Two weeks ago I climbed Mount Harvard and I lost my trekking poles, or rather, left them behind and couldn't find where I had put them. I decided to return to Frenchman Creek and climb Columbia, then traverse over to Harvard's East Slopes and try to find the poles.

I left home at about 05:30, headed up to 285 and Buena Vista. I saw a fox on Pleasant Park Road and a coyote on 285 near Bailey. The 4X4 road up to the Frenchman Creek Trailhead hadn't changed in two weeks - it was still rough, steep, rocky, and loose in spots. At the trailhead were two ATVs with gun cases strapped on. Hunting season was in full swing.

I started hiking at 08:00; it was chilly, but clear and the sun would soon be shining on the trail. I signed in at the trailhead register, and noticed that 4 hunters had signed in ahead of me, headed for Harvard. After a mile or so I overtook the hunters, though I only saw three of them. I continued up the trail, watching for a point where I would leave the trail and cut south up to Columbia's East Ridge.

At about 11,600' I saw a talus slope and a clearing to the south, and the start of the ridge I was looking for. I left the trail and climbed the stable talus onto grassy slopes. Eventually I reached the ridge. I could not see Columbia just yet but the route was obvious, and I hiked along the ridge, spying the hunters in their blaze orange jackets down at the edge of a large meadow just below treeline.

The ridge had a few bumps along it; each time I crossed a bump I saw I had another bump to climb. After two or three bumps I finally saw Columbia. I reached the summit at noon. It seemed to take longer than I expected but I guess there was a lot of up and down on that ridge. I took a picture looking off toward Harvard across the Rabbit Ridge and started down on the traverse.

Foto ©2001 by John C. Maki

At first the descent into Frenchman Creek Basin was easy enough on stable talus. I dropped down parallel to the ridge to about 13,000', and started to look for an easy passage. I think I didn't drop down far enough; I ran into loose talus, which turned into a steep dirt slope covered with pebbles. I cautiously made my way across the dirt slope, going from rock to rock and taking great care not to slide down the ever-steepening slope. When I reached a steep, narrow gully, I climbed uphill to find some rocks on which to cross. I made it across to some solid, steep rock covered with grassy ledges, and breathed a sigh of relief. From here it looked like an easy descent to the low point of the traverse on large boulders.

It would have been easy were it not for the steep dropoffs on the Harvard side of the rock. It didn't look too difficult to cling to the rocks and lower myself down, but there was some fresh snow concealing the footholds below, and below the narrow ledge I would have to reach was an 8' drop. I didn't want to chance slipping there, so I climbed up and around and found an easier path which still required some class 3 moves but the hand and foot holds were numerous and solid. I made it onto the boulder field, and continued on my way.

Roach called the 2.2 mile traverse from Harvard to Columbia "arduous". He wasn't kidding. The boulder field should have been easy, but many of these rocks were the size of trucks and deep, narrow gaps lie between them. It was technically trivial but this traverse was starting to wear me down. By the time I reached the gentle grassy slopes heading up toward Harvard's East Slopes I had spent two hours since I left Columbia's summit. The wind had picked up significantly, I was tired, and clouds were moving in from behind the ridge in front of me. I couldn't tell what was headed my way from the west, but the weather seemed to be deteriorating quickly.

I decided it wasn't worth all this effort to try to recover a beatup pair of $75 trekking poles. I would sacrifice them to the mountain gods as a testament to my stupidity in leaving them behind. If you find a pair of blue REI Traverse poles somewhere on the upper east ridge of Mount Harvard, take them home and use them. They have served me well.

As I started to climb up the grass to reach the Harvard trail for my descent, I saw an old wheelbarrow from the mining days.

Foto ©2001 by John C. Maki

The hike out was uneventful. The hunters were gone, and I saw no more people on the trail. I passed a lightning-struck tree that crossed the trail, hanging precariously by some splinters of wood.

Foto ©2001 by John C. Maki

I reached the trailhead at 16:00. I drove back down to Buena Vista to call Donna to let her know I had made it out, pick up some beer and get something for dinner. I stopped at the Dairy Delite for the first time; nothing like a good, greasy cheeseburger and fries after a long hike. I left Buena Vista and headed for Vicksburg to find a campsite for tomorrow's attempt on Mount Oxford.