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| Hiking | 13.95 Miles |
4,652 AEG |
| | Hiking | 13.95 Miles | 9 Hrs 14 Mns | | 1.73 mph |
| 4,652 ft AEG | 1 Hour 10 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | | Started at the trailhead at 6am. One other car at the trailhead, he started his hike as I was arriving. It was 45 degrees and cloudy and had rained during the night, but it didn't really feel cold at all. Used a headlamp for the first 40 minutes or so. Shortly after that, two other hikers caught up with me and we hiked together for a while, but they were faster than me, so moved ahead after we had chatted. The first three or so miles were a relatively easy incline, but it started increasing after that. The trail transitioned from dirt to walking through rocks, but was easy to follow. I hit a flat area at 13,000', where I encountered a dusting of snow and could finally see Harvard itself. The clouds had mostly cleared, and the views were great. The walking was easy for a few minutes, then started climbing--steeply--again. The trail was a little tougher to follow at this point, but I could always see which way to head up to. At this point, I was gassed, and stopping every few steps to catch my breath. I ran into the guy who had started before me on his way back down and he said I had less than half a mile to go. That last half mile took forever, but I finally made it to the top, where I chatted again with the two hikers from earlier. We talked for a few minutes, then they headed back down. While we were chatting, one other woman arrived at the summit and scrambled up the last fifty feet or so. I headed up after her, but stopped about 10' from the summit where the final rock to go over was covered in melting ice. Had it been dry, I would have gone over it just fine, but I had no desire to attempt to have to come back down that rock with no way to stop my slide with very little room for error. So that was as far as I went; I turned around and climbed back down through the rocks a few feet, then stopped for a lunch break. The other woman came back down and we started chatting and hiking back down together. This was her 43rd Colorado 14er, plus she had done some others, so I had tons of questions for her about which ones I should do next year. The seven miles back to the trailhead passed quickly while we talked. We exchanged numbers to possibly coordinate for another 14er together when I return next year. The only wildlife seen were pikas, marmots, and some coyotes up around 13,500'. It hadn't occurred to me that coyotes would be running around up that high, but I guess they do. 60 degrees at the finish, but felt warmer. Great day, even if getting up Harvard took more effort than I had thought it would be. |
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Autumn Foliage Observation Substantial
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| Stop crying and just go do the hike. |
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