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.:Getting to the trailhead:. The traditional trailhead for climbing Missouri is from the townsite of Vicksburg (also the trailhead for Mount Belford and Mount Oxford). To get to Vickburg from Denver, there are a couple options; first, take I-70 west through Summit County to Exit 195 (the Copper Mountain exit), and drive CO 91 over Fremont Pass and into Leadville. From Leadville, continue on CO91/US 24 about 19 miles south to Chaffee County 390 (the turnoff for the Clear Creek Reservoir). The Vicksburg townsite/trailhead is about 7.8 miles west along the well-maintained dirt road. Just about any car ought to be able to make it, and washboards are the only problem on the road. The other option is to drive US 285 southwest out of Denver, and take it ~120 miles to Johnson's Village (take care not to speed around Bailey, Fairplay, and Jefferson - they seriously speedtrap in these little towns!) and then swing north on US 24 for 2 miles to Buena Vista. From BV, Chaffee County 390 is about 15 miles north. Turn west and it's 7.8 miles to Vicksburg. Either of these routes will take between 2.5~3.5 hours from Denver, depending on traffic and your inclination to drive the speed limit.
.:The trail:. .:Trip Report:. On this day, the skies were uncharacteristically dark and stormy for the middle of summer. We'd gotten several inches of rain in Denver the night before, and the mountains had gotten quite a soaking as well. It was cool and damp, with low clouds and fog obscuring everything above about 12,500 feet. We took off at 8am from the trailhead, which crosses Clear Creek on a well-built footbridge, and quickly begins to switchback upwards. After about a mile or so of switchbacks and stream crossings (there are narrow logs across some of the wider runoff streams, so you'd better have good balance!), the trail levels out as it enters Elkhead Basin. Missouri Mountain is the bumpy ridge at the south-southwest end of the basin, which, of course, we couldn't see due to the low-hanging clouds. The trail forks at about mile 2, with Mts. Oxford/Belford to the left (east), and Missouri to the right (west). With little trouble, we followed the occasionally swampy trail into the small cirque below Missouri. At that point, the trail angles off through the rocks to Elkhead Pass on the left. Just before that, you have to make a right turn and climb Missouri's north ridge at its lowest point. Luckily, Chris and I had been here before, so we knew exactly where to start climbing the ridge. Kate just shrugged and took our word for it, though I think she was wondering if this had been such a good idea after all. Almost immediately, we were socked in. The low clouds were so dense, visibility was reduced to about 20-30 feet. If we hadn't known exactly where to climb, we might have had to abort. As it was, the three of us slowly worked our way up the steep slope, climbing hand-and-foot in some places. The previous night's rains had slightly destabilized the rocks, so we had a few slips, but nothing major. Once the ridge is attained, the summit is a fairly easy 10-minute walk south. The trail and rocks were slick with moisture, and we couldn't see more than a dozen feet or so, which made the fairly easy walk a little more touch-and-go. Tall rock formations loomed in the fog, making quite an ethereal scene. At the summit we met one other hardy-looking individual, who had come up the opposite way, from Elkhead Pass. After a brief chat and a few snacks in the cold, clammy fog we all headed our separate ways. The trip down was much easier than the trip up, and we made it back to the trailhead with relative ease. Luckily the weather held (and the clouds even lifted for a brief while), and we never really got rained on. |
 Near Missouri's summit The low clouds make for dramatic and spooky scenery! |
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