Missouri Mountain

July 11, 2020 / 14,067’

RT STATS: TOTAL TIME - 5 HR & 38 MIN, 10.74 MILES, AND 4,509’ ELEVATION GAIN

TIME STATS: 2 Hr & 55 min HR TO SUMMIT, 23 MIN AT SUMMIT, 2 HR & 20 MIN BACK TO TH

RATING (HOW MUCH I LIKED THE HIKE): 6/10

Missouri Mountain….not only my 35th 14er, but also my last 14er in the Sawatch Range!! I am officially done with the Sawatch Range 14ers (I will, of course, hike them again, but, for now, I have summited each 14er in this range!). This was definitely the highlight of the hike. :) This was also much more relaxing than last week’s Challenger Point and Kit Carson Peak adventure. Last week, I was out on the trails for 11 HOURS AND 58 MINUTES! Today, I was only on the trails for 5 HOURS AND 38 MINUTES! aka 47% of the time that I was out on the trails last week lol. It goes to show the range in difficulty among the 14ers :)

Anyways, I left the Springs at a little after 4 am to head to my fav. Chaffee County Road 390. I have been on this road so often it feels like. I arrived near the Missouri Gulch trailhead around 6:30 am and parked on the road. The parking lot was (obviously) full and there were so many cars parked on the road. The funny thing is that I did Mt. Belford and Mt. Oxford this exact weekend last year (also on Saturday) and I didn’t get to the trailhead much earlier (maybe 30 minutes earlier than I did this year) and still was able to park in the parking lot (albeit one of the last spots). I just thought it was interesting how many more people were out here this year compared to last year!

I started the hike at 6:45 am and it was cool being back on this trail a year later…I remembered it all! The hike is immediately pretty steep with all of the switchbacks. Soon enough, the trail opens up and you can see Mt. Belford in the distance (good memories :,) )

At just over 2 miles in is where the trail to Mt. Belford/Mt. Oxford and Missouri Mountain splits. I went right (Elkhead Pass trail). I gained approximately 2,000’ in 59 minutes to reach this spot, so I was hiking at a pretty good pace! Pretty soon after the junction, I reached the first of 3 (I think lol) stream crossings but this one was the most difficult one to cross (without getting your shoes wet). In the next ~1.5 miles, I gained only about 1000’ so it definitely felt pretty flat relative to the first part of the hike!

3.64 miles/1 hr 47 min/at elevation ~12,600’, I reached a sign directing me towards the right to Missouri Mountain! The first ~400’ of this hike was a normal trail and started with some steep switchbacks (third picture).

Right around 13,000’ (or just over, I can’t remember), the terrain changes from a dirt trail to a rocky, talus trail. This gives me (minor) flashbacks to Princeton (in a bad way lmao).

I reached a saddle of ~13,700’ at 2 hours and 28 minutes/4.53 miles in. I went to the left to head towards Missouri Mountain! It was a little steep in spots as you can see in the 3rd and 4th pictures below!

2 hours and 55 minutes/5.3 miles later, I reached the 14,067’ Missouri Mountain summit! I spent 23 minutes up here before heading down. I must say it was definitely the most crowded summit I’ve been on this year (probably 20 people)….I miss my days of the solo summits :’(. But whatever, SAWATCH RANGE IS COMPLETE YOOOO.

A minute after leaving the summit, I took my hiking poles out to use for my descent. This appears to be the trend of my hikes currently…no poles on the way up, but using the poles for the entire descent. I took some cool pictures on the beginning part of my descent!

I don’t have much eventful to say about my descent honestly!! I was smiling a lot though because I thought it was hilarious comparing the time this 14er took me compared to Challenger and KC last week. Special shoutout to my sister Melissa for the white Nike hat that she left in my car. I lost my navy Asics hat and my only other hat I own is a Mt. Olive Pickle Company hat lmao….I don't even eat pickles. I passed a cool cabin/shack thing with about 1.5 miles to go (obviously passed on the way up too) and it wasn't listed on airbnb sadddddd (sorry same lame joke I think I started on Mt. Lindsey). 5 hours and 38 minutes later, I finished the hike!!! Woo hoo!! It’s quite the celebration because this trip (driving+hiking) is over 8 hours shorter than last week. YAY!!!!!!