How to get there:
Drive west on Chaffee County 390, about 7.5 miles to Vicksburg (ghosttown).
This road connects to US Hwy 24 a few miles south of Granite (Granite,
population 22, is about halfway between Leadville and Buena Vista.)
There is a large parking area and big signs at the trailhead. Route description:
The very good trail climbs in switchbacks out of the main valley
and into the Elkhead Basin, a very nice mountain valley.
There is one obvious gulch coming down from Mt. Belford, and a ridge
on the right hand side (when facing the mountain) signals a fairly
obvious route. There is a very clear fork in the main trail with
the left branch leading up to this ridge. The trail is very good
and completely clear all the way to the summit.
Comments:
In itself this is a very easy climb, perhaps with a bit more
vertical than your "average" fourteener. I did this hike with
Pål, age 11 years, but we had more ambitious plans. After Belford we
went on to climb Mount Oxford and the Missouri Mountain. Round trip from
the trailhead made this an 8.5 hour hike with more than 2000 meter
vertical climb.
