Trip Report: Mt Belford and Mt Oxford

Date: September 1st, 2013

How many summits can we fit in this year?

Our excitement for climbing 14ers still hasn't wavered, and with the discovery of how fun it can be to sleep in the Element, it's made it even easier to get to a trailhead at night, wake up early, and have the best weather to run.

The next logical group of peaks with Mt. Belford, Mt. Oxford, and potentially Missouri. I tried to find an obvious route that connected all 3, but most reports on the internet said it was sketchy at best, or else really long. I thought we'd get in the first 2 easier peaks, and see if we could find a route over to Missouri.

We drove up to the trailhead the night before, and got the Element set up for sleeping. We met a really nice guy who was camping in his truck next to us, shared some beers, and went to bed as early as we could. The next morning, the sound of people getting ready to hike woke us up. Despite sleeping at the trailhead, we were still probably one of the last people to start out. I guess that's why we run- so we can sleep in :)

The trail wasn't too technical at the start, and we were able to run through the forested sections. As we approached treeline, the sun started peaking out, and we got a gorgeous view of the mountains in the morning light.

After reaching treeline, we continued on the well marked and easy to follow path, using the switch backs to climb higher and higher. Our plan was to summit Belford first, then take the saddle out and back to Oxford.

The rocks were really red

The Summit was gorgeous, and slightly different than other summits, since the rocks were more red. This trail was a lot more crowded than others we'd been on, but Cody continued to be an amazing trail dog, only occasionally begging for beef jerky :)

At the Belford summit, we met a guy that was training for the Bear 100 (which is what Ryan was training for as well). Small world! We then took the saddle over to Oxford.

The summit of Oxford wasn't very summit-like, but it still counts as another 14er for the AdventureDog!

We couldn't find a solid route to Mt. Missouri, and none of the other hikers on the summit knew the way. Since we had already hiked for a while, and our total mileage would be around 11 miles, we decided to head back to the car.  We had to summit Belford one more time before we could head down.  To me, nothing is more draining than knowing your headed back to the car, but still having to climb up another 500 feet before you can begin the descent. Ryan loves it.

Ryan's happy we get to climb again

On the way back down the trail, Ryan took off ahead of me, so he could practice his descending skills for his upcoming race. I had to put Cody on leash to prevent her from taking off after him. Here she is, looking for her Dad:

Back at he car, we headed into the town of  Buena Vista to have drinks and burgers at our favorite restaurant, Eddyline.

Overview:

Distance: 10.97 miles

Total Time: 5:08

Moving Time: 3:54 (21:20min/mile)

Starting Elevation: 9,677 feet

Max Elevation: 14,167 feet

Total Climb: 5,767 feet

Elevation profile: