Lost Hiker on Mt Holy Cross

by **cnelsonwaters** » 09 Aug 2011, 13:42

djkest wrote:Hi Christy, thanks for the summary. This makes me want to reconsider and do holy cross despite the access issues. Unfortunately it would be much more luck than skill at this point finding him based on the searching that was done by SAR and by individuals last year.

LUCK AND PRAYS ARE ALL WE CAN GO ON RIGHT NOW....NEVER GIVE UP....JUST KEEP HIKING

by **mattpayne11** » 09 Aug 2011, 13:43

I have had a lot of thoughts about James ever since October and hope that resolution can be found soon. I had originally posted some questions but I see that most if not all of them have already been answered!

Good luck in the search for James!

by **djkest** » 09 Aug 2011, 15:00

Matt,
I understand your good intentions but most of these questions have been beaten to death earlier in the thread. It's no secret that HC area is one where it isn't difficult to get lost. Because of the time of the year that this happened, it is surely possible for this to be correct without any foul play or alterior motives. It started to get cold and snowy right around this time.

I can say that James had plenty of backpacking experience and he was probably equipped with 45lbs of gear and not 80. If he spent extra money and research on getting lightweight gear would he really be equipped with 80 lbs?

Edit: changed 40 lbs to 45 lbs... based on sheer weight of his backpack.

by **Erik2** » 17 Aug 2011, 10:57

Hi all,

First of all, to Christy, Cathy, and all of James' friends and family: I can't even begin to imagine how hard the past year must have been, and hope that if nothing else, you have been able to sense the genuine concern and sadness of all of those who love the mountains out here. We all continue to believe that one of us will eventually stumble across something that may help to bring some measure of closure for all of you.

I'm planning to slip out for a long day hike or two after the kids are back in school and before the snow arrives again. Since I just want to get up high in a pretty place, I'm planning to hike through some sections of the route James planned to take. I completely agree with the earlier comment by djkest that after the comprehensive searches of the entire area last year by SAR and several folks on this site, it will just be a matter of luck for someone like me without any formal training to spot anything useful at this point.

Despite the long odds, I will be keeping my eyes open (and should have along a cheap but reasonably effective spotting scope we bought for a recent trip to see grizzlies in Yellowstone), so figured it was worth posting my tentative plans in case any of you who know the area best have any thoughts regarding specific places that may be worth scanning more closely. Since access is tough this year at the beginning of his route, I'll most likely hike the second half of his route during my first trip, then possibly follow Shaun's directions for the east side of Fancy Pass later in the fall. I plan to take a long day hike up Cross Creek, probably from the Cross Creek Trailhead, or possibly going up Martin Creek and back Cross Creek. If I successfully target a day with good weather and no thunderstorms, I hope to get up to the turnoff toward Fancy Pass, yielding views of the entire west side of Holy Cross and Cross Creek drainage along the way.

As an aside, I know that one of Cathy's foremost wishes is for all of those out looking for James to stay safe. So, a quick note just so I don't raise any concerns that I will inadvertently create new issues for SAR. I know this will be a long hike, but have done several this long in the past, including Snowmass and Whitney as 20+ mile dayhikes (not sure I'd do that again, but that's another story...), so I think I should be able to safely do a hike of this length as long as I avoid getting into technical terrain off trail. I will finalize and leave details of the plan with my family before I go, and plan to stick exclusively to the trails for similar reasons (and due to my nonexistent technical skills...).

A few specific questions / requests for input:

1. I know Tigiwon is still closed. In spring of 2010 Bill posted a trailhead update that said "the gate closure is 0.7 miles up from the bottom of the Tigiwon road", and his description looks like it matches a gate shown on the Trails Illustrated map. Does anyone who has been through there this year happen to know if this is also the closure point for this summer, or if the road is closed all the way down at 24? (I'm mostly interested in how many miles it will add to get to the Cross Creek trailhead if I decide to go in that way).

2. I'll be sure to watch the creek closely the entire way for any signs that may have emerged during the spring runoff, and will definitely carefully scan the entire East Cross Creek drainage. If anyone has any thoughts regarding other specific areas to scan more closely along this route I'd be excited to hear them (Shaun and Makalu, see specific questions below).

