The traditional trailhead for climbing Oxford (and Belford and 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.

Anyway, from the basin Chris and I angled off to the left and proceeded up the western slope of Mt. Belford. This is an extremely well defined trail, and the forest service folks have clearly put a lot of work into combating erosion and cross-cutting. At the summit, we could see Oxford to the east-northeast along a 1.3 mile ridge. A number of the Collegiate Peaks were visible to the southeast, and Missouri was off to the west and south. After a brief rest, we headed down the ridge to Oxford at a quick, almost jogging pace. The patently unpredictable Rocky Mountain weather had turned a beautiful warm morning into a cool, cloudy day, and the ominous color and texture of the clouds did not make us feel like lingering.

By the time we hit the Oxford summit, the clouds had sunk to our level, and thunder was rumbling all around us. Visibility was anywhere from miles to feet, depending on where you stood. We took a few minutes to rest and converse with the half-dozen or so people around us before taking off back towards Belford. Due to the weather, we had already decided that we'd have to come back and tackle Missouri another day. The temptation on Oxford is to head straight down the valley to the northwest, but that will run you into waterfalls and cliffs farther down.

On the return trip to Belford, the skies opened up...not with rain, but hail. Even as we hastily donned foul-weather gear, the pelting intensified to the point where it stung. The trail went from dirt and dry rocks to mud and slippery stone in a matter of seconds, and the wind picked up, which didn't help anyone. Luckily, the storm cell moved on after about 7-10 minutes, leaving us soaked, but rapidly drying in the brisk wind. The storm trailed off just was we regained Belford's south ridge. We could see another nasty looking cell over the trail we came up, so Chris and I took the long way down, via Elkhead Pass and straight down Missouri Basin. It was a great hike, but we were plenty exhausted once we reached the trailhead.