Mt. of the Holy Cross

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 9/2/2019, By: piopti
Info: Trail is dry. Some snow off to the side. Bit of a scramble at the top. Trail is very obvious except at the top scramble where you do a lot of finding your own way guided by periodic cairns. 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 8/12/2019, By: MOUNTAINMANMIKE88
Info: Dry conditions all the way to the top. Some areas have snow patches. But not in the way. 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 8/9/2019, By: SGordon418
Info: Hey out there. We hiked out Fall Creek to the Half Moon Campground. We left a Catadyne Hiker water filter across from the trailhead restroom. Would be thrilled if someone seen this found it and could contact me. Thx! 720-560-8137 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 8/4/2019, By: Harrison
Info: Summer conditions except for a minute amount of snow on the edge of the trail coming up the ridge. Easy to navigate around in the rocks and pick up the route. 

Route: Halo Ridge
Posted On: 7/28/2019, By: tcphoto87
Info: Ascended the halo ridge route and back down the standard route. Lot was already packed when we got there around 230 and had to park back along the road. Started at 245am. Made it to the base of the switchbacks right at 4am. Made it to the shelter just after 530am just in time for sunrise, but then there were low clouds the entire morning that ruined the views (and mountain forecast called for clear all day) The door is unlocked but it took us about 15 minutes to figure it out. Theres a latch you have to pull down on for it to open. We hung out there for a little bit seeing if the weather would clear up then eventually went on anyway. Maybe crossed 3-4 minor and short snowy patches the whole time, otherwise it's pretty dry. The summit and north ridge had a bit of snow hanging off the sides still. Summited Holy cross just after 9 (after summiting the 3 13ers along the way) Made it back to the car at 2pm. I was pretty slow moving going up the pass on the standard route though, that completely wore me out lol. 

Route: Cross Couloir
Posted On: 7/29/2019, By: jmctigue
Info: As another conditions report mentions, the parking lot is pretty packed at the weekends! I arrived at midnight and had to park down the road. Following the faint climbers trail can be a little tricky, but using a GPS with the route downloaded is useful. Reached the base of the couloir around 9am. Snow conditions were good for climbing at this point. Lots of snow still in the couloir, and I expect there will be for several more weeks. Towards the top the snow was getting pretty soft and loose - should have probably tried to get up a bit earlier. It was overcast until about 9ish, so snow may get softer earlier on a good day. Also, I think it may have rained up there recently which might have had an effect. A couple of snowboarders descended around 11am. Big runnels are present in the couloir. Lots of mozzies by the creeks, so bring some insect repellent if you want to be able to rest in the shade. 

Route: Halo Ridge
Posted On: 7/27/2019, By: joyschneiter
Info: I did the Halo Ridge today solo in reverse order. I wanted to make sure the weather and my pace were on target, so I went up the North Ridge and then did the traverse above the Bowl Of Tears to the shelter and down to fall creek. Amazing day!! I started from the trailhead at 4:45 and summited Holy Cross about 7:45. Make sure if you plan to do this route during monsoon season that you are able to leave HC by 8 and plan on AT LEAST 2 hours on the ridge to the shelter. It took me 2 hours summit to shelter and I felt like I was moving pretty well. It is rocky and uneven terrain with quite a bit of elevation gain to summit the 3 13ers on the ridge. It's slow going above 13,000' and you are totally exposed until you reach the shelter. There are two small sections of mandatory snow, one on the saddle between Holy Cross and the northernmost 13er and one above a couloir on the south side of the middle 13er. The one on the saddle is easy, you don't need an axe or extra traction. The one above the couloir at the second 13er looks scarier from above than it really is. I crossed at the north side, which I highly recommend. It's only maybe 15 feet wide on the north side. The snowfield is much larger to the south and would be a dangerous glissade. The snowfield ends before the top of the couloir (which you cant see from above, making it look like you're going to have to cross snow above the couloir, which you don't) so you can traverse a short boulder field above the couloir and just below the snowfield. The final stretch to the shelter is just gorgeous, incredible views of the lakes below the ridge on both sides. There were several fun scrambles along the route that I would call 3rd class, but you could probably avoid them. I didn't see a soul between the summit and the meadow below the shelter (which was locked). Started raining as soon as I hit tree line. Took me 7:00 car to car, about 14 miles. Super fun route! 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 7/25/2019, By: dj3colorado
Info: Route is in great shape, good conditions. Creek crossing somewhat difficult, possibly remove shoes and socks to salvage dry feet for the rest of the hike up if you happen to step in. Good hike, one that is decently shaded with a lot of the trail below treeline. 

