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| Belford & Oxford - MO Gulch TH |
We hit the TH at 2:30. The TH sign is difficult to spot in the dark- when you turn off the highway make sure you keep track of how far you've gone and know when to slow down. We went all the way to Windfield before we realized we had gone too far.
Be aware of the log crossing- it's unstable and extremely slick when wet either from rain or splash-back from the creek. CFI evidently focused on the switchbacks for Belford and nothing on the bridge, but since I haven't volunteered yet I can't complain. We summited Belford in 3 hours. The first hour of which was a strong down poor. For a while there we weren't sure if we'd continue past tree line, but it slowed to a drizzle and then stopped just as we arrived at TL. Te trail is strait forward in the dark with a headlamp- no worries- even without a moon. The view from the summit of Belford was amazing.
We spent some time for pictures and headed over to Oxford which took me an hour and my buddy 45 minutes.
The return time to Oxford was identical for both of us. I will say that the temp on the summits was nearing 20 F- we used every layer we packed.
From Belford's summit we made it back to the TH in 2 hours. If we had started at midnight we would have had time to hit MO too, but that will have to wait for another year. It was little disappointing, but still a great trip. Weighing the difficulty of this two-for to Harvard and Columbia from N CW Creek I'd place it easier endurance wise. Harvard was an easier ascent than Belford, but the two combined made Belford & Ox much easier. RT time came in at 7 hours plus 2 hours of pictures/food/rest time. Not bad for another single day's excursion.
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