12/26/2022 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 12/27/2022, By: randallson Info: Parked at the winter closure. The road up had a faint snowmobile track from a week or two ago. Tigiwon community house was locked but a window was open. The outhouse at the summer trailhead was also locked. The snowshoeing from here on out was laborious. However, the summer trail was relatively easy to follow and route finding was not an issue. I set up camp at Half Moon Pass. The next morning I took the winter detour to avoid any avalanche concerns on the summer trail. It was deep and tedious snowshoeing down and then up to treeline. The ridge above treeline was was mostly bare rock and was a nice reprieve. |
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10/29/2022 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 10/30/2022, By: isaacbauman Info: The North Ridge route from the trailhead took 13 hours (7am-8pm). We needed headlamps as darkness set in before we could finish. The snow we encountered was not packed at all. Once the trail reaches 12,000 feet the snow gets up to waist deep in places with hidden rocks everywhere underneath. Progress significantly slowed at this point and snowshoes would be a must (we didn't have). Everyone's shins were really banged up after the hike. Most of the group had to turn around at 13,400 feet. This weekend was likely one of the last slightly doable weekend's before the road closes. |
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10/17/2022 Route: Halo Ridge Posted On: 10/17/2022, By: tylerreedjohnson Info: Holy Cross and Halo Ridge are gorgeous right now with a mild amount of snow. Very little snow to worry about on the ridge proper and none of it poses any problems, no need for spikes etc. ( Do being those spikes if you're descending down North Ridge though, first mile down is steep and icey) |
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10/16/2022 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 10/16/2022, By: climbingyogi Info: Beautiful day on HC! Absolutely no wind. There's snow along the ridge that's pretty well-packed down to the summit. Definitely recommend bringing spikes though. Left the TH at 8:40am, summitted at 12:45. Stayed on the summit til 1:45pm. Back to car at 5:15pm. Came across the flowers and sign in the last photo on the descent. Does anyone know if it's some type of memorial? |
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10/2/2022 Route: Halo Ridge Posted On: 10/2/2022, By: colin j Info: Snowy, like the rest of the Sawatch. I bailed just beyond Notch Mountain Shelter. Continuous snow starts near treeline and ranges from 2 to 6 inches. Getting to notch shelter isn't difficult; the boulder hopping beyond is very tedious right now; lots of trapdoors and slick rock. Given how slow I was going and today's narrow weather window I turned around about a quarter mile beyond the shelter. |
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9/18/2022 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 9/18/2022, By: ballardwf04 Info: Today was a beautiful bluebird day on MHC. Mostly summer conditions, albeit with dustings of snow near the summit. Beginning to get more chilly, so pack layers for crisper fall ascents. Overall a gorgeous hike with some solid elevation gain. |
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9/4/2022 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 9/4/2022, By: Heisler56 Info: Found a smart watch on the summit 9/4. Message me on Facebook to get it back! @tony.heisler.1 |
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9/3/2022 Route: Halo Ridge Posted On: 9/3/2022, By: swilson753 Info: Up Halo, down standard. Perfect day on Halo Ridge. Only saw one other person on Halo all day, despite it being a holiday weekend. Echoing other comments - This is a serious ridge and should only be attempted by the fit/experienced and with no chance of weather. It took us 4.5 hours to get from the shelter cabin to the summit and another 2 hours to get back to treeline. We packed 3 liters of water each and ran out on the summit. We refilled another liter each at the creek on the way out. Camel up! |
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8/29/2022 Route: Halo Ridge Posted On: 8/30/2022, By: headsizeburrito Info: Some old graupel accumulated in shady spots here and there, but otherwise everything is clear. Good reminder to be prepared for weather, but great conditions all day. Strong flow in East Cross Creek. |
