Mt. of the Holy Cross

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 9/28/2023, By: marcusmartin
Info: Summer conditions. No wind. Warm and sunny all day. Absolutely perfect 10 hours. 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 9/25/2023, By: rider11
Info: Absolutely stunning conditions on standard route. Zero snow or ice, zero wind or clouds at the top at 11am summit. Colors are starting to fill in. This week should should be more of the same 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 9/24/2023, By: taylorharris50
Info: Summer conditions 

Route: Halo Ridge
Posted On: 9/23/2023, By: Joey_parm
Info: Halo ridge is dry as of today. No ice or snow to be of any concern. And the cross is not in currently. Took standard down. Any small snow patches were easily avoidable. 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 9/16/2023, By: starfishprime
Info: 1-3 inches of snow on the final push to the summit and ice on the rocks above 11.6k before sunrise. I heard that the Halo Ridge had a lot of ice and snow and thus did not do the full loop as planned. 

Route: Halo Ridge
Posted On: 9/8/2023, By: donovanrice
Info: North Ridge up, Halo Ridge down. Halo Ridge is extremely beautiful, but harder / slower than North Ridge due to copious amounts of talus. Route description mentions unending spider webs, but I encountered very few. 10 am start, 1 pm summit, 4:30 Notch shelter, 6:30 back to trailhead. 

Route: Halo Ridge
Posted On: 8/25/2023, By: Habret
Info: Tour de Holy Cross - Halo Ridge up, North Ridge down. Near-perfect trail conditions and tons of wildlife while ascending the switchbacks to the mountain hut. Rock is fairly loose on the bumps between the hut and Holy Cross Ridge, so just be mindful to test every hold during sections of scrambling. 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 8/7/2023, By: GrizzlyAdams
Info: Easy but a slow drive to the TH in a rental Outlander 2WD. Parked easily along the side of the road facing out around 4:45 am on 8/6. On trail at 5 am by headlamp. I'm an ultrarunner from NE Ohio with a bit of backcountry & climbing experience, and found this to be a fairly straight-forward and easy ascent with no issues following the trail or huge naked pine cairns in the last 800'. Hit the summit in 2hrs50minutes with only 3 other hikers and a pooch enjoying the clear blue views. I was fine wearing a t-shirt, arm sleeves, shorts but had to don gloves for the final push as I was not yet in the sun and my hands never function under 50F. Had a quick snack, put on my awesome Patagonia Storm racer over my vest, and rolled back down following the same route to my car. Personally, I had zero bug issues and wore no spray though I didn't fill bottles in the camp or stop for any other reason but to ditch my jacket around 12,500' and make one quick bathroom stop off trail. There 'could' have been mosquitos at my car yet I didn't hang out waiting for them either. The parking area was full at the TH and there were maybe 30 cars parked along the road heading out; way, way less busy than I was imaging. Head to Mango's in Red Cliff when you are done for great food and a brew! 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 8/6/2023, By: truekyle
Info: BRING YOUR BUG SPRAY!! Camping, hiking or just standing around. You're gonna want it and you're gonna want it often. 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 7/31/2023, By: OriLindner
Info: Road approach seemed pretty reasonable. Once past the Community Lodge it got a little rough in areas, so more clearance is always better than less. Started the hike around 4 or 5am, but didn't summit until around 10 or 11am due to poor conditioning and rests. The whole trail was great with no obstacles or washouts. Quite a good number of people on the trail, including many dogs. Morning chilliness turned into a hot sunny day fitting of short sleeves and shorts - don't forget your sunscreen! Very brief rain sprinkle around 1pm on the way down. Would recommend packing extra energy for the 1000ft switchback incline on the way back. Overall a great hike that, even as a Class 2, humbled our party sufficiently :) 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 7/31/2023, By: mdecola
Info: Had a great hike on Saturday - conditions were all very ideal. Road to drive in is rough, but very manageable with any 4WD vehicle. Probably could even get a 2WD up there if you were inclined to try. The approach to the summit is beautiful, good haul up & down especially with the final climb back out of the valley with a 1000 ft. elevation gain at the end (that was no joke, definitely bring extra water & energy as it was hot in the afternoon). We had a late start, around 6:50AM. Summited around 11:30AM. Very fun and straightforward Class 2 14er. 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 7/10/2023, By: catward77
Info: Road easily drivable; saw some 2WD vehicles at the trailhead too. Mostly empty parking lot between Sunday 8pm - my start time Monday morning. Packed parking lot by the time I finished. 100% summer conditions on North Ridge. Started 4:10am, summited 8:40am. Super chill trail up at the beginning and then down the 1,000 ft and through the campground in the valley. Past the campground, the incline picks up again. Weather forecast claimed clear, but still got a brief, tiny storm while up top. Headed down at 9:30am, back to car at 12:45pm. Trail overall very obvious & well-maintained. 

Route: Halo Ridge
Posted On: 7/9/2023, By: terribletigzy
Info: Holy Cross and Halo Ridge are pretty much fully summer conditions. There were some snow patches remaining, but almost all were avoidable. There were two mandatory snow crossings when coming from Holy Cross Ridge to the main Holy Cross summit, but they were essentially flat snow crossings. I tend to always carry spikes, but they weren't needed. 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 7/8/2023, By: jpriske
Info: Climbed Mount of the Holy Cross via the standard route. Got to the trailhead late ish the night before and was already almost completely full. Left the car about 4am and summited around 7:15 and back around 10:30. Overall the trail is in summer conditions and is very fun. One small snow section but easily avoidable. Summit still somewhat covered in snow. Definitely going back up the pass on the way back sucks a lot. Have fun! 

Route: Halo Ridge
Posted On: 7/7/2023, By: PeakMiller
Info: I ascended the ridge to it's summit, then headed south to Pt. 13768, and then hit Holy Cross. I used the standard route to get back to my vehicle, making for a nice 10hr loop of the area. The very small sections of snow were easily avoidable. Have fun out there!