Picture courtesy of Tim Best.
Picture courtesy of Tim Best.
Mount Belford (Belox Traverse)
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| elevation: 4,327 m. |
height gain: 200 m. (from Mount Oxford) |
| area: Buena Vista,Colorado,USA |
map USGS 1:24,000 Mount Harvard, CO 38106H3 & Winfield, CO 38106H4 |
| 2017-May-13 |
| Ref: 14ers.com |
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| Climbing back up the connecting ridge to Mount Belford after an ascent of Mount Oxford. |
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| Snowshoe
trip:
RT 12.0 (includes Mount Oxford); 1.25 up from Mount Oxford. From
the Elkhead Pass, we made our way to Mount Belford's south-east ridge
and climbed Mount Oxford before walking to Belford's summit. The
extension to Oxford
was well worth it even though it was very windy. The pleasant climb
back up the south-east ridge didn't take long, we gained the
summit of Mount Belford in decent time. Surprisingly, we found respite
from the wind up there. We ate Tim's delicious chocolate cake and
conversed. After a nice summit stay, we prepared to head
down the north-west gully. Allen set off on his skis and we
followed suit glissading. The gully grants a fine descent no doubt but
the snow was a
little on the soft side, glissading was great at first becoming nearly
impossible lower down. Near the bottom, we postholed walking down so we
tried different
ways to make our glissade more efficient, it got a bit ridiculous but
it
was funny as heck! Skiing had a clear advantage, Allen
was already down and out of sight. Eventually, we reached the drainage
below
and found a huge boulder to perch on for another break. We saw a marmot
while basking in the sun and mosquitoes too, I guess spring was upon
the Colorado mountains. I reluctantly gathered my stuff to continue the
descent, I wish we could have stayed much longer. When we reached the
trail beyond the snow and started walking to
the trailhead, that's when it hit me, this was my last outing with Tim
for a long time. This Colorado trip had been bountiful and I was very
pleased yet I felt overwhelmed with mixed emotions. It's never easy
coming down from a big high... |
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| The only scrambly bit on this trip. Picture courtesy of Tim Best. |
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| Looking back at Mount Oxford. |
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| Pleasant ascent on snow. Picture courtesy of Tim Best. |
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| Nearing the summit block. |
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| A skip and a hop away from the top. |
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| Delicious homemade chocolate cake on Mount Belford. |
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| Western view with Missouri Mountain and Huron Peak behind it. |
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| A close up of LaPlata Peak north-west of us. |
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| View north towards the small town of Leadville. |
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| Leaving the summit via the western side. |
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| Glissading the north-west gully. |
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| Good times! |
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| The snow gets increasingly soft as we lose height. |
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| Very nice gully, skis would have been good to have. |
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| Gear adjustments. |
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| The snow is too soft to glissade the lower gully. |
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| Back down in the drainage. |
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| Last glimpse at Mount Belford's north-west gully. |
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| A bit of postholing in the forest to finish the day in style! |
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| Check out Mount Oxford |
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| Back to home page |