elevation above the basin I could see five people on the summit. A fellow Minnesotan caught up, Brian Olson, and he chatted with me before passing by. He was going for Columbia and I thought about joining him, but with the late hour and clouds building up I doubted it. When I arrived on the summit at 11:30 he was already gone. A long 5 hours to get to the top!
I had the summit alone and watched the clouds swirling about. I decided against Columbia and relaxed, enjoying the views of the high peaks around me while I ate lunch. Others were making their way up the ridge and when I descended I visited with some of them. After reaching timberline I made a mental note of where the trail branched off to Columbia, not wanting to miss it next year when I returned. I spotted it, checked the altimeter and jotted down the info. The clouds never turned bad and I hiked the long trail back, arriving at the car at 3:40.
Total hike time- 9 hours 5 minutes.