| Ref: 14ers.com |
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The sunrise
from the Missouri Gulch Trail. |
Snowshoe
trip:
RT 12.0 (includes Mount Belford); 7.0 up. My trip to
Colorado was winding down, Tim and I had a big traverse planned for my
send off. We intended on climbing Missouri Mountain's north face via
the Main Couloir, then tackling a traverse of Mounts Belford and
Oxford. It was an ambitious outing but we knew we had the endurance to
execute it. We camped at the Missouri trailhead to get an early start.
Our way up Missouri Gulch wasn't without hardship as we
postholed several places but once we reached the open terrain in the
basin, travel greatly improved. Missouri's north face is impressive, I
couldn't wait to get closer; while hiking, I was scoping out the steep
snow slopes. It did appear some cross-loading had occurred recently,
some noticeable pillows caused concern; there was also evidence of new
avalanches on adjacent slopes. I mentioned a possible line of ascent
but I could tell Tim wasn't willing to risk it; after some discussion
and a bit of resistance from my part, we dismissed the climb. Since we
we're already well engaged in the back of the draw, we simply continued
the gentle ascent towards Elkhead Pass. The view south towards Iowa
and Emerald Peaks revealed a promising loop for a future trip. From
the pass, we made our way to Mount Belford's south-east ridge, the
whole climb there is casual and very scenic. Once on the ridge, we
decided to go visit Mount Oxford before walking to Belford's summit
which wasn't that far away. The snowy ridge was very
pleasant and granted a fast descent to the Belox Col. On the way down,
we
finally met up with the guy on skis that had been ahead of us all day;
we
carried on to the top together. It was very nice to gain the summit but
it was quite windy and the shallow rock shelter offered little
protection. We didn't stay long to enjoy the view, after taking some
pictures we elected to
leave and seek a wind shadow elsewhere. At the col, the wind
seemed to lessen so we sat down for a break. The
conversations were lively and funny at times, Allen offered us coffee
drinks that he had brought for skiers he was
suppose to meet. After a nice
break, we picked up our stuff and prepared to re-ascend Belford's snowy
ridge. The extension to Oxford
was well worth it even though it was windy and climbing back to
the summit of Mount Belford didn't take long. To
our surprise, there was shelter among
the boulders at the top. Tim got some delicious homemade chocolate cake
out of
his pack and we enjoyed another fine break and respite from the wind.
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The remnant
of a shack. |
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Mount
Belford comes into view. |
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Further
along, Missouri Mountain is also revealed. |
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A ski tourer
is ahead of us. |
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The north
face couloirs are easy to pick out. |
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Mount
Belford's western aspect. |
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A
closer look at the "Main Couloir" and the "C-Couloir" on Missouri
Mountain; unfortunately, they appear a little cross-loaded. |
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Evidence of
significant snow transport over Missouri's complex east ridge. |
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Hiking to
Elkhead Pass. |
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(L to R)
Emerald Peak, Iowa Peak and Missouri Mountain beyond Elkhead Pass. |
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Making our
way to Mount Belford's south-east ridge. |
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South-eastern
view. |
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Mount Oxford
and Buffalo Peaks in the distance to the east. |
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Heading to Mount Oxford before
summitting Mount Belford.
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Looking back
towards Mount Belford.
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Mount Oxford
from the col.
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In the
shallow rock shelter on Mount Oxford.
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North-western
view towards LaPlata Peak.
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Mount Elbert
(left center) and Mount Massive (right center) to the north.
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The
connecting ridge to Mount Belford.
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Buffalo
Peaks to the east.
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Mount
Harvard and Mount Yale (right center) to the south.
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"You gotta
be tough if you're gonna be stupid" -Allen.
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Continue
on to Mount Belford |
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