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We planned to start at about 5 am but was delayed a little bit by a line at the outhouse. People aren't kidding when they talk about how busy this tiny little parking area at the trail head can be. Once on the trail though, it lightened out. No chance to warm up the muscles though as it is all steep from the get go. Over a 1000 feet per mile is no joke. Beautiful sunrise peeking though the trees.
The amount of avalanche debris is impressive. Many thanks to those that cleared the trail. Does this debris make this area more prone to fires? Just wondering what the after effects are of this if any.
Sorry it is blurry, a bit too much caffeine probably
Well then, here it is, your last chance for water....and
We finally reached Belford's summit just a little after 8am.
On to Oxford which took about an hour. It was very windy that day.
We found a spot that wasn't as windy and hung out for a bite to eat.
Uggh, back up to Belford which took a little more than an hour again.
So it was about 11 back on Belford. Lots of people hanging out and catching some rays.
At least the wildflowers were gorgeous and a nice distraction from the switchbacks which I really did count. I might be off by one or two but not much. And when you add all the switchbacks from the beginning of the route as well, it is a lot! And yes we did wear the micro-spikes for steep slippery dirt areas.
We were surprised to see people heading up from just after tree line at noon. I am not sure if they were planning on summiting Belford but hopefully at least not Oxford too. The clouds and storms did roll in. Got back to the car at about 1:50 so this is a good 7-8 hour hike without breaks.
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