7/16/2023 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 7/18/2023, By: KS_Teacher11 Info: Summer conditions. 7am start. Trail is easy to follow. Oxford was clear of snow. Took Elkhead trail back to switch it up. Easier on the legs but added mileage. Still 1-2 snow fields that youll have to cross (didnt need crampons or spikes) also 2-3 stream crosses. Route finding on Elkhead would be difficult in dark conditions. |
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7/16/2023 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 7/18/2023, By: KS_Teacher11 Info: Summer conditions. 7am start. Trail is easy to follow. Oxford was clear of snow. Took Elkhead trail back to switch it up. Easier on the legs but added mileage. Still 1-2 snow fields that youll have to cross (didnt need crampons or spikes) also 2-3 stream crosses. Route finding on Elkhead would be difficult in dark conditions. |
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7/15/2023 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 7/16/2023, By: MaryinColorado Info: Dry all the way. Dry to Oxford. If you descend Elkhead, there are a couple super minor snow crossings that are barely worth mentioning. Also, if you descend Elkhead then naturally you descend the whole basin. Creek is running and running high. Who cares about wet shoes on descent? Not me. But you might! Be prepared for the possibility. There is also a lot of mud in some areas due to run-off. PLEASE don't create more social trails; just go through the mud! And I want to say it was around 11,600 things got confusing because for a minute the creek and trail are one. Look downstream beyond the willows, and you'll spot a tidy, short, rotund cairn that marks where to cross to pick up the trail again. |
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7/8/2023 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 7/11/2023, By: cjasnyd Info: Full summer conditions up to Belford via Northwest Ridge. We did descend via Elkhead Pass, and there's still some snowfields and streams to cross that way, but the standard route is totally clear. |
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6/27/2023 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 6/28/2023, By: blakebeitzel Info: Trail is in great shape, very minimal amount of snow. Due to sharp winds, we were not able to summit. Just a reminder that high winds can (and will) blow you off the trail and potentially cause severe injury. Be careful out there, and may the mountains be with you! |
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6/24/2023 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 6/26/2023, By: mcosby Info: Standard hike up. Basically no snow until 13,900 spikes are optional in my opinion, including the traverse over to Oxford. Straightforward route altogether. |
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6/22/2023 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 6/23/2023, By: Gavin Goold Info: Brought micros along but no serious need for them on the hike did not use them once. Started at 6:30 and finished 7 hours and 51 minutes later. Weather overall was very nice with just a slight hail storm around 12 between the 2 peaks. |
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6/21/2023 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 6/21/2023, By: gregpeak Info: Near summer conditions on the trail. There are just several short snow fields that are easy cross with no aid. |
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6/19/2023 Route: Southwest Slopes Posted On: 6/26/2023, By: Jonathan Deffenbaugh Info: Headed over to Belford after Missouri, no floation needed despite traversing through multiple snowfields. Stayed on the right side till traversing left beneath the ridge line, then traversed over to Oxford then back to Belford, no traction required either, pretty straightforward at this point. Descended via glissade down the NW gulley, was in all the way back to the trail, just know that there is water flowing beneath you in the lower sections. |
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6/18/2023 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 6/18/2023, By: 14er101 Info: Did a sunrise hike today. Minimal snow until around 12200, then a few inches of fresh snow, but should melt quickly. There was a large avy on Missouri at some point. Belford's Northwest Gully looked to be in all the way to the summit. Did not go to Oxford, we are fed up with the wind! |
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6/18/2023 Route: Northwest Gully Posted On: 6/19/2023, By: sunburnt Info: Intended to climb Missouri North Face but there was evidence of a fresh avalanche (see photo) and the trail was obscured, so turned off for Belford West Gully. Started the gully a 07:00 and made it to 12,800 before the sun started cresting the west side of the gully. Didn't need crampons but snowshoes would have been helpful. Was tired from going straight up so made the ridge and tried to find the trail. Trail was intermittently available and groups ahead of me were bee lining the false summit through the tundra. Started down at 13:00 after Oxford. Snow too rotten to glissade into gully and triggered some small wet slabs. Trail was half mud half melted snow, very slippery. Lot's of marmots. Hopefully trail melts out this week. |
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6/16/2023 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 6/16/2023, By: micascheid Info: Was able to ski off the top down the southwest gully for a clean 2200vert run! This has no choke points as of now but maybe in a week it might. |
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6/9/2023 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 6/9/2023, By: RWSchaffer Info: There was no snow on the trail before entering the trees below the shack. From there to the Missouri trail split, intermittent stretches of trail were covered by snow (Picture 1). With a 1:00am trailhead temperature of 42F, nothing froze below timberline, so this snow was soft, but well enough consolidated that it was mostly supportive of boot traffic. Leave floatation at home and plan on doing some postholing. From the trail split, the trail was again mostly free of snow until it approached the summit ridge when snow patches began to appear (Picture 2). By the summit, the trail was mostly covered by snow (Picture 3, from above). I would estimate that the trail was 90 percent free of snow, overall, both below and above the trail split. Continuing to Oxford, the descent from Belford to the saddle was only about 80 percent free of snow (Picture 4) while the climb from saddle to Oxford was about 90 percent free of snow (Picture 5). The Belford side of the ridge had nice snow deposits along the ridge crest which I preferred to the trail in the early morning when they were frozen and supportive; this doubled the amount of snow travel on this section. By 9:00am, on a warm and sunny morning, even snow at the highest altitudes was prone to postholing, so I preferred trail to snow on the return trip. I appreciated gaiters, spikes, and an ice axe, particularly in the early morning when the snow above timberline was icy and on the descent from Belford to the saddle where slopes are steep. They may not have been necessary, but they made the hike almost as straightforward as it would be on a dry summer day. |
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12/30/2022 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 1/1/2023, By: DeclanKnies Info: Was attempting to ski from the summit or at least close to it, but had to drop the skis at 11,500 because all the snow's blown away. All the western aspects are pretty much bone-dry so I had no issue taking the northwest ridge. No good ski lines as of now. Western aspects look heavily wind loaded, would not recommend any of those routes up Missouri. Observed an avalanche at around 12,000 on that loaded eastern aspect of Missouri mountain. Overall no traction or floatation needed, I would've been better off without skis, as there was not enough snow at the top or bottom to make it useful. Started a little after 6:15am and got back to the car just before 5pm. Was going to hit Oxford but turned around because the storm blowing in. Route to oxford looks completely dry as well. |
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11/27/2022 Route: Northwest Ridge Posted On: 11/28/2022, By: bmcqueen Info: It snowed a decent amount on Belford. Not enough to require snowshoes, but plenty of trail breaking yesterday up the snowy ridge. |
