On Saturday, July 17, 2010, only 3 days before my 60th birthday I left my home in
Littleton, CO before 3AM heading for the Buena Vista and the Mt. Harvard trailhead. There was just enough light that I didn't need my headlamp
to start the hike. Surprising, the first 2 hours of the hike were all through forest and was a nice combaination of elevation gain followed by
flat areas. It really made this part of the hike enjoyable.
A little over two hours into the hike I was in the Horn Fork Basin and got my first view of Mt. Harvard in the distance and
Mt Columbia (another 14er) to my immediate right. I got another hour into the hike before I was in direct sun and boy, did it get warm quickly.
Stopping to shed some layers, I sat to enjoy the view. What a cool place.
The rest of the hike was steep but as long as I stopped to rest along the way, I had no problems. The only real issue came in the last
50 feet. Another hiker and I were wondering if we should stop here and say we made it to the top. We laughed about it later as we rested on top
of Mt. Harvard, 14,420 ft high - the third highest peak in Colorado. Absolutely awesome!
This was such a cool part of the hike. The trail leveled out into an easy walk – but the work truly was ahead. However, this area could be a
great campsite and Bear Lake is just up ahead.
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