Mt. Belford Trip Report 12/06/2014

Peak(s):	Mt. Belford - 14,202 feet Mt. Oxford - 14,158 feet
Date Posted:	12/06/2014
Modified:	12/08/2014
Date Climbed:	12/06/2014
Author:	hupomone1984

December Climb of Mt. Belford and Mt. Oxford
Camped three miles North of Missouri Gulch Trail Head on Dec. 5, 2014. Hard-pack ice road, with intermittent, very short stretches of dirt. 4WD necessary. Six to ten inches of snow outside tire ruts. Turning around required going all the way up to Vicksburg. Plunged down into a campsite next to Clear Creek, and while wearing snow shows set up shop for the night. Scooped tire tracks out with a shovel (down to dirt) to hopefully be able to regain the road again in the morning. No problems getting on the road. The Missouri Gulch Trail Head parking lot is covered in snow, but certainly accessible with 4WD. Not more than ten vehicles have been up there since it snowed last. Lots of loose, but dry snow. Hit the trail at 5:00 A.M. sharp, 10 degrees Fahrenheit. The trail was remarkably well defined. I could tell that someone had given snow shoes a whirl for the first half mile or so. I had mine with me, but never once used them. The snow was hard packed all the way up to tree line. The snow above tree line was wind packed drifts that easily held my weight (180 lbs). I post-holed only about a dozen times during the entire trek up and down. The Northwest Ridge was in good shape, the trail always easily discernible. Much of the trail on the ridge is snow free. There was some ice, but could be avoided by a step or two the right or left. I was dragging ass, and submitted Mt. Buford at 9:30. It was windy and very cold. I immediately headed down the summit ridge towards Mt. Oxford. The 700 foot descent to the Buford/Oxford saddle has been hard-packed and defined by elk or mountain goats. The saddle between the two mountains is clear of snow ( Saddle between Mt. Buford and Oxford, looking up the step ridge that must be regained. ). The ridge up Oxford has a couple of small wind-packed snow patches that are easily walked over. I beat feet back up the grueling ridge to regain Mt. Buford's summit again. Headed down the endless switchbacks of the Northwest Ridge. Was able to glissade three, hundred foot sections to speed things up. Truck to truck in ten and on half hours. Micro-spikes and gaiters mandatory. Pack for wind, and cold. Had the two mountains to myself the whole day. That Northwest ridge is a brute, but the hardest part of bagging these two 14'ers is regaining the Buford's summit after you have descended Mt. Oxford. It took me about an hour to get back up it. Lots of bobcat or mountain lion scat. Elk and goats were all over. To display your photos (uploaded below) in the final trip report, type the image number (i.e., 1, 2, 3), highlight it with your cursor, and click on the Image button on the right. Example: Saddle between Mt. Buford and Oxford, looking up the step ridge that must be regained. More image format examples: Float image right: Image #3 (not yet uploaded) Float image right, width of 300 pixels: Image #3 (not yet uploaded) Float image left, width of 175 pixels: Image #3 (not yet uploaded) External image: Float external image right, width of 600 pixels: Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

December Climb of Mt. Belford and Mt. Oxford

Camped three miles North of Missouri Gulch Trail Head on Dec. 5, 2014. Hard-pack ice road, with intermittent, very short stretches of dirt. 4WD necessary. Six to ten inches of snow outside tire ruts. Turning around required going all the way up to Vicksburg. Plunged down into a campsite next to Clear Creek, and while wearing snow shows set up shop for the night. Scooped tire tracks out with a shovel (down to dirt) to hopefully be able to regain the road again in the morning. No problems getting on the road. The Missouri Gulch Trail Head parking lot is covered in snow, but certainly accessible with 4WD. Not more than ten vehicles have been up there since it snowed last. Lots of loose, but dry snow. Hit the trail at 5:00 A.M. sharp, 10 degrees Fahrenheit. The trail was remarkably well defined. I could tell that someone had given snow shoes a whirl for the first half mile or so. I had mine with me, but never once used them. The snow was hard packed all the way up to tree line. The snow above tree line was wind packed drifts that easily held my weight (180 lbs). I post-holed only about a dozen times during the entire trek up and down. The Northwest Ridge was in good shape, the trail always easily discernible. Much of the trail on the ridge is snow free. There was some ice, but could be avoided by a step or two the right or left. I was dragging ass, and submitted Mt. Buford at 9:30. It was windy and very cold. I immediately headed down the summit ridge towards Mt. Oxford. The 700 foot descent to the Buford/Oxford saddle has been hard-packed and defined by elk or mountain goats. The saddle between the two mountains is clear of snow (

Saddle between Mt. Buford and Oxford, looking up the step ridge that must be regained.

). The ridge up Oxford has a couple of small wind-packed snow patches that are easily walked over. I beat feet back up the grueling ridge to regain Mt. Buford's summit again. Headed down the endless switchbacks of the Northwest Ridge. Was able to glissade three, hundred foot sections to speed things up. Truck to truck in ten and on half hours. Micro-spikes and gaiters mandatory. Pack for wind, and cold. Had the two mountains to myself the whole day. That Northwest ridge is a brute, but the hardest part of bagging these two 14'ers is regaining the Buford's summit after you have descended Mt. Oxford. It took me about an hour to get back up it. Lots of bobcat or mountain lion scat. Elk and goats were all over.

To display your photos (uploaded below) in the final trip report, type the image number (i.e., 1, 2, 3), highlight it with your cursor, and click on the Image button on the right. Example:

More image format examples:
Float image right:

Image #3 (not uploaded yet) — Image #3 (not yet uploaded)

Float image right, width of 300 pixels:

Float image left, width of 175 pixels:

External image:

Float external image right, width of 600 pixels:

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

nsaladin

Thumbs up for Mt Buford ;) lol
12/8/2014 9:26pm

Great description and pics!

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