Lost Hiker on Mt Holy Cross

[Bill G]

I spent the past 3 days hiking near Minturn. The snow level is about 8500'. So it's going to be mid July until you can really get into 10,000'+. The rivers have barely started to rise and Aspen has reopened for skiing.

The map that got posted of James' itinerary always struck me as odd. An elite hiker/climber would have about a 5% chance of accomplishing this. It involes a first ascent of ECC. I often tell people that a descent of ECC is suicidal. I never get why flatlanders believe this is a path. You won't find any books, web posts, etc. that describe this section. You are talking about a 1,000'+ vertical in less than a mile. In other words, this is a cliff. It would require ropes and technical gear.

The first day of the trip is reasonable. After that it goes to impossible. The 2nd day has ascents of both Fall Creek and Fancy Passes, both over 12,000'. Then a 400' climb to Harvey Lake, if one can find the hidden trail. I'd bet most people would call it a day at Fancy Lake. ECC never happened. If he got this far, the question would be whether he got across Cross Creek and if so, how many falls down ECC. I really do not believe there was ever an attempt at ECC.

The planned climbs to Lake Patricia and Bowl of Tears are difficult scrambles. They make for good views from Notch but I've never been to either because of where they're located. You either climb up HC or go to these lakes. The smart way to these lakes is down from Notch, then reclimb Notch and return to Half Moon parking lot. Most people choose the 14er climb. The climb up HC is fairly difficult. I've summitted about half a dozen times. The latest, last August. My first attempt was unsuccessful because I got a late start. The boulder field is brutal. Once you get to the cornice you think you're almost there. Then the climbing really starts.

I stick with my earlier assessment that he never got to Fall Creek Pass.

The typical search involves both the Fall Creek and Cross Creek trails. It covers the area between Tuhare and Notch. Blodgett Lake gets searched as well. ECC gets searched at top and bottom. The heaviest use area is around Missouri Lakes. Everything along Homestake Road get investigated because this is the easiest bail-out area. Getting to Whitney Lake from Whitney Peak is another technical climb.

Since Lake Constantine sees a fair amount of day hiker and bpers, there's a chance that a clue could surface this summer. These accidential discoveries are much more likely than an intentional effort.

[shaunster_co]

Bill –
I tend to agree on the ECC route. We down-climbed that area in November about 50 meters west of the SAR tape all the way to the CC drainage ..it’s brutal. At the time both my partner and I had about a 40 lb pack weight, I can’t imagine anyone getting up the ECC with much more than that. There is a shelf area that ‘could’ be taken just west of the ECC (I like to refer to it as a gradual ramp). We were not able to make it to that area before the snow came. However, as I think it was pointed out earlier, it was nearly impossible to make it across Cross Creek to intersect that ‘ramp’.

The other area of interest was from Constantine Lake – straight down the drainage. Perhaps one believing (or breaking trail) that one could somehow return to Fall Creek Trail further down the drainage. It’s just my inclination that if a person were to venture down that drainage you would naturally be forced south toward the opposite side of Fall Creek.

What is your opinion on that?

I concentrated more on the ECC area last fall, but after sighting all the evidence I am leaning more toward Fall Creek.. In other words, nothing past Constantine.

I agree the odds are against finding anything, and especially to the untrained eye after a snowmelt. However, it’s my opinion that highest likelihood of spotting a clue after snowmelt / prior to growth is pretty high. I realize there are differences as to how big / heavy his pack was. But I think we can all safely agree on 40-50lbs. The probability of ‘critter scatter’ on that much gear is pretty high.. A pack and all it's contents simply do not disappear. I think this alone separates the probability of finding a clue from James over that of Michelle Vanek – who had VERY little [read: hardly any] gear.

Lastly, if James had last been seen on the boulder fields of HC – I think the likelihood of finding a clue would be exponentially lower. As we all know, some of those boulders are bigger than cars, and create caves that are endless. I side on the theory that something went wrong either at Constantine or ECC. Both areas are rigged with hazards.

I realize this is public forum, and I don’t want to be the one condoning anyone to go in to either area if they do not know what they are getting in to. Fact of the matter though, people are going to go looking in those areas whether it is posted here or not, so may as well keep this thread alive and keep updates on who has been where and what to expect.

Thoughts?

[crossfitter]

FWIW...

My partner and I went up the ECC drainage to lake pratricia to camp before doing the cross couloir last summer. We stayed way right (west) and above the creek the entire ascent, but had trouble following the trail and ended up having to downclimb several small rock bands. After breaking down camp the next day, we [foolishly] descended climber's left (east) of the creek. It started off pretty passable, but quickly became a very exposed, spooky downclimb in a couple of sections. We did manage to do it with overnight packs, but I definitely wouldn't do it again. The terrain is certainly more severe than the topo would seem to indicate.

[catlyoung]

James probably never made it past the camp at the lake the first night. The person who met him on the trail the first day felt "he was moving slowly almost impaired". I still think he made camp at the lake & woke up feeling sick & tried to walk out. He may have walked off trail in an attempt to get back to the trail head or met his demise at the trail head.

1-Walked off trail & was injured

2-Made it back to the trail head only to run into some bad hombre's. Parked cars at the HC trail head get broken into a lot.


