10/6/2017 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 10/10/2017, By: amycroudip Info: Trail covered in snow but was broken in. Post holed up to our knees a bit once we got above tree line, but snow shoes weren't necessary. Cairns helped a lot once we got to the talus. |
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9/24/2017 Route: Halo Ridge Posted On: 9/25/2017, By: SamFletcher Info: The Friday and Saturday storms have covered the entire Halo Ridge route in 1-2 inches of snow, making the talus very slippery. I descended the standard route, and that one was much better, except for the final couple hundred feet below the summit. |
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9/20/2017 Route: Halo Ridge Posted On: 9/21/2017, By: Tufftommy-BV Info: Halo via Notch and PT 13768 thrown in was 99% snow free by noon. Very breezy/gusty but not terrible. Enjoy! |
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9/18/2017 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 9/19/2017, By: oliffj Info: Lots of snow on the last section of the climb to the summit, makes it almost impossible to spot cairns or path. Stay left, and be SUPER careful! |
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9/17/2017 Route: Halo Ridge Posted On: 9/18/2017, By: Bombay2Boulder Info: The stream mentioned in photo#4 is dry. Just be aware. There's no water sources. Plan accordingly. |
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9/16/2017 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 9/16/2017, By: AlexeyD Info: Wintery day on Holy Cross. Snow fell overnight all the way down to the TH, with 4-6" above tree line. While most of the snow melted by the end of the day, it lingered above ~13k, where temps stayed below freezing all day. Microspikes were helpful on the final section, especially descending. Surprising number of folks out despite the chilly weather! |
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9/15/2017 Route: Halo Ridge Posted On: 9/16/2017, By: Ptglhs Info: I did not summit. The conditions were beautiful up to the lightning shelter and ridge line. Up there was very windy and the 2.5" of snow they recieved the previous night was turning to ice. I didn't want go along icy talus with the wind blowing that hard. Hopefully it melts by tomorrow. If not, traction recommended. |
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9/12/2017 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 9/13/2017, By: nomanslandCO Info: Climbed Holy Cross yesterday, it was sunny and beautiful the whole way to the top (and dry). Incredible views from the top: could see the Gore Range, Maroon Bells, Snowmass, Sopris, Ajax etc. Also, the color change was in full effect when leaving the trailhead in the afternoon. |
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9/2/2017 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 9/4/2017, By: SES_17 Info: Trail is solid all the way to just below the summit. A new sign denoting the direction of the trail adorns the summit which can be misleading. If you stay to the right, as the sign shows, trail segments will dump right into the top of the Angelica Couloir. Bailing left at the top of the couloir (a touch of exposure) will bring you back to the main trail. Most people ascended and descended to the left of the sign. Camped Friday night, skeeters were non-existent. |
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8/27/2017 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 8/28/2017, By: kayleenann8 Info: Trail is dry and in summer conditions. |
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8/27/2017 Route: Cross Couloir Posted On: 8/28/2017, By: kayleenann8 Info: Hiked all the way to the base of the cross couloir because from earlier in the basin, it looked like it might still have enough snow to climb. At 13,000 feet, realized that the entrance to the couloir is melted out -- I wouldn't recommend getting in that gully with the amount of patchy snow in there/melted out entrance. We turned around. |
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8/5/2017 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 8/5/2017, By: sibyllec Info: We hiked part way in and camped Friday night. It rained a bit between about 9 and 10:00 p.m., and stopped. It was cloudy much of the night, and partly cloudy this morning. We hiked and reached the summit at 10:40 a.m., with many other people on the trail. After lunch on the summit, we hiked back , packed up our tent, and resumed our hike out to the car. It began hailing about 5:30 p.m., and hailed or rained for about half hour, and then stopped. The trails were in good condition, and we felt incredibly lucky with teh weather, since it had been threatening to rain for a while. We did notice that many of the campsites at Cross Creek filled up for Saturday night. Also, we encountered a party of two at the creek who were out of water and asked us if we could give them some, since they'd run out of water at the summit. I carry iodine tablets, and gave some to them. It may be overkill, but perhaps posting a sign near the creek that this will be the last available water between here and the summit may be of use? We encountered at least one person who was hiking this as their first 14er ever. |
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8/3/2017 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 8/3/2017, By: Vertical Wanderer Info: Don't just depend on the forecasts! Ended up leaving the TH at 5:00 and was up on the last shoulder around 13k by 7:00. I wanted to leave early and go fast because weather was calling for storms right after 10:00. But right at 7:05 the sky unleashed and I made a dash down to treeline as quickly as I could. It was the closest call I've had, and I hope nobody else was above me! The trail was in excellent shape though and I can't wait to go back! |
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7/30/2017 Route: Halo Ridge Posted On: 7/31/2017, By: petersengraph Info: Beautiful route, but pretty darned arduous. As stated earlier, no discernible trail on the ridge, but it seemed that pretty much any reasonable line works as long as you stay off the obviously dangerous but breathtaking inner wall of the cirque. I returned via the North Ridge to complete the loop, but that 1000 foot gain at the end is a real bummer (just focus on the breath...). But the other option of returning back over Halo Ridge would also be pretty brutal, so I think at the moment I'd recommend the complete tour if someone asked. A loop generally wins out over out-and-back. |
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7/14/2017 Route: Halo Ridge Posted On: 7/14/2017, By: demmons1 Info: Halo Ridge is free of snow and passable at all segments; However, there is no discernable trail and the majority of the route is across loose scree and boulders. Slows progress considerably. I would have probably returned via the North Ridge Route if I were to do it again. Happy hiking. |
