| Confessions of A Peak Bagger Pt. II Mt. Belford/ Oxford/ Missouri/ Huron Trip Report Last Friday morning my dad and I left the house at 5 AM trying to get into the mountains early enough to attempt a fourteener. Things were going swimingly until 30 miles from our destination I looked in the rearview mirror and noticed thick billowing smoke pouring out of our poor little car. I pulled over and was greeted by the sight of our car pouring fluid onto the roadside. My dad took the wheel and turned her to go downhill. Transmission Fluid. To make long story short, we drove downhill about 15 miles to Frisco and got a tow truck. We decided to go all the way back to the local mechanic shop and get another car. We got lunch at home and reloaded our gear into a new car and made the nearly 3 hour drive all over. Arriving at the trailhead at five we were still able to make the short but steep approach into Missouri Gulch and set up a camp above treeline in an obscure clump of bushes. Saturday came around clear and crisp and we headed out at 5:30 from our little camp. The trail was obvious on Mt. Belford and was even signed off. This simple hike was an easy fourteener and provided a good workout. I went in ahead of my dad and summited about 15 minutes before him. Next on the agenda was neighboring Mt. Oxford to the east. We quickly bagged that 14er and returned back to Belford. On the way down Oxford we decided we would try a hat trick and throw Missouri into the day too. So down we went to Elkhead pass and headed down into Upper Missouri Gulch. Not wanting to lose too much altitude I spied a probable looking line up Missouri and we started up the grassy flanks. I saw a marker, then another, and another. The grass was flattened out into a trail switch backing up the grass flank. We had stumbled upon the Colorado Fourteener's Initiative trail and were now following the new trail nearly all the way to the ridge crest. We got to the ridge and headed south towards the summit. Summiting at noon we spent little time on the summit before going down to the safety of the lower portions of the peak. We went back to camp, napped, and packed out our gear. With one more day in the mountains we decided to head up the road to nearby Huron peak. The road into the trail turned a little rough so we were forced to camp next to the car down low. The next morning we had a leisurely start and headed up the two miles of the high clearance road as a few vehicles passed us. We found a new trail for Huron peak and followed its switch-backs up to treeline and all the way to the summit. Fourteener #20 for me. Heading down I figured I had enough time to go to a nearby 13er, summit, and catch up to my dad. And that's what I did, enjoying some solitude away from the 14er. After enjoying the summit to myself I headed back along the ridge towards the Huron trail. I heard a voice from above and looked up to see my dad on the ridge. He had come to the thirteener so we could descend into the gulch and follow a different road back to the car. We descended the thirteener and headed down LuLu Gulch to meet the main road and thus our car. Back to Dan's BaseCamp |
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| Above: Mt. Belford from our camp Below: Self-Portrait of myself on Brown Peak |