Mt. Belford

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 12/24/2018, By: Dose
Info: There is a solid trench from trailhead to cabin. After cabin trench is wind blown. Put in a new one today from cabin to trail junction but not sure how long it will last since wind above tree line was blowing 25+. Route from trail junction to summit has been scoured by the wind leaving only ice / hard crust on what snow remains. Didn't need any flotation but used traction from trail junction to summit. Didn't continue on to Oxford since snow was moving in but it looked clear from what I could see. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 12/17/2018, By: climbingcue
Info: Belford and Oxford, weather was perfect. Snow is on the very light side. You do need micro spikes, but you can leave the snowshoes in the car. There is a good walking trench through the trees. I was also able to make it the trailhead with the 4Runner. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 11/19/2018, By: paigie_42
Info: There is a packed trail all the way up the the junction where the trail splits between Missouri and Belford. Once in the valley, the snow is passable without snowshoes, there are a few drifts, but too many rocks to wear snowshoes. Once on the ridge, it gets tricky, there wasn't enough snow for snowshoes, but there was still enough snow to make every step super slippery. I would suggest mircospikes. We followed the trail in some sections, but a lot of the time the trail was covered in drifts. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 11/11/2018, By: mountainmike21
Info: The road to the trailhead was accessible all the way to the parking lot with only a few areas of packed snow. Starting out on the trail it was easy to follow all the way to the cabin at ~11,200. After that certain areas drifted due to wind on the trail making route finding a bit more difficult. Snow shoes may have been helpful but only in one or two places so were not worth carrying. Once to the base of the mountain I recommend putting on microspikes. Wind really picked up ~12,800 and didn't let up all the way to the top. With the temp and how hard the wind was blowing consider bringing a face mask. The summit of both Belford and Oxford were very windy with large and extended gusts making it difficult to balance at times. I barely could snap a few pictures before my hands felt frozen. The way down I was able to glissade in a few areas to speed it up. Overall hike and trial were ok but the wind was the mood killer 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 11/4/2018, By: amderr22
Info: Good deal of snow from the Trailhead onward, we started with microspikes, gaiters and trek poles from the parking lot. The trail from the lot was broken in already by a good deal of past hikers. Once you reach treeline following the log cabin the wind picked up and buried past tracks. That made route-finding a lot more difficult and slowed us down. Snow in some spots was deep, 4 or more feet where it was drifting. Snowshoes would have been nice in one or two spots but overall it was alright. We ended up turning around at 12,500 ft or so when the wind and snow picked up. Gorgeous winter day overall. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 10/28/2018, By: Kcmartinez22
Info: Trail is mostly clear to the creek crossing; which is an icy mess early. There is patchy snow to the Elkhead pass turn off. My spikes were helpful. I used my snowshoes to climb the ridge to the summit. Though spikes would suffice. I descended Elkhead pass where flotation would be useful. It's waist deep on spots.

Road is clear to the TH. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 10/9/2018, By: Rigginridge
Info: Plenty of snow on the switchback above the tree line 8 to 12 inches from 12,000 on up. My tracks were gone by the time i returned from the summit. I used micro spikes form tree line on up. Lots of 20 to 30 mph wind above 11,000 ft and 50mph winds at the top. It was cold above 13,000 ft approximately 20 degrees and lower as you neared the summit. Blowing snow and overcast skies contributed to low visibility. Things warmed up on descent making the snow at lower elevations melt making for some very slick descending. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 10/8/2018, By: RobEER
Info: Trail was in fantastic shape (no snow/ice) all the way up to about 11,000 FT. A light layer of snow on the sides of the trail were present thereafter. Began to experience light snow on the trail at about 12,150 FT (Right above the first ridge where switchbacks begin) Though not very slippery, snow had some decent grip to it. At about 13,000 FT we began to experience stronger wind and heavier snow on the trail - still not too slippery (continued up without crampons with no problem at all). Reached summit without crampons - very windy, but barely any snow due to high winds blowing it off. Only stayed at the summit for about 5 mins to escape the wind.
The decent proved to be more challenging, but manageable without crampons (my wife used them and basically ran down no problem) I decided not to use them at all and was fine but took my time.
We were able to summit Belford and be back at our vehicle within 5hr24min.
Oh..and pretend the sign I'm holding says Belford :P ..Knibb High Footbal Rules ! 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 9/23/2018, By: keonigo
Info: Aspen trees are just starting to loose their leaves and dawn toward the top of the peak was frigid temperature wise. But the trail is still looking good including the way to Oxford. A little bit of snow is starting to stick and stay so the dry hiking season may be coming to a close soon. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 9/7/2018, By: adover360
Info: Trail is in great shape, top to bottom 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 8/27/2018, By: emeyer
Info: Camped in Missouri Gulch this weekend - Mountain lion close to the Belford/Elkhead Pass trail junction, about 2am Saturday morning. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 8/26/2018, By: ElConrado
Info: Did the Belford / Oxford trip in near ideal conditions, although it was very windy and cold on the traverse to Oxford. Trail is in excellent shape despite obvious heavy traffic this summer. Caught the sunrise over Oxford as I approached Belford summit. Most enjoyable part was ascending the last ridge on the return trip to Belford. Sure appreciated the cairn at the log creek crossing, easy to miss in the dark! Round-trip of 11.3 miles in 7 hours 10 minutes. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 7/31/2018, By: AlexanderL4
Info: Beautiful day to do Belford and Oxford. Came down via Elkhead Pass. I wonder why this route isn't suggested in Fourteeners dot com as while longer it eliminates a lot of very steep slippery descent on the standard Mt. Belford route. The standard route up Belford is a great way to ascend the peak, but descent via Elkhead Pass is a lot nicer way to come down. The route takes off from the Belford, Oxfod traverse about 1/4 mile from Belford's summit. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 7/1/2018, By: scottieconqueso
Info: Hiked Mt. Belford trail to summit Belford and then Mt. Oxford Trail to Oxford summit and back down Belford the same way. Trail in perfect shape. Got windy in the afternoon, some gusts felt strong (enough for me to pause a minute or two).

From Oxford you could see the smoke plume from a large fire and actually you may want to check for 285 road closures to know detours ahead of time. https://kdvr.com/2018/06/30/weston-pass-fire-in-park-county-forces-closure-of-highway-285/ 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 7/1/2018, By: Kristi_anne
Info: Hiked Mt Belford, then over to Oxford and back. Perfect conditions, little windy up top but clear and sunny. Lots of people out there this weekend. We took Elkhead Pass on the way down after coming back over Belford. Much easier than switchbacking back down Belford. It only adds half a mile and winds down through the gorgeous valley.