Mount Belford and Mount Oxford, July 8-10, 2016

Mount Belford

El: 14,197'

Route:  Northwest Ridge to Summit
Trailhead: Missouri Gulch, 9,640'

Mount Oxford
El: 14,153'
Route: West Ridge

Trailhead: Missouri Gulch, 9,640'

Total Evelvation Gain: 5,967' feet
Distance: approx. 10 miles

I enjoyed my trip to Castle Peak, Conundrum Peak and Mount of the Holy Cross so much in late June that I was in a big hurry to go back to Colorado to bag some more 14ers.  I did a few things differently this time.  I left my crampons, ice ax and helmet at home, for a non-technical Class 1 ascent.  I also opted to seek out a route that would easily fit into a day, removing the need for overnight backpacking to approach the peaks.  The 14ers vary wildly in their difficulty.  Some require lengthy approaches, while others are close enough to the trailheads to be managed easily in a day. Some are easier "walk-ups", while others are scrambles and are dangerously exposed.  I sought out some peaks that were on the easier end of the spectrum for this trip, but as all 14ers present some degree of challenge, each are worthy of attention.  I also brought along my friend Alicia, in hopes she could complete her first 14er.  In this case, I decided upon Mount Belford and Mount Oxford, which are known for their straightforward nature.  Due to their close proximity, both peaks are usually climbed together in one day.

Day 1, July 8, 2016. Alicia is relatively new to her explorations of Colorado, So we took our time to enjoy the scenery. She really enjoyed taking photographs of the Sangre de Cristo mountains near the towns of Crestone and Alamosa as we drove North.  We also made a side trip to Colorado 82 to enjoy Independence Pass, where ascending hairpin turns and drop-offs with no guardrails produced some involuntary yelps from Alicia as she leaned out the passenger window to take photographs of  high peaks in the majestic Sawatch Range.  At the top of the pass at an elevation of 12,090' we were in love with the temperature, which was in the low 60's- an incredible relief after the record-setting temperatures of June and July in New Mexico.

Alicia at Twin Lakes, on the way towards Independence Pass.

The exciting switchbacks along Independence Pass.

A small lake at the top of Independence Pass. Somehow, it felt awkward to work so little to see such beauty.

After some pleasant walking and picture taking at Independence Pass, we drove to the Missouri Gulch Trailhead on Chaffee County Road 390, west of US24.  The popularity of weekend hiking on the 14ers in Colorado became readily apparent.  Arriving as late as we did, sometime after 7:00 PM, we were lucky to find a campsite, just as another car had left.  The day use parking lot at the trailhead was completely full.

The most enjoyable element of our car camping site was our proximity to clear creek, which muffled the sounds of vehicles rattling over the dirt road, and helped lull us to sleep after we ate some dinner, (which was made possible by a loaner lighter from another hiker) as I had actually forgotten any kind of firestarter for my stove!

Day 2, July 9, 2016.  We had a 4,600' relentless ascent ahead of us over only 3.5 miles to attain the summit of Mt. Belford.  In my typical style, we were awake by 3:30 AM and we broke down our tents, packed the car and drove about a 1/4 mile east to the trailhead.  at 4:03 we donned our headlamps, crossed Clear Creek, and ascended the notorious switchbacks up into Missouri Gulch.  At about 10,800' we somehow missed the creek crossing to the east, or left side of Missouri Gulch and found ourselves a little off-route on a boulder field as we continued to ascend on the west side of the gulch.  But some headlamps on the other side of the gulch helped us locate the trail on the correct side and we found another place to cross the creek.

Close to 7:00 AM we reached the base of Mt. Belford at 12,000 feet, where Alicia could tell she had already reached her limit as far as her acclimatization went.  She found a relaxation spot on a large, flat boulder to enjoy herself for the rest of the morning.  She encouraged me to continue.  In a way, her time was more productive, as she saw cute wildlife from her vantage point, yielding many great photographs.

Photograph showing the North West Ridge of Mt. Belford, the ascent route.

I ascended the remaining 2,100 feet of Mt. Belford in a brisk 80 minutes, and arrived on the summit at 8:20 AM.  The popularity of this route was very apparent, as it was hard to take photos without people in the composition.  Hundreds of people must have stepped foot on the summit that day.  I enjoyed the top of Mt. Belford for about 25 minutes before heading for Mount Oxford at 8:45 AM.  I descended down to the Mt. Belford and Mount Oxford saddle at 13,500 and ascended the West slope of Mount Oxford, and arrived at the summit by 9:35.  After another 25 minutes I was on my way back to Mount Belford, which had to be re-climbed in order to return to Missouri Gulch.  The east ridge return on Mount Belford is slow-going for most hikers, who have already reached two summits in a day.  The steepness and rockiness of this portion of the route tested my endurance a little.  At 10:50 I reached my final high point for the day, and could put all the uphill slogging behind me.

It was hard to miss the people in most shots!

An extremely uplifting early morning view of Missouri Mountain, elev. 14,067' as I neared the top of Mount Belford.

At the summit of Mount Belford!

At the summit of Mount Oxford!  I'm a little more tired in this photo.

Based on a recommendation from a hiker the day before, I decided to return via the much more gentle route via Elkhead Pass between Mount Belford and Missouri Mountain to the West.  It was a great decision.  The azure sky and a view of wide-open rolling slopes of green tundra, speckled by wildflowers, was soothing to the soul.  In about another hour I had returned to Alicia at 12:00 PM, who was beaming after spending several relaxing hours in what she called "my mountain paradise", which included some visitations by pikas and marmots.  We enjoyed a great lunch on the boulder, and I must say that the saltiness of Triscuits with hummus never tasted so good.

Elkhead Pass in all its wildflower glory!

The early afternoon heat was sweltering as we descended Missouri Gulch.  The steepness and exposure of the switchbacks could be fully appreciated now, and also, their relentlessness.  By 2:00PM we reached the car.  We had an upcoming trip to Princeton Hot Springs as motivation to keep moving.

We finished off the day at Princeton Hotsprings, where I had been just two weeks earlier and enjoyed the creek side pools and water slide.  All aches and pains found relaxing relief from the water.

Next, dinner was on the mind.  The Colorado crowds had not abated since we left the hike.  A handful of the better restaurants in Salida had 90 minute waits, so we had to settle on a funky pizza place, DePasquale's, where we ordered a veggie pie that was probably more cheese than bread, but was awesomely fullfilling.

I was too worn out to drive another 4 hours south back to Santa Fe, so the hunt was back on to find camping sites.  Thanks to Google, I was able to track down a forest road, Country Road 101 off of US 50, which after great searching produced a campsite.  Again, it would have paid off to begin looking for a camping site earlier.

Alicia at the campsite for our second night.

Day 3, July 10, 2016.  By 7:00 AM we were in the car an on the way back to Santa Fe.  Lessons learned from this trip included avoiding 14ers on mid-summer weekends whenever possible,  look for camping early in the day, and look for easier routes to help all members of the party acclimate.  In retrospect, Mount Sherman, often touted as the "easiest" 14er would have been a better option for Alicia to have found success,  Regardless, it was an fun experience over these three days!