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Mt. Belford - August 1998: Mt. Belford is part of the Sawatch Range and its summit rises to an altitude of 14,197 feet. The Sawatch Range is located in central Colorado and includes the highest peaks in Colorado. I climbed Mt. Belford at the end of August 1998. It is considered one of the "easy" Fourteeners but that is a matter of one's perspective. Since I was doing the hike in a single day, I left Denver at 4:00 AM. A two-hour drive brought me to the Leadville area. The Belford trailhead is on a rough dirt road about a 30 minute drive south of Leadville. I started hiking about 6:30 AM and it was still pretty dark. The trailhead is at 9,600 feet and getting to the top of Mt. Belford involves almost 4,600 feet of elevation gain. The going is quite steep, particularly on the mountain itself. This presented problems for me as my toes felt like they were being smashed into the front of my hiking boots on the descent. To make things even more interesting, I carried a lot of extra weight on this climb in the form of video equipment. I wanted to document the climb in every possible way for the benefit of a co-worker back home who refused to believe that I had climbed to 14,000 feet in the past.
Altogether, it took me 3 hours and 30 minutes to reach the summit (including frequent stops to unpack the video equipment). I spent an hour on the summit taking in the view, setting up video equipment, and talking with other hikers. It took me until 2:15 PM to get back to the trailhead. By this time the temperature had soared to 85 degrees F. and I had consumed all of my water. The drive back to Denver took me through Leadville and past some excellent views of Mt. Elbert, Mt. Massive and other Sawatch Range peaks. Another impressive view is of the Climax Mine, north of Leadville. I stopped in Georgetown just off of I-70 to get a chocolate milkshake and I was back in Denver in time for a late supper. Altogether, it was a very long day. Cindy did not accompany me on this climb, but we did do Mt. Bierstadt together two days later.
First View of Mt. Belford: This is the classic view of Mt. Belford as the trail breaks through treeline. The altitude here is 11,200 feet. It took me one hour to get to this point - 1.2 miles of hiking up a steep series of switchbacks involving 1,600 feet of elevation gain. I had already stopped twice to set up the video equipment and then repack it in my back pack. At the trailhead the air temperature was about 45 degrees F. By the time I reached this point the air temperature had dropped to 30 degrees F. As the photograph shows, I was still in deep shadow although the sun was now lighting up the summit. John Seacord
On Mt. Belford's Northwest Ridge: The hiking becomes steep here and remains so for most of the rest of the way to the summit. It was still cold and the sun had yet to rise over the ridge above me. The altitude here is about 12,200 feet. John Seacord
The Final Push up Mt. Belford: The altitude here is about 13,750 feet. I was about three hours into the hike at this point. I had stopped a half dozen times to unpack and repack the video equipment. The sun had finally started to warm things up. As the photograph shows, the trail had pretty much disappeared and the scenery has a very rugged look to it. The high point in the upper right hand part of the photograph is not the summit. The true summit is about a quarter mile beyond and to the left. John Seacord
On the Summit of Mt. Belford: This picture shows the survey medallion placed by the U.S. Geological Service in 1955. Next to it is the canister which contains the sign-in sheets for hikers. John Seacord
Mt. Harvard from Mt. Belford: This photograph shows part of the ridge that connects Mt. Belford and Mt. Oxford (14,153'). People often climb both peaks in one day. Beyond the ridge and in the center of the photograph is Mt. Harvard (14,420'), the third highest peak in Colorado. Only Mt. Elbert (14,433') and Mt. Massive (14,421') are higher. John Seacord
Missouri Mountain from the Summit of Mt. Belford: This view shows Missouri Mountain (14,067'). Directly behind Missouri, the summit of Huron Peak (14,003') is barely visible. Beyond and to the southwest are the San Juan Mountains. This was truly a magnificent day for a hike with visibility over 100 miles. John Seacord