Mt. Belford

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 1/19/2015, By: blindmule
Info: Chaffee County Rd. 390 is maintained in winter to the Clear Creek Ranch. Beyond the ranch, the road is basically a vehicle track through fairly deep snow (in spots). With 4WD, aggressive tires, and some careful driving you can get to within about 1.3mi. of the Missouri Gulch TH, at Vicksburg. It would not be too difficult to get stuck on this non-maintained section if you get pulled out of the track. Beyond where you have to park, the road is snowmobile packed and is easily traveled without snowshoes to the TH. There is a nice trench from the TH all the way to treeline. I did 90% of this section without snowshoes. Snowshoes went on about fifty yards beyond the log bridge that takes you back to the east side of the creek. Above treeline the windpacked slabs generally support you on snowshoes, but there is some postholing. I stayed high (bearing left) out of the trees all the way to where you mount the NW ridge, and cached my snowshoes there. I made it about a third of the way up the ridge before I had to put on microspikes, as there is some water ice on the trail. The switchbacks are sort of hit or miss on blown to ground vs. snowcovered, but can generally be followed all the way to the summit ridge. The trail from Belford over to Oxford is mostly clear enough to follow the summer track. High winds the entire day (not the forecast I saw), made this trip much more difficult that it should have been. Just staying upright was really a challenge when going from Belford to Oxford (and back). 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 1/10/2015, By: Yikes
Info: Conditions are about as good as it gets. Can drive to a mile from TH. Packed trench to treeline. Hard packed snow in basin holds weight (at least in the morning). Ridge is very dry. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 12/13/2014, By: leonel8a
Info: A gorgeous day on Belford/Oxford.
The lower trail is all packed snow, once you reach the gulch there's a mix of packed snow and dirt, the climb to Belford is the same with only a few icy spots near 13,000, the peak is dry.
The descent to Oxford has a few snow areas but can be avoided and the saddle, climb and peak are completely dry.
On the descent from Belford I chose the gully just north hoping to glissade down to the gulch, conditions are not ideal to say the least, I was able to do it for ~500-600 yards spread into several short runs, the rest was walking / postholing.

Traction:
Snowshoes - left them in the car
Microspikes - could come in handy in a very few select places but I was too lazy to take them out 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 11/8/2014, By: jladderud
Info: A beautiful day on Mt. Belford. The entire trail is covered in snow; but it's generally only a couple inches deep. Traction and gaiters made my hike more enjoyable; but they weren't mandatory. I saw someone summit in running shoes. Most of the snow was firm enough to prevent post-holing. The goats had done a good job of keeping the snow packed down. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 10/11/2014, By: markjameson
Info: Trail above the treeline is covered with snow. I would recommend snowshoes. Traverse to Mt. Oxford also snow covered. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 10/6/2014, By: LoveThisSite
Info: A nice boot pack and almost continuous snow starting about 500 ft elevation from the Belford turnoff. We did not use any traction for the ascent to Belford, and the traverse to Oxford. Microspikes were very helpful coming down Belford to work our way downwards quickly - probably not essential, though. Given the freeze/thaw cycles, it's possible the boot pack may become icy in the next few days, in which case traction may become essential. It was windy and cold, but otherwise posed no problems at all. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 10/4/2014, By: robinbk
Info: I did the Belford-Oxford combo on 10/3. There's token snow in the trees below 12K, but as soon as you start ascending the steep ridge from 12K-13.9K, there's consistently 4-12" of snow on the trail. No postholing, but I strongly recommend gaiters and good traction (boots or microspikes both seemed to be working well). Some enthusiastic plunge-stepping had it pretty well plowed out by the end of 10/3, but it's still snowy. Didn't seem like it was going to melt fast up high. Also, the Oxford side of the traverse is fairly straightforward, but there's enough snow on the steep descent from Belford that poles or an axe might be a nice idea. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 10/2/2014, By: SoCool
Info: From treeline onwards there are several inches of snow and ice on route, expect to lose the path a few times and just go up. It's never deep enough to require flotation, but most people would find traction and poles worth carrying. Same for path to Oxford. 

Route: Backside via Elkhead Pass
Posted On: 9/17/2014, By: zinj
Info: Snow free. Longer approach via Elkhead pass highly recommended. Pleasant trail, good footing. Descent by std route also snow free but considerably steeper. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 9/14/2014, By: msorensen87
Info: Summer conditions still exist. Fall colors are starting to change, next weekend should be better. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 9/1/2014, By: Kiddo
Info: Very windy, light snow flurries on and off. The trail is in great condition and very easy to follow. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 7/7/2014, By: mblanke
Info: Left from the trailhead at 5:50am. The trail to Mt. Belford is in very good condition, all dry and no snow. Stream crossings over logs was easy if you have poles or some basic balance. But be careful not to miss the stream crossing (see photo 1 in the trail description), as there also continues a small trail on the right side of the stream! It's a steep climb to the summit, and the slower part of our group arrived only after 5 hours. The faster part continued to Mount Oxford, also without problems. Overall a strenuous hike without any technical difficulties and great views! 

Route: Elkhead Pass
Posted On: 6/27/2014, By: cfb
Info: Standard route is clear. Elkhead Pass (easier on old knees, especially downhill) has a few snowfields remaining that can be avoided with little problem 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 6/20/2014, By: JTOlson26
Info: Belford was beautiful today. There are two small snowfields with the summit in sight: probably less than 75 vertical feet from the top. You can go around them, through the trenches which are already established, or over the top (in the morning) as they were very solid at 9:00 AM. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 6/15/2014, By: The Moose
Info: One section of the trail near treeline has a small snowbank easily sidestepped, other than that 100% clear until the last ridge. On the ridge, two minimal snow crossings, probably will disappear in a few days.