3. Shaun, if you happen to see this: one location that clearly seemed to warrant a long look is the ramp heading up from Reeds Meadow toward the East Cross Creek drainage that you describe in this trip report: http://www.14ers.com/php14ers/tripreport.php?trip=9383. I'm just trying to make sure that I have a correct sense where this is, so marked it on the terrain map below. Does this look about right based on your memory of the area?

4. I'm 99% certain that we would have heard something if there was anything on it, but just to be sure: I assume no new information was obtained from the camera that was found in this trip report by Makalu? http://www.14ers.com/php14ers/tripreport.php?trip=10242. (about halfway through, the report mentions that Eagle county SAR was looking at the camera to see if any of the images could be read). Assuming that the results were inconclusive, I figure this location would be another good place to scan carefully, so also attempted to mark this approximate location based on the trip report. Makalu, if you happen to see this, does that look approximately correct to you?

: Holy Cross.jpg (90.83 KiB) Viewed 5239 times

(Cathy and Christy, I know this entire thing is awful beyond words, and apologize in advance if my final question adds to that.)

5. Finally, if a person's remains have been in the woods for this long (or potentially were buried during the winter and only emerged recently during the spring runoff), are there any less obvious signs I watch for? For example, would there tend to be birds circling over the area or other things along those lines?

Thanks to all for any input. Stay safe out there.

Erik

by **shaunster_co** » 17 Aug 2011, 11:34

Erik;

Yes that is the ramp area I am referring to. It seems like a likely ascent route from the CC drainage to the ECC drainage when approaching from the west to east down that drainage, or route of least resistance for lack of better words.

Also; to your question #1 on Tigiwon - the gate resides roughly where the Cross Creek Trailhead is roughly .7 miles from HWY 24.

I should mention, when I was in there with Lacee a few weeks ago (we did the route from Hunky Dory Lake TH, to Tuhare Lakes, summit, and then spent a day around Constantine Lake area), we did find a bag of items in a plastic trash bag, REI pants, shirt, socks, etc that had been there through the winter and had significant critter damage. We also found some other debris. I photographed everything we saw and forwarded the GPS information to VSAR and the Eagle County SO, and they did followup with a further search of the area. These items were found on the S/SE side of Constantine up the drainage in the woods. I have not posted about it because I did not want to give false hope. My advice is this though - If you do find items, no matter how insignificant you think they might be - just mark them as a waypoint on the GPS (or map), and probably leave the items in situ, and /or photograph them. Let VSAR and the Eagle County SO decide if it warrants a further search. As it turns out I do not think the items we found belonged to James [unverified], but they are consistent with what a backpacker or scout would do (wrapping them in a plastic bag that is).

I think two areas of interest [my opinion only] is the CC / ECC area up to the Halfmoon Trail. I will state the obvious and say be very careful in there. My own experience in that drainage - specifically the bushwhack route - it is steep with hidden cliffs, deadfall, and some loose debris. Most of that drainage once you leave Cross Creek and proceed up East Cross Creek is in a satellite footprint (PLB's, Spot, GPS, even cell do not work). The other area is Constantine, and possibly the ridge line above it (where the trees begin). I actually want to go back in there again this Fall to the Constantine area above the lake, particularly the ridge adjacent to Notch Mountain extending down to the Halfmoon Campground.

My own reasoning tells me you may not find much - but you will likely find 'gear scatter' under the growth resembling a skier 'yard sale'. There are many items he had will not biodegrade anytime soon, including trekking poles. Again, these are just my opinions.

Be safe in there Erik, let me know if I can be of any further help.