Aloha & be well

I am confused by who saw him the first day and said he was walking slow almost impaired? Can you shed any information on this? I have talked with someone who saw him on Fall Creek trail near the Notch mountain trail which this person said he did not go up. This person had a brief conversation with him but said he seemed in good shape just perspiring. It was a warm day that day and he did have on long sleeves and a 40 to 50 pound pack. The only other people we were told that saw him was a man and wife who did not talk to him but saw him turn to head towards Lake Constantine. My son was known to hike slow and steady, though that doesn't mean he wasn't having problems with the altitude. I have also wondered if he didn't go back to the trail head and try to hitch a ride so he could get to a phone to call his friends to come back and get him and met with some tragedy from the person(s) he hitched a ride with. All the family knows is that he made it as far as Lake Constantine. From there it is a mystery as to what way he went, where he went, and what happened. Has anyone considered using cadaver dogs to search with?

[oscarchicago]

Hi All!
I can't wait to arrive in CO to hike the route James took. I will be joining a group of 10 others from Chicago arriving the first week of July. We are backpacking to memorialize James' passion, his love of the hike/backpack.
Thanks to all that have shared their thoughts and experiences on this thread.
O

[randalmartin]

Hi All!
I can wait to arrive in CO to hike the route James took. I will be joining a group of 10 others from Chicago arriving the first week of July. We are backpacking to memorialize James' passion, his love of the hike/backpack.
Thanks to all that have shared their thoughts and experiences on this thread.
O

Check out this thread here http://www.14ers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=30408" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Conditions and the road status may not allow you do that. I would keep in touch with the Forest Service about your plans. Hate to have you come all that way only to be turned away.

[catlyoung]

Hi All!
I can wait to arrive in CO to hike the route James took. I will be joining a group of 10 others from Chicago arriving the first week of July. We are backpacking to memorialize James' passion, his love of the hike/backpack.
Thanks to all that have shared their thoughts and experiences on this thread.
O

Check out this thread here viewtopic.php?f=2&t=30408

Conditions and the road status may not allow you do that. I would keep in touch with the Forest Service about your plans. Hate to have you come all that way only to be turned away.

Well, this isn't news I wanted to hear but the Forest Service has to do what it has to do to make thinkg safe for hikers. Hope someone will be able to make it in and search for James. Please be safe anyone that goes into the area and if you find any clue, too small isn't too small, report it to Vail Moutain Rescue. Anyone out in the area searching, please send vail your GPS reading or verbally where you searched so they can keep track. That is a request I have had from them. One can also call the Eagle County Sherriff office with information. God Bless you all for still thnking of my son.
Cathy James' mom.

[gothiclove]

I just wanted to pass along the information about a couple years ago when we had a big snowpack in the spring, but not near as big as the current one.
I tried to do a 4 day backpack into the Upper Cross Creek area from both the Woods Creek side (west) and the Missouri Pass side (east). I was turned back by the sheer amount of snow and postholing conditions on the west side and even though I managed to get up Missouri Pass from the east, there was enough snow in the area of Upper Cross Creek to go backcountry skiing Missouri Pass to Fancy Pass in the Upper Cross Creek basin was full. The east side of Fancy Pass holds snow in the same way. I satisfied myself with 2 nights on Missouri Pass itself and went no farther. The date for that trip was July 13-16.
Although the Fall Creek trail may have slightly better conditions early in July this year, coming the distance you are for this trip, I would postpone it for at least a week or two. You must understand, we have had a 40+ year RECORD snowfall this last season. Good-luck.

[gothiclove]

Additional information about access to Mt of the Holy Cross and Holy Cross Wilderness area trailheads: http://www.vaildaily.com/article/201106 ... ofile=1062" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Tigiwon Road to be closed the entire summer for forest mitigation. Best access to the area will probably be from the Missouri Lakes/Fancy Pass trailheads off Homestake Road.

[catlyoung]

Additional information about access to Mt of the Holy Cross and Holy Cross Wilderness area trailheads: http://www.vaildaily.com/article/201106 ... ofile=1062" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Tigiwon Road to be closed the entire summer for forest mitigation. Best access to the area will probably be from the Missouri Lakes/Fancy Pass trailheads off Homestake Road.

Thanks for your information. It is necessary to promote safety for hikers for the future but is a disappointment for me in the hopes of someone finding the remains of my son.

[gothiclove]

A lot of people will still be out there looking. There are many ways to access the Holy Cross Wilderness. Tigiwon Road is not the only game in town.

[noyesgordon]

Hi All!
I can't wait to arrive in CO to hike the route James took. I will be joining a group of 10 others from Chicago arriving the first week of July. We are backpacking to memorialize James' passion, his love of the hike/backpack.
Thanks to all that have shared their thoughts and experiences on this thread.
O

We ran into another hiker that was up looking at the trail conditions. She told of us James and mentioned that your group would be heading in to hike the same route the first week of July. I posted some videos so you could see how challenging the first mile to 2 miles in might be as of 6-25-2011.

We lost the trail once and had to re-trace back 400 feet before finding it again. There is still considerable snowpack that is melting making conditions difficult. Hopefully, you have a guide that is experienced with "fancy pass #2006"... we could get to Zen Bridge but conditions only got worse after that. God Bless

http://youtu.be/arOtBPfrJUM
http://youtu.be/Z757vMUWYUY