Already August and no 14ers?! Figured it was time to stop being lazy :). Given some of the discussion I'd seen recently about Missouri's east ridge, I figured it was something worth looking into to see if it was a feasible option for getting all three in Belford Group. Lol maybe it's just me but I'd much rather deal with technical terrain than lose elevation if at all possible and the idea of descending Missouri all the way down to the Elkhead Pass trail in order to continue didn't sound all that appealing. And seeing that the east ridge would be the toughest challenge, I was only considering options by which I did Missouri first as this wasn't something I wanted to be worrying about at the end of the day after Belford and Oxford.

Going through the trip reports, I found this one from The_Flex to be extremely helpful and basically was going to be what I was going to attempt. While I was up for giving it a shot, there was still a lot of risk in this description as descending from the ridge proper admittedly looked sketchy and I still wanted to find a better option if possible. Fortunately I came across a series of threads discussing this further leading me to this picture posted by Monster5 highlighting a "medium" option of staying between cliffs and the scree:

This avoids the extremely technical terrain of descending from the ridge proper as well as dropping down into the scree (sufferfest) or the basin (tedious). I referenced a few more trip reports from Emerald Peak just to see if there were better vantage points and ended up using this as my basic guide:

The Elkhead Pass trail is well defined through Missouri Gulch and honestly feel it should be the standard route for Belford and Oxford. Getting up Missouri was pretty straightforward. Had hoped to catch the sunrise from the summit, but unfortunately didn't start early enough (one day!).

After taking in the summit for a good half hour, finally decided it was time to get moving. Based on the picture from Emerald Peak, I knew I had to descend southeast almost immediately and aim for the middle of the cliffs.

As I progressed, I made sure to note my escape options. While there were exposed areas in the cliff section, there were a good five or six gullies that ran all the way out into the basin and I figured worst case scenario if I cliff out or get in over my head, I can just ride one of them down and regain Elkhead Pass later (though ideally I was trying to avoid it coming to that at all costs).

The hardest thing to gauge throughout the route was whether I had descended far enough or where I was relative to the bottom of the cliffs. I continued eastward and downward as best I as I could tell relative to the viewpoint from Emerald Peak and eventually came upon a loose gully. It seemed like there was a route on the other side so I waded through it and continued on the other side only to end up cliffing out shortly afterward.

Fortunately I saw that the loose gully I passed through ran all the way out to the basin so when I cliffed out, I knew I had an escape option. At that point I was so tired of dealing with the cliffs, I wasn't considering trying to find a "lower" route through as I was almost to the notch and knew there wouldn't have been much of one anyway. I figured I'd just bail all the way out and worry about the scree slope once I got there. The gully was so loose that I had to hold onto the east cliff wall most of the way down to arrest or I likely could have been swept out, though at least it began to stabilize as I neared the exit.

Home free, right? I wish, still had to deal with navigating the remaining scree slope between me and Elkhead Pass. Wasn't truly out of it until I gained the ridge.

Now I'm home free! Lol so much for this 2:15 "shortcut," I likely could have descended the standard route, regained Elkhead Pass, and been on my way a lot faster. I did have my GoPro running during this segment and put together a video which along with the GPX file below hopefully shows my path a bit more clearly:

I was beginning to have my doubts as to whether or not I'd have enough left to do all three but when I got to Elkhead Pass, I was surprisingly motivated and reenergized and knew there was no way after enduring all that I could not come away with all three! Onward to Oxford!

As demoralizing as seeing the Oxford saddle ahead was, knowing I only had one left was enough to propel me forward. Still don't know where this wind was coming from as I didn't see it that severe in the forecast, but at that point I was just pushing through it.

With that, all that remains is descending Belford. I noticed most people going back down Elkhead Pass but I wanted to "complete a loop" and at least experience Belford's standard route. While certainly "shorter" I can honestly say even going down it's a miserable experience, can't imagine coming up that way. I would definitely say that Elkhead Pass is the preferable and more enjoyable option unless enduring switchback misery on the standard route is your thing in which case, have at it :).

Has it really been nearly three years since my last trip report?! Lol figured this was an uncommon enough route/experience to put one together, mainly just wanted to put some information out there on the middle route through the south face and highlight that there is a relatively safe path through the east ridge. Now whether that's an enjoyable or efficient path, I suppose that depends on how much of Missouri's misery you're willing to put yourself through...