Edit: This is a photo from last year when we were in there. I denoted 'the ramp' in the photo with a red arrow above where Elle is pointing in the photo. This was taken across the drainage just down a ways from Reeds Meadow.

by **djkest** » 17 Aug 2011, 13:41

Malaku and the found camera:
http://www.14ers.com/php14ers/tripreport.php?trip=10242&parmpeak=Mt.+of+the+Holy+Cross&cpgm=tripmain&ski=Include

I'm afraid the window for snow-free searching is open now but will be closing soon. It's still possible that some could make it up in this area to take a look around.
I'm guessing that neither the found clothing or the found camera have contributed to this SAR effort?

by **catlyoung** » 17 Aug 2011, 18:35

djkest wrote:Malaku and the found camera:
http://www.14ers.com/php14ers/tripreport.php?trip=10242&parmpeak=Mt.+of+the+Holy+Cross&cpgm=tripmain&ski=Include

I'm afraid the window for snow-free searching is open now but will be closing soon. It's still possible that some could make it up in this area to take a look around.
I'm guessing that neither the found clothing or the found camera have contributed to this SAR effort?

I do not know anything regarding the camera that was found and if SAR was able to retrieve any photos from the card. My guess is that being exposed to the elements probably did the camera and card in so it is ulikely that any photos could be pulled off of it.

Regarding the clothing that Shaun found that was retrieved by SAR, I do not believe it to be James'. James always packed clothing in ziplock bags which this bag was not. Although the pants found were REI brand the waist size is too small I believe to have been James'. The other articles of clothing don't fit what James had packed. I was hopeful that some clue had been found, but I am afraid that has been ruled out.
Thank you all for keeping us in your thoughts and for your efforts in going out to HCW to look. I can't express how much I appreciate the efforts of all to help us find closure and resolution.
Please be safe and do not take any chances on your endevors to HCW whether it be to just hike or to look. This wilderness, though very beautiful, is also very rough and dangerous.
God Bless you all and walk with you.
Cathy Nelson

by **Erik2** » 17 Aug 2011, 21:41

Shaun, thanks for the additional info and input - really helpful. And Cathy, I truly appreciate and understand your concern for all who have looked for James this past year and those who continue to do so in the future. I know it would only multiply the pain for you, Christy, and the rest of James' family and friends if someone else got hurt while out looking for him.

Along those lines, I will be extremely careful, and completely agree with and will heed the advice of Shaun and others re: the ECC drainage. I plan to stay on or near the main trail the whole way up the valley, and will just systematically scan the CC/ECC confluence, ECC drainage, and CC itself every few hundred yards, just in case a view from a slightly different angle happens to reveal something that was concealed during the extensive previous searches that were completed. If there is anything of note, I'll tag the location and pass it along to the professionals for a closer look. And in the likely event that I don't see anything, it will be a beautiful hike that I deeply need after a hectic summer.

I'm still figuring out when I'll be able to clear my schedule enough to head up there, but will post at least a brief synopsis when I get back. Everybody stay safe out there.

Erik

by **djkest** » 18 Aug 2011, 08:23

catlyoung wrote:I do not know anything regarding the camera that was found and if SAR was able to retrieve any photos from the card. My guess is that being exposed to the elements probably did the camera and card in so it is ulikely that any photos could be pulled off of it.

Do you happen to know the exact make/model of Jame's camera that he would have with him?

Based on what I know of flash memory cards, they are pretty durable and so it's possible, if it was dried completely before they attempted to recover, that some or all of the photos on the card would be retrievable.

However, being found near a creek, it may be possible that the camera was carried downstream by water? Or not. It does appear though that there is a lot of "junk" around that area, and not every clue found will be relevant to this case.

by **catlyoung** » 18 Aug 2011, 16:44

djkest wrote:
catlyoung wrote:I do not know anything regarding the camera that was found and if SAR was able to retrieve any photos from the card. My guess is that being exposed to the elements probably did the camera and card in so it is ulikely that any photos could be pulled off of it.

Do you happen to know the exact make/model of Jame's camera that he would have with him?

Based on what I know of flash memory cards, they are pretty durable and so it's possible, if it was dried completely before they attempted to recover, that some or all of the photos on the card would be retrievable.

However, being found near a creek, it may be possible that the camera was carried downstream by water? Or not. It does appear though that there is a lot of "junk" around that area, and not every clue found will be relevant to this case.

We think James had a Pentax Optio 540 camera with him which operates on 2 AA batteries. The photos that were retrieved from the found camera have been ruled out as belonging to James.

