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Date: July 6, 2002
Elevation: 14,197'
Rank: 18th
Route: West Slopes, Grade II, Class 2, 7.0 miles, 4560ft vert.
GPS: N 38° 57.633' W 106° 21.633'
Team: Matt Esser (Toid), Heather Friend
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Mt. Belford Trip Report:
Pre-climb: My roommate Heather approached me and mentioned she wanted to try climbing a 14er. I was excited for two reasons. One, I would get to infect another person with the 14er bug, and two, I would have an excuse to go climb AND have company. We both had the weekend off, so we would leave, no sleep or not, after I got off work at 0530 (yes, in the morning). Little did I know what I was getting into.
Climb: Due to Pike's National Forest being closed, much of the fourteeners we drove by on the way were closed, I simply cannot wait till they reopen. As we were leaving Denver (high props to Heather for being ready at 0530) it was raining pretty steadily. I checked weather.com at work (working hard I know) and it mentioned afternoon thunderstorms in Leadville, but not all day, so I kept telling Heather it was dry where we were going. She seemed apprehensive. Sure enough as we passed Eisenhower Tunnel, the clouds parted and blue sky dominated.
The trailhead is really easy to find, just go towards Vicksburg, not too bad of a road either. Word of advice, don't use the outhouse there to go to the bathroom, it really, really stinks, and if you think I'm joking, Heather went in there for a few seconds and came out and I could smell HER from 10ft away. It was bad.
So we started climbing, and we were both in a good mood for about 1 minute, then I think the reality of climbing a mountain set in with Heather. This trail is steep. Very steep. Gerry Roach says, "The direct ascent is beautiful in its simplicity." Whatever! This thing is hard! (Of course this is by the man whose been on top of Everest) About five minutes in I was breathing hard, and Heather mentioned this was meant for those "ironman" people. The trailhead is low, only at 9,640ft, so it's a lot of up to be had to get to the top of this mountain. Roughly it's like climbing the Empire State Building four times. Up and DOWN four times, I might add.
I explained to Heather that this is what happens when you get out of the car and try suddenly exercising at a vigorous pace. I handed her my hiking poles. It helped, she gained speed and had renewed hope. We reached the camping area of Missouri Gulch at 11,300ft and we saw the trail leading up the shoulder. Oh my word.
Heather and I see people climbing and we are definitely gaining on them at this point. Heather is now much stronger than she was when we started, instead of going 15 minutes and needing a serious break, she's now going an hour inbetween. She is a little sick from altitude, but not too bad. I feel great and we keep on walking up the RELENTLESS switchbacks. Let me take a moment and emphasize that. These switchbacks will be in your dreams at night. They are never-ending. Heather and I were the last to start climbing Belford because we arrived pretty late at 0930. However, when we got to the saddle at 14,000, we had passed 15 people. The entire climb you think to yourself that the saddle is the summit. But it's not, and after about 5 minutes after the saddle, you see the real summit. I was glad that I finally saw the end, but my heart sank when I saw what I had to do to get to it. Climb another 200 ft. Yes, as pathetic as that sounds, we were tired of going up.
After four hours, Belford was ours. We celebrated the victory in the company of about 7 other people and 3 dogs. Heather and I did some yoga for some crazy pictures, we took a look over at Oxford (another 14er, only 1.2 miles east of Belford) and said, "pfffft." Yah right. Maybe some other day! We heard thunder, as it was now past 1330, and so we started down after only 30 minutes of rest on the summit. We started down going pretty fast actually, then back at the gulch, it hit us. We were drained. We could barely walk, our knees were stinging, our toes bleeding and our heads were out of the game. We had made it to the top, we had made it back town to the timberline, but it was hailing and raining and so while the chances for being struck by lightning were now minimal, we were tired. We laid down for a bit.
Walking, walking, walking. Slower, slower slower. By now we were barely moving, moaning with every step, every crick in our knee, pounding of feet to the ground. This mountain felt like it never ended. Heather wanted to die, I wanted to sleep and be carried away to a hot tub. Finally, after 3.25 hours, the car was ours. Upon diving into the car, letting out more moans we inspected ourselves. Heather: Badly sunburned, broken toenail, blood, altitude headache (brain swelling), pale (heat stroke), exhaustion. Matt: Tops of toes bleeding where they rubbed up against boot, very sore knees, headache (sleep deprivation). I drove to Leadville and we ate at the Golden Burro. Funny name, don't hear many good things about them from locals, and come to find out they were right; the food was only ok. Well ok, the saltine crackers tasted like gold, and Heather even stole some and put them in her pocket like we wouldn't see food again for days. I wasn't hungry, but I ordered Chicken Fried Steak just so I could put some food in my stomach. It was gone in under five minutes. I couldn't believe it. I continued driving home, and made it as far as Bakersville before I could drive no more. Heather took over and made it as far as Golden (where her boyfriend lives) and as we sat in the car in front of his house, she called him using her cellphone to come outside and drive us back to Boulder. Jon came out and saw how pathetic we looked and drove us to 24 hour fitness where we all have memberships and we jumped in the hottub. Swimsuits? Who cares, shorts work just as well when you're tired.
The morning after wasn't that bad. My calves hurt, and my knees hurt. I didn't get sunburned like Heather, I knew better this time and I actually put some of that crap on. I will eventually do Belford again to get Oxford, but next time I will camp in the gulch like a lot of people do in order to break it up into two days. Heather has sworn off 14ers saying that the trip was the worst thing she has ever done. Guess I'm not that good of a guide eh? Well, we made it up and we made it back down. However, the following day, Heather admitted, "You know, we made a good team, we made it up and kept each other going, the scenery was beautiful, but God, I have never done so much work in my life."
Very well stated. I guess that's what mountaineering is all about.
Pictures: (Click on picture for caption)
Profile:
Time:
| Drive |
Ascent |
On Summit |
Descent |
Drive |
Total |
| 4 h |
4 h |
30 min |
3.25 h |
2.5 h |
7.75 h |
;)
;)