Route: Cross Couloir
Posted On: 7/18/2019, By: jkuest
Info: Had a fantastic climb and experienced great weather. The trail is in great shape over halfmoon pass. Stream is very crossable with a couple of trekking poles. Had some difficulty route-finding in the dark to make it to the Bowl of Tears, but GPS is extremely helpful. The few snowfields above treeline in the valley were still solid enough in the early morning to cross. No microspikes necessary as the snow was sun-cupped and soft enough to kick steps. The trek up to the couloir from the Bowl is mostly snow-free at this point but the small amounts we encountered we were also able to kick steps into despite the slope. Once into the couloir, the snow was solid and climbable with crampons and ice tools/axes. I used a couple of Casin tools and they plunged easily into the snow on the way up. We descended the North Ridge route after summiting and encountered summer trail conditions with very few areas where snow is lingering over the trail. Overall, conditions were fantastic and this is a great climb. The weather is only getting warmer though so the solid snow won't last! 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 7/15/2019, By: Tacocat Climbing
Info: Summer conditions! Only 2 very short parts of the trail with some snow left on it. Easy to bypass, or easy to traverse. I brought my microspikes but didnt bother using them. Had on my trail-running shoes, brought my gaiters and axe but didnt need them whatsoever. First fourteener of the season where I wore a short-sleeved shirt. Amazing views from the top. The trail is well-defined, well-built, well-maintained and pretty easy to follow up to the class 2 section near the top, though once you are there you can make to the top without the trail really. Video of the hike: https://youtu.be/uUArIbJ6Xcs 

Route: Halo Ridge
Posted On: 7/14/2019, By: Mitsugi
Info: Camped out the night before at the trailhead. Walked up the Fall River trail and the water was really moving pretty fast through the stream. Came across more water further up the trail. Required some careful "rock stepping" to get over it. Further up the mountain before the talus starts, pretty muddy and wet on much of the trail. At the talus, above the treeline, lots of snow which made navigating the switchbacks up the mountain impossible at times. At the top, conditions are snowy. We never made the summit due to running out of time. Halo ridge is snow covered. Crampons somewhat helpful on the snow on the way up but probably not really required. Snow was soft and difficult to walk through. 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 7/10/2019, By: mtnadventurer
Info: Hiked 7/9. The stepping stones to cross the river were flooded over and had to take off my hiking boots and go across barefoot. I didn't have hiking poles but those that did said they were helpful. Big snow patches once you get out of the trees making it hard to find the trail at times. GPS tracker is extremely helpful. 

Route: Halo Ridge
Posted On: 7/4/2019, By: arianna2
Info: Fall Creek Trail is good. There are some snow drifts and lots of water coming down the trail in areas. The turn off up to notch Mountain Trail is good for a little while but the higher you go the more snow you get into. After the trees, it's mostly snow. We pretty much just went straight up snow fields and got on dry boulders when they were around. You can't follow a trail right now but it's not too hard to go by if you have a GPS route. Here's some pictures of the Cross. Can't believe you guys ski that! 

Route: Cross Couloir
Posted On: 7/3/2019, By: omoore61
Info: Good freeze overnight, solid conditions for skiing the couloir on July 3rd! Summited a bit late(route finding in the dark) but the climbing conditions were near perfect. Cross is good down to the exit, large runnel on skiers left which is pretty easy to avoid. 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 6/30/2019, By: j_vada
Info: Tigiwon Road is open and in good condition up to Half Moon Pass trailhead. From the trailhead, the trail is clear of snow until 1/4 mile east of Half Moon Pass, where some snow drifts cover it. West of Half Moon Pass, the trail is covered in deep soft snow and there was a lot of post holing. The trail becomes visible again just before it descends into the Cross Creek valley. Cross Creek is flowing heavily right now and all of the stepping stones are underwater. Expect to get boots wet, or to have a some other shoes for crossing. About a 1/2 mile beyond Cross Creek, the trail disappears under snow and is pretty difficult to find. There is a lot of post holing and route finding from that point on. Above treeline, there is lots of snow on the north face of Holy Cross. The trail emerges around 11,800' in the scree along the ridge. The cairns along the ridge make route finding easy here, although much of it is still under snow. There's a large cornice along the North Ridge, and caution should be used if traveling along the snow. Booting on top might cause a break through. My 7th photo shows a gap forming between cornice and ridge. Hiking on the exposed rock is a safer path here. From the corner of the ridge up to the peak is mostly clear of snow and an easy climb. There is still a lot of deep snow on Mt. of the Holy Cross. Snowshoes or skis would be preferable for the current conditions. If just hiking, expect a lot of post holing.