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8/11/2022 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 8/11/2022, By: Clay5981 Info: Started off early afternoon from the Half Moon Trailhead, and arrived at the East Cross Creek (in about 1 hour, 45 minutes) for camping in the designated campsites. These 10 campsites are first come, first serve. There seemed to be plenty of availibility, but during the weekends I would anticipate that these filll-up occasionally. We started off around 6:30 am from the site the following morning, and summitted in about 2 hours and 40 minutes. The trail is essentially class 1 except for the final pitch to the top, which involves scrambling and greater route-finding. Thank you to the amazing Colorado Fourteener Intitiave volunteers who put in so much work (passed a few on this trip) to make these trails so great! This is a perfect 14er to backpack if you're looking to split of the mileage over two days. Total time was about 6.5 hours from start to finish (hike time). Additional note: If you're looking to see the cross outline, consider the Halo Ridge route, as the actual Holy Cross is not visible from the standard route. |
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8/3/2022 Route: Halo Ridge Posted On: 8/6/2022, By: LoneLobo Info: Ascended via Fall Creek Trail to Halo Ridge, around the Bowl of Tears, then down the standard North Ridge route. Was partly cloudy all day, but the weather held fine. I started at 5:40 AM and made it down in early afternoon. Bring a lot of water. I brought over 4 qts, and ended up re-filling another quart at East Cross Creek (before hiking back over Half Moon Pass.) I accidentally left my Victorinox "Swiss Tool Spirit" multi-tool (similar to a Leatherman) lying on the ground, on east side of East Cross Creek. It's on the upstream side of the trail. (If you're approaching the creek while heading toward Mt of Holy Cross, then it's on your left side, right as you get to the creek.) If anyone finds it, I'd love to have it back, and I'll give you a finder's reward. Happy trails. |
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8/1/2022 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 8/2/2022, By: Istoodupthere Info: Ascended standard route, descended Halo Ridge. Started descending Holy Cross at 9:55am. Skies looked fine and forecast wasn't calling for storms so decided to do halo ridge on way back. Dark clouds started rolling in while descending the centennial. Bad spot to be in bad weather. Luckily only some light rain/hail. No trail/cairns on the ridge. Route is pretty self explanatory though. Way too many unnecessary switchbacks imo |
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7/23/2022 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 7/25/2022, By: Split_the_FR Info: Arrived at the half moon trailhead / started up at 6:15. The road was easy to navigate up and there was plenty of parking on the side of the road as the lot was full. As I made it up half moon pass, I noticed the mounting clouds to the west - this could be trouble later on. Nevertheless I trudged on, down the pass and back up to approach the base of the mountain. There were on an off showers almost all the way up to the summit however there was no thunder / lighting to be seen or heard. The trail is very well marked all the way up to the summit with constant cairns in site. The trail is also in great shape - no mud, minimal scree, and most class 2 consists of large/sturdy boulder hopping (even with wet/rainy conditions) Reached the summit by 9:25, stayed up top and ate a sandwich for 20 min and headed down at 9:45. The trail down was just as easy as it was on the way up. As advertised, going back up half moon pass is kind of a pain but that's just the way she goes! T-storms, rain got full on by the time I was back up half moon pass - good thing I brought my rain jacket. Back at the car by 12:20pm - awesome trail, (as long as you can stomach going back up half moon pass as I assume most of yall can/ have done worse) would recommend! |
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7/20/2022 Route: Halo Ridge Posted On: 7/21/2022, By: 14ercooper Info: Up Halo, down the standard route. Super fun day, dry all the way to the summit and back, though mosquitos on the way back definitely were annoying. Super pretty up there (even if the cross has mostly melted out by this point). |
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7/14/2022 Route: Halo Ridge Posted On: 7/17/2022, By: hick5054 Info: Drove up the night before in Hyundai Santa Fe Sport. Made it up the 8 miles on Tigiwon Rd. easy with 7.3" of ground clearance and saw cars in the Half Moon Campground with less. Started at Holy Cross TH at 6:00am and was on top by 9:30am. The trail is very well marked and maintained. Took the Halo ridge route which was a little difficult even with GPS. Mostly route finding and scrambling the whole way but it's pretty clear where you need to be going the whole time. Barely any snow; had to cross about 6" of snow one time the whole way. Worth it to get a good view of the cross, see the Notch Mountain Shelter, and skip going back up the 1000-ish foot descent from the beginning of the route. Got back to Half Moon Campground around 3:00pm. |
