(Mt Belford standard route and Belford to Mt Oxford trip 11/21/21)
Apparently some snow had fallen late Saturday afternoon or night in the area. There was only one other vehicle in the large Missouri Gulch TH lot when I arrived there about 4 am. Another one pulled in about 6 and I started just slightly ahead of 2 groups of two. There was snow coverage but no tracks, the first big creek crossing is in great shape with lots of logs across it. Some areas around the cabin ruins were dry and then snow coverage again. At 11.9 k I briefly lost the start of the switchbacks and then got back in them for the remainder going up Mt Belford. This was the deepest snow I encountered this day, just deep wind-blown powder but sometimes obscuring the summer trail. At the flat saddle spot around 13.9 k snow on the trail became much thinner/dryer. I took some pictures on the Mt Belford summit and none of them are on my phone, I'm not sure why. I continued on toward Mt Oxford and the second deepest snow was on the short ridgeline descending to the Belford-Oxford saddle. Then the remainder of the way had only minor snow. I ran into the couple people I'd been seeing for a while on their way up Mt Oxford when I was coming down. The other two people had summited Mt B, and then descended. The afternoon weather became very calm and nice! I had worn micro spikes the whole day and they were perfect for the conditions.
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