TR: Mt. Oxford (6/14/08), A nice long walk in the woods

[Kling]

Three weeks ago, my buddy and I were turned away on this peak at 13,300' by a nasty but short lived squall. Well, turns out thats not necessarily a bad thing; it can give you a chance to explore new routes and new terrain on the same peak. On this particular attempt, we didn't have time for another backpack to get up into Pine Creek to ride the line I had in mind. But we knew most of the route from the previous attempt, and that gave us the confidence to do a great one-way trip, up-and-over style.

Friday evening as nightfall mushroomed over the Arkansas Valley, I once again met my friend Tom from steamboat. We parked my car at Pine Creek and drove to Vicksburg and the Missouri Gulch TH where we had a few beers and crashed. Anticipating a fairly long day, we were up at 4am and hiking well before 5. In the early morning gloom, my dog Io had her second ever encounter with a porcupine. I guess she forgot what it was like the first time.

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So I spent the next few minutes de-quilling poor puppy. Interesting thing about these animals is that they are surprisingly docile, (or maybe this one was just still sleepy) but I can now say that I had the privelidge of petting a porcupine. They're long outer hairs are coarse but harmless, and the quills are layed flat against the body in a crosshatched pattern. Anyway...

We made great time on the nearly snow-free trail, and were well above treeline on the flanks of Belford before the first morning rays hit us. Approaching our first summit, its still apparent the mantle of winter white is slow to retreat this season.

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Our chosen line faces SE so we didn't dawdle too long on Belford.

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We blazed over to Oxford, and summited about 8:30 AM. The North flanks of Harvard in the background

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The snow on this absolutely bluebird day wasn't going to stay in condition too long, even though a stiff breeze had picked up during the morning helping to keep it a little cooler. We scouted our options. And I was glad we chose this one-way route. The best and only line off the summit, the only real line left on the whole peak actually, dropped into the steep southern bowl with some fantastic terrain features, chokes, little droppers, and a great wide lower apron funneling into a gully that held snow well below treeline.

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Tom, off the summit, making quick work of some damn fine corn.

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The Choke

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Harvard Peak

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And after a tedious, but relatively shortlived bushwack amidst waterfalls and aspen glades, we rested at the ruins of Little John's cabin, soaked in the beautiful surroundings of the Pine Creek valley, and prepared for the home stretch.

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Another long walk in the woods.

[mtnbikerskierchick]

Nice Erik! I like your choice of route! Always good to do something off the beaten path!

[FrontRangeDrummer]

Looks like a good day and location for a walk, with a little skiing thrown in too.

[goldenboy]

Nice, I like your style. Way to do something different

[AKturnanburn]

Nice, does everyone that skis spring lines on big rocky mountains post in this forum, or what?

holy shit

[jwproulx]

No kidding -- I keep running into maggots. It's uncanny.

[Kling]

Thanks goldenboy, MBSC, and those I havn't met yet!

Its kind of amazing - you can stare at a map and come up with any number of routes or variations, and more often than not, it just so happens you choose the snowiest, biggest, most aesthetic line the peak has to offer! (Of course it helps to preview your chosen line the week before from Mt. Columbia! or the month before from Mt. Harvard).

Nice, does everyone that skis spring lines on big rocky mountains post in this forum, or what?

Still pretty new here, but yeah, it seems to be the thing to do...

[Alpine Dreams]

Good snowboard stoke!