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Group of 8 from Missouri backpacked in on Thursday, 7/28, and camped about 1.6 miles in near the abandoned log cabin. This is a very popular camping spot as we were accompanied by about 15-20 other campers. Unfortunately, there was a total fire ban, so no campfires. Please pay attention to the signs at the trailhead and check with the San Isabel National Forest website to check on fire bans before hiking in. The hike to camp was not long, but we gained about 1,800 feet, mostly on a series of 10-12 switchbacks.
We headed out Friday morning about 6:00 am to summit Belford and Oxford. The trail is easy to follow and well-maintained all the way to the top of both mountains. The switchbacks heading up Belford from the Missouri Gulch are leg burners, but exhilarating. Most of the group made it to Belford summit between 8:30 am-9:00 am. A few stragglers made it by 9:30 am. Four of us headed on to Oxford which is, again, a well-maintained and easy to follow trail. Be aware, the steeper decent from Belford to the saddle must be climbed to get back to Belford and back down. It's brief but rather steep. However, the climb up Oxford is very pleasant.
Instead of going back up Belford and down the northwest ridge, we elected to head down to Elkhead pass between Belford and Missouri Mountain. This was a longer route down, but very beautiful and worth the extra distance. After spending at least 20-30 minutes on each summit and a leisurely hike back to camp we made it back by 3:30 pm. We stayed another night and hiked out Saturday morning.
This is a good choice for lowlanders like us who prefer Class 1 & 2 hikes with easy to follow trails. Thank you Colorado Fourteeners Initiative (14ers.org) for maintaining these trails and making Colorado's beautiful mountains accessible and enjoyable!
My GPS Tracks on Google Maps (made from a .GPX file upload):
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