| The intensity and length of Capitol Peak the previous week left me looking forward to an easier hike as opposed to all of the climbing I had been up to. I was ready to get back to my roots of solo climbing and pushing my speed envelope. Arriving at the trailhead at 7:00 am, I set out up the switchbacks. The basin opened up after a short time, and Belford peeked out once above tree line; the final 200 feet smothered in clouds (photo on right). I had passed four parties of hikers at this point, and I was making a comfortable fast pace at 2,400 vertical feet in the first hour. The basin was quite scenic and soon I arrived at the next set of switchbacks up the West Slope.
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 | This trail appeared to have been recently refurbished - probably CFI's handiwork. There were a few people I passed who started the hike at 6:00 am, making their first attempt at a fourteener. The clouds were still sticking around and showed no signs of dissipating, but I had little concern since it was 8:00 am. There was quite an interesting variety of alpine wildlife around the upper parts of the switchbacks. A group of ptarmigans was scurrying across the trail. I also saw my first Sawatch Range marmot. The rest of the route was visible to the southeast (photo on left), though I was aware that the view was of the false summit.
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| Reaching the saddle of a small point to the west of Belford, I passed the final group of hikers who started before me. From here, there were fabulous views of Missouri Mountain to the west. The hike up the remaining slope went by quickly, and Belford's summit clump came into view (photo on the right). I had read reports about the appearance of the summit block, but it truly looked odd, and I hadn't seen this color rock on a summit since climbing Mt. Baldy (11,403') in Arizona. Mt. Oxford was dramatic from this point, though unfortunately Mt. Harvard was shrouded. The final 30 feet is the only part of this hike that doesn't have trail.
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I made the summit in 2:05, and was the first on the peak that day, which is a good feeling. There was no summit register; a common theme this year for me. There was a Ziploc with some soggy paper in it, which looked like a waste of time. Oxford in the distance provides an interesting contrast with the pale rock of Belford's summit. I proceeded to descend and made it to the trailhead at 11:00 am, and finally being back in Denver at 1:00 am, and later feeling almost like I hadn't even hiked that day.
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