Thanks to all that alert SAR on anything that is found in the wilderness. It is comforting to know that people are still remembering my son and trying to help by letting SAR know about anything unusual they see or find in the wilderness. Thank you so much. All we have is hope and prayers to go on and the kindness of all that hike.
Cathy

by **Erik2** » 23 Aug 2011, 13:12

I managed to slip out of town for a quick overnight trip to Holy Cross wilderness last Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, so figured I'd post a summary in case anyone is tracking where folks have been this summer in the general area where James disappeared.

Most importantly: Cathy, I'm really sorry that I don't have better news, but unfortunately saw no sign of James. I scanned both sides of the trail throughout all three hikes and scanned most of East Cross Creek drainage from above during hike #3.

Did three hikes: (1) about 3.5 miles up Cross Creek from Cross Creek Trailhead (plus an extra 3.5 miles or so along Tigiwon road due to the closure), (2) about 1/2 mile past Fancy Pass from Fancy Lake trailhead, and (3) up Martin Creek trail from Minturn almost to the junction with Cross Creek Trail, directly across from the East Cross Creek drainage. As part of hikes 1 or 3 I had planned to hike up Cross Creek as far as Reeds Meadow or possibly even Harvey Lake so that I could see up the most obvious ascent routes into ECC from the Cross Creek trail, but didn't make it that far for reasons described in more detail below.

A few observations / safety notes:
1. It's an amazingly beautiful place with incredible views in every direction, but I have to admit that I hadn't fully appreciated the ruggedness of the terrain. It was easy to imagine how quickly one could get turned around if bushwacking or off the trail.

2. Signs of this year's deep snowpack and heavy runoff are everywhere, especially on the Cross Creek side of the wilderness (see note below about washed out bridge under hike #1 if you are thinking about heading up Cross Creek). Still lots of bugs, wildflowers over my head in places, and many sections of trail that are overgrown and hard to follow. The pic below shows a typical stretch of "trail" through one of the slightly less overgrown meadows along Martin Creek, and the grass / flowers were 3 - 4 X taller in many places. I was very glad that I had my GPS along just in case I lost the trail and needed to backtrack, and trekking poles helped a lot by making it easier to push aside the tall grass enough to confirm that I was indeed on the trail (and to avoid stepping in any hidden holes, etc.).

: Martin_creek.jpg (131.5 KiB) Viewed 1413 times

3. It's a good idea to stay alert when hiking through the areas of beetle-killed trees. Despite a nice day with winds that never got stronger than about 15 mph max, I saw one large tree fall and heard another come down within an hour of the first, both within 50 yards of the trail. This is the first time I've ever witnessed a tree falling in person in several hundred days of hiking in Colorado. Maybe just the law of averages catching up with me, but it definitely got my attention.

4. And finally, just for what its worth: In light of the elevation gain required to cross the passes, the extremely difficult terrain and trail conditions at several points along his route, and most importantly, the lack of sightings after Lake Constantine (or perhaps HC City if the search dog was right), my own gut feeling (and obviously nothing more than that) is consistent with the thoughts of Shaun, Bill, and others. It seems most likely that he ran into trouble closer to the beginning of his route, and didn't make it to the Cross Creek side of the wilderness.

Additional details about the hiking routes for anyone who is interested:

Hike #1: Cross Creek trail: At least on the day I was up there (last Thursday 8/18) Tigiwon was closed about 1/4 mile from 91, which adds about 3.5 miles round trip to any hike up Cross Creek. In addition, the runoff has washed out the bridge over Cross Creek about a mile in from the trailhead (they were in the process of reconstruction when I passed through, so hopefully it may be in place again soon). The stream flow is not too bad at this point in the summer, but it still was not trivial to find a place to safely cross, especially when coming back in the late afternoon after the remaining snow had been melting all day up high. Due to a slightly delayed start from home and the extra time spent on those two issues, I realized early in the hike that I couldn't make it to Reeds Meadow with sufficient daylight remaining to get out safely before dark (and since I was by myself I was more than a little paranoid about losing the overgrown trail in fading light and having an epic bushwacking experience). I ended up turning around about a mile past a little heart shaped lake that is almost directly north of Holy Cross, probably 3 1/2 miles or so in from Cross Creek Trailhead and about 5.5 miles from 91.

