Mt. Oxford

Route: Via Mt. Belford
Posted On: 7/28/2021, By: DaniWeiner81
Info: Great (but difficult) hike. If descending via Elkhead Pass, the trail is washed out at the bottom from a recent mudslide, but otherwise it is a beautiful and mellow descent. 

Route: SE direct from Pine Creek Trail
Posted On: 7/12/2021, By: GordoByrn
Info: Made a track from this TR:
https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/tripreport.php?trip=16583

TR has co-ordinates for where you turn up and tips. No sign of a trail but it goes. ~1000 feet vert of bushwhacking, some very large loose boulders above 13k.

I made a track from the TR gpx and it proved useful.

Pic is where we turned up.

Our Strava: https://strava.app.link/t0vpj1W6Phb

Our Approach: https://strava.app.link/V4WTrR06Phb 

Route: Via Mt. Belford
Posted On: 7/11/2021, By: longlevi823
Info: Successful summit of Mt. Oxford via Mt. Belford today.

The decent down from Mt. Belford is pretty simple and easy going. Well defined trail you can't miss that leads you to the top of Mt. Oxford. It was a bit windy and chilly at the top of Oxford, but the sun was out enough that it made it not too bad. I hunkered down near the geological survey to get away from the winds and eat a peanut butter sandwich. Hike back to Mt. Belford was good too. Ascending to Belford was also pretty easy going compared to what it looks like.

Lots of haze from wildfire smoke, from a quick Google search that doesn't look like it's from Colorado though. 

Route: Via Mt. Belford
Posted On: 7/3/2021, By: dwoodward13
Info: Summer conditions. Tons of wildflowers in the avy debris section at treeline. Took Elkhead Pass down and 1 or 2 minor snowfields to cross but no biggie. 

Route: Via Mt. Belford
Posted On: 6/25/2021, By: MrSmileweil
Info: Did the Belford-Oxford-Missouri loop today. Oxford was heavily iced over last night and while I think it will melt rapidly, it will probably stick around for a couple more days. Just meant we had to be more cautious ascending Oxford as it was very easy to slide onto your behind. Doable without any spikes, as we ended up with first ascent today not expecting those conditions. I'd probably budget a couple of hours for going over to Oxford and back given the conditions, but you'll probably finish before that assuming this isn't your first rodeo. Ridge up Oxford bad, ridge back up Belford good. Sun will make the ice softer and easier to walk on without slipping. 

Route: Via Mt. Belford
Posted On: 5/3/2021, By: Another Steve
Info: Did the ridge walk on 5/1. The Oxford side of the ridge is almost completely snow free and is a nice walk. The descent from the Belford side still has large snow-covered areas and the remnants of a cornice. The snow later in the day was becoming very slushy in the warming temperatures, making kick stepping an interesting exercise in not slipping down the slope. You can avoid it in places by sticking to the rocks on the north side of the ridge, but in some areas crossing the snow is inevitable.

See the recent Belford conditions reports for recent snow conditions up to Belford. TL;DR: Snow lower down is getting pretty bad in the warming temps. 

Route: Via Mt. Belford
Posted On: 3/21/2021, By: amitchell
Info: This is a tough route in winter. You'll need at least 30 inch snowshoes to get through the river crossing section below tree line. Give yourself lots of time, food and water, and plan to be above 13,000 ft for up to 5 hours. Took us 13 hours total. Should be easier if you're planning to do this in the next week since the trail is well broken. Also beware the access road, very easy to get stuck in snow. I wouldn't park past the switchback at this time of year. 

Route: Via Mt. Belford
Posted On: 1/16/2021, By: Will_E
Info: The trench is still in, and in good shape up to the creek crossing/avalanche area. I wore snowshoes from the creek crossing to tree line, would be a pain trying to get through that short section without them. From there to summit its pretty windblown, I didn't use any traction at all today.

To further cement my reputation as world's worst route finder, I parked at the snowplow turnaround (didn't feel like risking getting stuck after reading blazintoes condition report), somehow walked right past Missouri Gulch TH, and got all the way to Sheep Gulch TH before realizing I was way beyond my start point. SMH. 

Route: Via Mt. Belford
Posted On: 10/18/2020, By: seayachter
Info: Bone dry trail minus one small avoidable section on Belford. Quite windy (cold) once out of the drainage. Clear skies! 

Route: Elkhead Pass
Posted On: 10/4/2020, By: swesleyc7
Info: The trail along Elkwood Pass, through Missouri Gulch, is as clean as a whistle. You do have to cross 2 streams, but the water level is very low and won't get you wet. The trail, saddle, and both Belford and Oxford summits are clear of snow. There is no snow to worry about - no traction needed at all! I wore lightweight trail runners without any issue.

Recommendation: I highly recommend the Elkhead Pass / Missouri Gulch route to the saddle, west of Belford, as opposed to the traditional Northwest Ridge route that goes to Belford first. Alltrails will show you the Elkhead Pass route. I have summited Belford a few years ago (had to give up crossing to Oxford due to winter weather) and I can attest to the trail differences. Elkhead Pass adds ~1 mi to the trip (13 mi RT), however the grade is far, far more palatable and easier on the legs and allows bagging Missouri. The avg. gain per mile is ~750 ft. whereas on the NW Ridge route the 3rd mile itself gains ~1,200 ft. Frankly, Elkhead Pass should be the traditional route to Belford/Oxford. 

Route: Via Mt. Belford
Posted On: 9/19/2020, By: thebeave7
Info: The descent from Belford has some very annoying sections of snow that block the trail. Most can be bypassed on loose terrain. Snow was frozen solid overnight. The Oxford side of the traverse is pretty much dry. 

Route: Via Mt. Belford
Posted On: 9/14/2020, By: ellenmseb
Info: The route between Belford and Oxford is mostly dry. See my conditions report for Belford; it's packed snow. You'll be fine with microspikes! Everyone without traction looked miserable and some turned back without summitting; everyone with traction looked happy. 

Route: Via Mt. Belford
Posted On: 8/12/2020, By: marcusmartin
Info: Arrived at the Missouri Gulch TH around 6 pm Tuesday evening (08/11/2020). Camped at a great spot about 1/4 mile on down 390 on the right (north) side of 390. Got to the Missouri Gulch TH at 4:30 am. Approximately 10 cars were already there. Despite this, there were very few people on the trail and summits of Mt. Belford (we were there alone around 8 am) and Mt. Oxford (probably 5 people total). Conditions were excellent. Be careful on the descents (from Mt. Belford to Mt. Oxford and back to Mt. Belford; and down from Mt. Belford to the junction to Missouri Mountain). I used poles and was very glad I had them. 

Route: Via Mt. Belford
Posted On: 7/19/2020, By: taylorharris50
Info: Perfect conditions and the trail is in great shape. Regaining Belford turned out to be easier than expected. 

Route: Via Mt. Belford
Posted On: 7/12/2020, By: Mitsugi
Info: Summer Conditions. Pretty much nothing needed but good shoes. When you descend, think twice about ElkHead Pass. It is more gradual but on an already nasty hike, it adds many additional miles and we felt every bit of them on the way back. If I went again, I might have descended Belford the way we came.