Lost Hikers on Missouri

[lurker]

hopefully they find them well.

http://www.9news.com/news/local/article ... -mountain-

[tmathews]

Ack! I wonder what else they had on their agenda. That's a long tome to spend in Missouri Basin.

[Mountainspirit]

I'm sure there will be plenty of folks out there over the next several days. Bel-Ox, Huron, Apostles, etc. are all in relative close proximity and will have many eyes and ears out there. I'll be heading up La Plata (via Winfield) myself, and will also keep my eyes and ears aware. I pray they are found soon and are well.

[MtHurd]

Missouri is a pretty easy straight forward mountain unless there is snow on the route, then it could get tricky without an axe and crampons. Let's hope they are ok.

Maybe they got lost and ended up down by Cloyses Lake, who knows.

[jimlup]

OH, man, I'm sorry to hear this. I wonder if they were attempting the standard route or a more technical variation. I've been thinking of trying the snow couloir climb - how is the snow there right now. Consolidated but heavy?

[Ish]

I climbed the direct north Couloir on Saturday and saw no signs of trouble anywhere in the basin. There were at least a half a dozen parties camping at treeline and a few in the upper part of the basin. There were some (what I would call) less than prepared people in the basin and the conditions were a little dicey once you got a few hundred feet above treeline (especially since these parties got late starts and the snow was quite soft and the river crossings were becoming a little treacherous even while I was descending before 11 am).

The snow was definitely consolidated, however I saw evidence of several minor slides around the basin. The conditions were good until about 9 am, after that the snow became quite soft. Postholing was a common occurrence.

I hope these people are found and found well.

[steventraylor]

Thoughts and prayers to their family! We are heading up Miss, Bel, and Ox on Friday. Hope there is good news before then!

[Aug_Dog]

hate to speculate, but I wonder if they got to feeling ambitious and made for Oxford and ended up in the wrong drainage or on the south side of the pass (Elk Pass, right?) ...

hope this turns out for the best! i'd hate for the summer season to start off this way ...

[larkinrx2]

hate to speculate, but I wonder if they got to feeling ambitious and made for Oxford and ended up in the wrong drainage or on the south side of the pass (Elk Pass, right?) ...

hope this turns out for the best! i'd hate for the summer season to start off this way ...

that was my thought too..... possibly dropped over elkshead pass and are somewhere in pine creek or dropped off Oxford in the drainage shared with Belford?

[crossfitter]

that was my thought too..... possibly dropped over elkshead pass and are somewhere in pine creek or dropped off Oxford in the drainage shared with Belford?

The Bel/Ox drainage is definitely a tempting option to take if you find yourself in the midst of an electrical storm or feel too gassed to make it back over Belford. Even though you can see the road and basically the trailhead from the saddle, it turns into a nightmarish bushwhack from what I understand. It seems unlikely though that they would get lost for multiple days in it, since eventually you will get funneled back to the road. Going south over Elkhead pass certainly seems like an easy way to get lost, but I have trouble thinking of a scenario where someone would drop off that side accidentally. If we knew more about their technical background it could make it easier to speculate about other routes or nearby mountains they could have gone after.

[CO Native]

4 days overdue is a very long time. Pray for a miracle.

[mtree]

I was wondering just the same - if they headed to Oxford and decided to take the drainage out. Still, that's a long time. Unless there's an injury involved. Tough to get 'lost' out there.

The other possibility is if they were planning to make the traverse between Missouri and Belford via Elkhead Pass. Don't know what current conditions are, but if they had to vary their route it could lead them into trouble or get them disoriented and lost.