Mt. Belford

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 5/8/2013, By: jmanner
Info: I went up Belford with Skis in tow on Saturday (5/04/13). Got a start at 6:50 am. The snow was as hard as a rock all the way to tree line and up to the summit, this made skinning very unpleasant, because the skins didn't sink into the snow at all and therefore didn't put enough surface area on the snow. Frankly it would have been easier to micro-spike it up to the ridge with skis on my back (which is what I ended up doing). On the descent(at around 12pm) from the top of the ridge It was hard as a rock in places. I didn't ski down the northwest gully because I read on CAIC that all of last week's Deep Slaps broke on Northwest aspects. So, I skied down the ridge, which was intermittent hard as a rock to nice loose snow, depending how far north a skied down the ridge, until around 12,400 when I traversed the shallowest slope down into the gully. Which was again hard as s**t to nice skiing depending on how much sun gets in there. It started snowing so it didn't get a lot, if at all, of sun on Saturday. After the gully I had some great lines all the way down till the creek crossing at 10,000', it was really soft, sometimes my buddy who was snow shoeing (poor boarder's, I do not why they board) sank down to his hips! The skiing was great though!!! :D/

I have some nice pics, but they are too big for this there website of Bill's. :oops:

On a tangent: I think the name of trees between 10,000' and tree line should be here after referred to as "the Tree's of Sorrow" I hate those f***ing trees!!!!!!! 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 1/1/2013, By: Mickeys Grenade
Info: I was able to drive to the Missouri Gulch Trailhead in my stock 4wd 4-Runner. It's about 7.5 miles down the 390 Road. There was a good trail to treeline with a few inches of new snow on it. I stomped it down with snowshoes both up and down. The Northwest Ridge of Belford has 3-6 inches of snow on it. I left the snowshoes behind at treeline. Microspikes are useful on the descent. I also did the traverse to Oxford. It's in decent shape with segments of snow and rock. I had a long cold day. Left the car at 3 AM and got back at 5:30 PM. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 1/2/2013, By: doggler
Info: Weasel-ish calendar winter ascent. No problems on the Winfield road. No floatation or added traction needed. Didn't even pull out the axe. Too windy for us to have any inclination to head over to Oxford, though. Left TH at 8:00, got back at 1:00. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 12/2/2012, By: Unknown
Info: Packed snow in sections. Very windy. Traction is helpful below the treeline. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 11/3/2012, By: dehrlich101
Info: Route has some snow on it but is avoidable for the most part. We did it without micro spikes, but some may feel more comfortable in having them on some parts coming down.

No wolf sightings :) 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 5/29/2012, By: aliciaf
Info: Trail very dry all the way to summit. Very few snow patches along the way, but they don't really interfere. Some slightly muddy patches on saddle to Oxford, but nothing too bothersome. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 5/19/2012, By: captainconair
Info: Trail is 99% free of snow until about 12,000ft. From there on up, there are many ankle deep snow fields along the trail. The snow was soft, grippy, and easy to hike, but you can also avoid it by cutting around the trail. Way down was muddy, and the snow/mud mix makes it very slippery. No flotation necessary, but some traction would be nice above 12k. All the snow should all melt off soon though. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 5/5/2012, By: MissH
Info: Trail icy in the morning in the trees, but no spikes needed. Snowpiles are consolidated although they are slushy in the afternoon. No snowshoes needed, very little postholing. Most snowpiles can be navigated around. Trail to Oxford is muddy on the Belford-down climb side, but again, can be navigated around. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 4/23/2012, By: kushrocks
Info: We summited Mt. Belford on Saturday afternoon. We didn't hit the trail until almost 1pm. The snow was really consolidated almost the whole way up. Even with the afternoon heat around 50 to 60 degrees and 55+ lb packs on I only post holed once or twice. I suppose you could have got away without Microspikes but I found them really helpful. The good news is that snow shoes are not needed at this time. In the sunset photo you can see looking to the west there still appears to be a decent amount of snow. We camped on the summit then went for Oxford the next morning and came back down. Decending Belford over to Oxford was a little slick and covered in snow and ice especially near the top but the ascent to oxford was almost completely snow free. This could be one of my new least favorite hikes but seeing my first sunset on top of a 14er was totally worth it. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 4/22/2012, By: Dank
Info: Traction would have been nice in the morning but not a necessity. Beautiful blue bird day, it was nice to be able to sit on the summit and enjoy lunch rather than trying not to freeze. 7 hours for Belford and Oxford, saddle back to Belford was a little slick but you could rock step to avoid slick spots. Great day overall. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 1/5/2012, By: alpinenut
Info: Climbed Belford and Oxford yesterday. Missouri Gulch trail was packed snow all the way to the Elkhead Pass/Belford split. No spikes or snowshoes were necessary going up. The Belford Shoulder and NW ridge was mostly packed snow or wind blown rock/mixed rock and snow. Again no spikes or snowshoes were needed. Spikes may have been helpful but there was more rock the higher up you went. The saddle to Oxford was very similar, mixed rock and snow. Spikes may or may not have been helpful. I used an ice axe all day. Some folks in our group used poles. Given the slippery conditions I would highly recommend an axe or poles. Going down we descended the ridge to Pecks Peak and the West face of Pecks Peak. The West face of Pecks Peak is mostly talus or scree (not a fun descent) with a few snow fields mixed in. We stayed away from the major snowfields due to possible avi risk - cracking, wind slabs, etc... We used spikes from the Elkhead Pass split down on the Missouri Gulch trail. Given the packed snow trail, spikes were perfect going down. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 12/22/2011, By: Artvandalay
Info: Climbed Belford and Oxford yesterday. Snowshoes are probably the only piece of winter gear not needed right now. I brought them but stashed them away at the log cabin. I wore microspikes that were incredibly helpful. In fact, crampons, while not needed, would have been beneficial going up the shoulder. The shoulder is nightmare right now. There was about 4-5 inches of soft sugar-like snow on top of a layer of ice. It took us 4.5 hours to climb the shoulder. Also the rock hasn't quite frozen yet so there's still loose rock to deal with. Coming down the shoulder proved difficult without enough snow to glissade safely or plunge-step. From the start to the log cabin is an excellent trench and the trail is still clearly defined. From the log cabin to the bottom of the shoulder just requires one to pay a little attention to stay on the trail. From Belford to Oxford there wasn't a lot of snow but it was extremely cold. Hope that helps anyone going out there in the next little bit. I'll be posting a TR soon. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 12/18/2011, By: StikMan
Info: Missouri Gulch trail below tree line is easy to follow - snow on the trail was never more than ankle deep until the creek crossing. In the trees past the creek crossing the snow begins to deepen. We didn't have snowshoes but the party in front of us did and dusted us from there to the start of the ridge - we were in microspikes the whole time. We did a decent amount of post holing between the old cabin and the start of the ridge. The ridge itself had enough snow to make the trail slippery, but not enough to cover or hold the scree and talus in place. No avy danger on the Belford trail - slopes look to hold more snow as you continue to Missouri. The trail to Oxford looked pretty clear, but we didn't head over. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 11/12/2011, By: AW007
Info: There is only about six inches of snow at the Missouri Gulch Trailhead, making it easily drivable in any vehicle. The route itself is in good shape, and could definitely be climbed in nothing more than a good pair of waterproof hiking boots and some sort of gaiter system. Our group carried snowshoes, but there is a good boot-pack from TH to summit, so they never became necessary. The weather for the first 2/3 of the hike was wonderful, but towards the summit the wind was blasting - be prepared for that and throw in an extra layer. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 9/24/2011, By: tjerasdave
Info: Trail muddy between bel and ox but manageable.