MOUNT BELFORD 8/6/85

MOUNT BELFORD 14,197'


Mountain........Mount Belford
Elevation.........14,197
Rank...............19th
Range..............Sawatch
Trail length......3 miles
Elevation gain..4,500'
Difficulty..........*
Comments........Steep but easy


TRIP REPORT

8/6/85

We felt ambitious after climbing Quandary, so we planned to climb Mts. Belford, Oxford, and possibly Missouri the following day. We drove to Vicksburg before sunup, found the trailhead, and climbed 1500' steeply through woods to arrive at sunrise in a wide basin (Missouri Gulch) with Missouri Peak rising directly ahead.
We decided to start with Mt. Belford via the direct north ridge. This was more steep climbing, through grass, flowers, and huge spiky thorny plants (not good for handholds!). The ridge led to a hump a short distance from the summit. The summit was a lump of rock that looked as though it had been added to the mountain as an afterthought.

A little scrambling took us to the top, and we contemplated our next move. We were not exhausted yet, so we decided to go for Oxford with the option of returning over Belford and knocking off Missouri.