6/26/2016 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 6/26/2016, By: tobiasfunke Info: The few remaining snow fields are easily avoidable. |
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6/25/2016 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 6/26/2016, By: jabiii Info: Great conditions from TH to summit, very little snow on the trail (few avoidable patches around 12k or so). Trail was clearly marked the whole way up. As others have mentioned, bring bug spray for the mosq. heading down and up from Half Moon Pass. Took us a little under 9 hours from TH to TH with a 30+ minute break at the summit, so be sure to leave early to allow for enough time! |
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6/25/2016 Route: Angelica Coulouir Posted On: 7/1/2016, By: mountain_gallivanter Info: While Angelica Coulouir may be a more straightforward climb than nearby Cross Colouir it is by no means "easy". The only thing more straightforward about it is the increased visibility of the route. You can easily see it from Halfmoon Pass. Get an early start for this one (Or for Cross Coulouir) because the route-finding to the start of your snow climbs will take some time. The climber's trail leading out of the Cross Creek campground is faint, at best. You will have the best chance of finding it if you begin searching between campsite 4 and 5. Stay left of the small beaver pond and you will find a creek crossing between two stumps and the trail will start ascending steeply to the south. If you lose the trail, it is helpful to double back. Close to timberline expect to lose the trail admidst the small tarns and rocky knolls, where off trail navigating will take place. I went in a south-westerly direction to ascend a rocky drainage to the base of Angelica Colouir. Here you want to refuel and hydrate! There are no reliable breakpoints from the bottom to the end of the colouir climb. I left camp at 4:40 AM and did not begin the climb of the Colouir until 8:00 AM, and already the sun was quite warm. The snow had softened up to the point I no longer felt crampons were necessary, but the route required significant kick-stepping. An ice ax is a must. The best recommendation I have is to really judge your energy level before starting up the colouir. I spent 2.5 hours of climbing before I reached the top of Angelica Coulouir, which is a slow pace for me, as I just climbed Conundrum and Castle the day before. The snow is not continuous any more to the top, and the last 100-200 vertical feet is loose scree. This section is due to increase as it continues to melt. I wouldn't wait too much longer for this route. |
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6/24/2016 Route: Halo Ridge Posted On: 6/24/2016, By: JuJu Info: Great conditions on Holy Cross. Ascended Halo Ridge and descended North Ridge. Long, tiring day, but beautiful views. Snow is mostly minimal and/or avoidable (no axe/spikes/snowshoes needed), though there were a couple short sections of postholing (to knees) on Halo Ridge. Good track up Falls Creek Trail; easy to follow in the dark. There was also an ornery porcupine at the trailhead that was pretty noisy during the night! And bring bug spray for the mosquitoes! |
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6/22/2016 Route: Cross Couloir Posted On: 6/22/2016, By: Wildernessjane Info: Climbed the Cross Couloir this morning. The road is now open and the couloir is fat. Hit this one early as she was in full sun by 7:00. We did have to contend with some post-holing between Lake Patricia and the Bowl of Tears but it wasn't too bad and snowshoes are definitely not needed. |
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6/16/2016 Route: Cross Couloir Posted On: 6/16/2016, By: otew247 Info: Has anyone done the Cross Couloir or know what the conditions are like right now? |
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6/7/2016 Route: View from upper Minturn cliffs Posted On: 6/8/2016, By: WillRobnett Info: A lot of the standard route seen from upper Minturn cliffs. |
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1/11/2016 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 1/12/2016, By: thatnissanguy Info: Skin track in place to 12,800 on the North Ridge route. Above that talus hopping and postholing. It is very similar to the summer trail with slight variations here and there. Have at it guys. |
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11/1/2015 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 11/6/2015, By: ThrasherMerrill Info: Still doable on 1 November. Snow was shin deep from Half Moon Pass on, and deeper above treeline. After the this week's storm, the trail is invisible and traversing in the snow is a little dangerous given that you can step into a waist deep crevice between rocks and not know it until you're climbing out of it. Being windblown, the last 300' pitch is still pretty clean. |
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10/10/2015 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 10/11/2015, By: Ginny Info: Route was dry and clear of ice or snow until the last 800 ft or so, and then the occasional small patches of mud, snow, and ice could be avoided, or were easy enough to hike over. I had microspikes with me, but didn‘t use them. Beautiful day with clear skies and fairly warm temperatures...did the whole route in a tank top and never added layers. Conditions could quickly change of course if overnight precipitation, so I‘d still bring spikes just to be ready for changed conditions. |
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9/27/2015 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 9/28/2015, By: JinCO Info: Beautiful, clear day on the Cross. Clear skies, warm weather and no wind. The other side of Half Moon Pass is covered in changing aspens, and it‘s absolutely stunning up there right now. Left the trailhead at 6:45 a.m.; summited at 11:15 a.m. Stayed on the summit until about 11:45-12 p.m.; back at the trailhead at 3:30 p.m. Hopefully another week or so of great weather! |
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9/19/2015 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 9/20/2015, By: koeffling Info: Summer conditions on the standard route. The aspens are turning, it‘s beautiful up there. |
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8/29/2015 Route: Halo Ridge Posted On: 8/30/2015, By: BagginPeaks Info: Drove up the Tigiwon Rd Friday afternoon and lucked out and found a dispersed campsite about 0.2 miles from the TH. My plan was to leave earlier than I normally would for a class 2 peak with a good weather forecast in order to beat the ‘weekend riff-raff‘ and have some solitude. Started hiking from the TH at 2am, ascended the North Ridge route in full moonlight with no use for my headlamp, I was ALONE (I know on Holy Cross on a Saturday!) on the summit for the sunrise 5:45-6:15, descended the Halo Ridge which took about 3 hours taking short breaks on each summit. The only people I saw all day were a handful of groups making their way up the Halo Ridge (pretty late in the day I might add). Only notes on route conditions would be watch out for loose talus! Some large blocks that appear to be stable are actually not, and with the amount of talus hopping this full loop route involves it would be easy to get complacent and lose focus and get hurt. |
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7/27/2015 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 7/28/2015, By: Sunshineof1985 Info: GEAR (to bring): GPS, extra socks, phone, SPOT Satellite Tracker, Map, hiking boots with 2 pairs of socks, long-sleeve, wind-guard/raincoat, light weight puffy coat, lightweight gloves, day pack with water sack, food, sunscreen, lip balm. Road condition: LOTS of potholes. But my sedan made it just fine. Take your time and you will be too :) Trail conditions: Muddy in some spots below treeline, but nothing bad. The route is an easy one to follow all the way up to the top. Typical shale and large boulders to climb once out of treeline which is fun! Conditions on the peak were favorable. Got a little bit chilly and breezy, but not bad. For a more detailed report on this peak and others, visit sunshineof1985.com. I‘m climbing all 54 fourteeners this summer. |
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7/26/2015 Route: Halo Ridge Posted On: 7/26/2015, By: MichiganBrian Info: Perfect weather today, and the cross is close to being melted out (see picture), so if you‘re doing the Halo to see the cross you‘re running out of time. One extremely minor patch of snow to cross, full summer conditions. |
