BELFORD MT GROUP

July 2-5, 2009

Mount Belford 14,197 ft

Mount Oxford 14,153 ft

Missouri Mountain 14,067 ft

Belford Group Video Short (6:36)

Belford Group Video - Directors Cut (17:45)

July 1, 2009, Trip to Missouri Gulch

Wednesday at 5:00 pm after work I meet Bill and Dave in the parking lot at Honeywell to start the eleven hour trip to the start at Missouri Gulch Trailhead just outside of Buene Vista, CO.  Driving all night, taking turns at driving, we arrive at the trailhead at about 6:00 am.

July 2, 2009, Setup camp and short hike

Once at the trailhead we pack the backpacks with all the supplies for a two day camp up at the tree line, 11,200 ft.  Coming from 1000 ft we are all out of breath.  After a hike of about 2 miles we arrive at the old cabin site just at the edge of the tree line.  We setup camp and decided to hike up to the intersection of Elkhead Pass and Missouri.  I only made it to about 12,000 feet elevation before being out of breath and exhausted from lack of sleep.  Bill had a thermal blanked which I used for shade draped over a bush, I laid there resting for about an hour before Bill and Dave returned.  They made it to about 12,900 before returning.  Returned to camp, ate supper and turned in about 7-8 to be ready to up around 4:00 am.

July 3, 2009, Mount Belford 14,197 and Mount Oxford 14,153

Bill wakes earlier than Dave and I to get the stove running to make the traditional hot chocolate and oatmeal.  I struggled all night with sleeping, there were several periods of rain that night where the temperature would drop about 10 degrees and the issue of not feeling like your getting enough oxygen was a problem.  Since I struggled so on the pre-hike the day before the decision was made to have me start earlier than Bill and Dave, about 1 hour earlier.  I packed my day backpack with food and water and started the hike towards Belford.  Bill and Dave caught me about 2 hours into the hike, on the slopes of Belford.  The weather was scattered rain and the wind was blowing fast enough to sometime blow you off the trail.  The mountain peeks were covered by clouds, which we hiked into as we reached the summit at Belford.  Dave didn't have a good rain coat so struggled with being cold the entire accent, always wanting to move, which pushed me a little more than I could take.  We peaked Belford and discussed attempting Oxford.  The time was only around 8am so we had plenty of time so decided to go.  Oxford peak was just about 1.5 miles away, just a saddle between two peaks.  It's about an 800 ft decent before climbing back to the peak..  I started feeling somewhat fine at the beginning but having only been at altitude for a little more than 24 hours, having little sleep in the last 48 hours and having lost my appetite for the prior evenings meal all hit me on the way over to Oxford.  I reached Oxford summit probably 15 minutes behind Bill and Dave.  It seemed like just 10 minutes and Bill and Dave were ready to start the decent, I was not feeling well.  I reached the accent once across the saddle between the slopes and was out of oxygen.  I would take 5 steps and have to stop for a minute or two to rest.  Bill and Dave were already on Belford again and I probably had 600 feet more to climb.  When passed by a women with asthma I was getting a little discouraged.  I just decide to attempt to find a pace that would be steady, that was one step per two breaths.  When I was about 100 feet from the top a man, asthma women's husband, came back to check up on me.  Talked with him for the last few feet and arrived on the summit of Belford again.  Once there again Bill and Dave had been there for probably more than a half hour.  The wind was blowing probably 30 mph so was very cold for Dave so he was ready to hike down.  Dave went ahead and Bill and I descended together.  The wind continued and a little pellet sized hail fell, really stung on your face.  The weather started to clear however during the decent and turned out to be a pretty good decent.

July 4, 2009, Missouri Mountain, 14,067

Bill again was up before 4:00am to get breakfast started.  I again started about a half hour ahead of Bill and Dave.  They caught me not too far after the Belford/Missouri trail split.  This day we made the ascent together.  The weather was perfect, very little wind, the sky was clear and the temperature was cool.  This climb while 130 feet less was a more technical climb.  We hiked across several snow fields and had to use our hands to climb some boulders.  I was feeling good this day, a total switch from the day before.  The most challenging places were near the summit, this actually is when I could feel a little excitement about the climb.  There was a short 20 foot snow field that was very steep and had steps worn into the snow, with ice axe hand holds, by the prior climbers.   Some of the steps were right on the edge of the snow, the drop off however was only about 15 feet until you would be in a small boulder field.  If you slipped down the snow bank you could survive with just a few bruises.  Well no one slipped and we proceeded.  There was another snow bank crossing and a very steep climb to reach the summit.  The summit was a gorgeous view with the clear sky!  After spending several minutes on the summit we proceeded down.  The challenging places we crossed on the way up didn't seem quite as challenging.  I actually took an alternate route, the climb was easier but the snowfield was much higher.  Speedy Dave went on ahead of Bill and I to reach the camp about 2 hours ahead of us, we believe in taking our time.  Dave already had the tent packed and everything ready to go.  We hiked down to the parking lot and headed back pulling into the Honeywell parking lot about 5:00 am..

Last Updated: 11/04/2009