Hike #2: Fancy Pass at dusk on Thursday. I know this route has been searched extensively by SAR and others, and mostly just wanted to check it out for selfish reasons since I had a few hours of daylight left. I always wondered if it would be possible to follow HC ridge all the way from the pass to the top of MHC, but this hike convinced me that this probably isn't realistic (at least for me). Light was getting fairly low during the second half of the hike, but I did scan around as much as I could and didn't see anything. In addition to the areas right along the trail, I also scanned most of the first mile or so of the rugged little box canyon where Fancy Creek flows out of Fancy Lake.

Hike #3: On Friday I decided to try one more time to get deeper into the Cross Creek drainage, but this time used an alternative approach via Martin Creek trail out of Minturn. This trail is nearly parallel to the Cross Creek trail but about 1,000 feet higher, so I thought it might have some decent views down into the ECC drainage. This turned out to be both correct and incorrect - the pic below shows the view from just a few yards off the trail about 3 miles in from the trailhead. A cool overview of the entire cirque from Notch mountain around Holy Cross Ridge to MHC, with clear views of most of the standard route and Angelica coulour. Unfortunately, from this angle trees blocked the view of the first few hundred vertical feet upward from Cross Creek into East Cross Creek drainage (the route that James planned to take). At the time I took the initial pics I wasn't too worried about this, because I figured that I'd get much better views of that terrain as I got down closer to Cross Creek trail.

: HC_from_Martin_creek.jpg (134.24 KiB) Viewed 1413 times

After about 6 miles the Martin Creek trail ends at a signed junction for the Grouse Mountain trail, and the left fork at the junction heads down about a mile to join Cross Creek trail. This section of trail was initially well-defined, then became more and more overgrown as it passed through a series of small meadows, finally heading back into the trees about a half mile before and maybe 400 feet above the junction with the Cross Creek trail. Just after it enters the trees the trail crosses a small gully that funnels runoff from a large area of terrain above the trail. The heavy spring runoff had clearly moved a lot of large trees around and down the mountain, and the trail disappeared into a jumbled mess of somewhat unstable deadfall at this point. I tried several routes through this section and was unable to find the trail emerging on the other side, so went back to the middle of the deadfall and stopped to check my GPS again. I'm sure that the trail would eventually have been obvious if I had made a few more attempts, but as I was looking down at my GPS I shifted my foot slightly for better balance, and in the process somehow poked a hole in a nest of yellowjackets.

Before I left home I thought I had prepared for most potential contingencies, but have to admit that this one wasn't on my list. I apologize if any of you were down in the valley below me at that moment, because I think I invented about a dozen new curse words during the 15 seconds it took to get away from the nest and back into the previous meadow. Once back into the clearing I looked back and realized that despite getting stung 8 - 10 times, I was actually really lucky, as there was a huge cloud of bees about ten feet across buzzing around the area of the nest. While I definitely don't plan to have this experience again anytime soon, the swarm was actually a pretty amazing thing to see firsthand (and I suppose I can't really blame them, since I did stomp on their house...). In any event, they fortunately just seemed to want me to get away from the nest, and didn't show any interest in following me once I was out of the immediate vicinity.

After the adrenaline subsided, a younger version of myself probably would have bushwacked a bit to explore alternate routes above or below the washed out section of the trail. However, as a result of either a distinct lack of courage and mettle or too many years of accrued wisdom, I decided that this was the end of the road for me that day. I'm still hoping to get back up one more time before the snow comes to stay, but plan to head to the other side to climb Whitney and/or Notch Mtn from the parking below Holy Cross City that Shaun described in his reports this summer.

by **Erik2** » 23 Aug 2011, 13:36

Just in case others are interested in the Martin Creek trail as an alternative to Cross Creek during the Tigiwon closure (or simply want a chance to wrestle some angry bees), thought I'd post a bit of beta re: the somewhat obscure trailhead. Although the trail is clearly marked on most maps, I didn't see a single sign in town indicating the location of the trailhead, and ended up wasting quite a bit of time wandering around just after dawn before I finally spotted it.

It's about 2.3 miles from the exit ramp of I-70, near the south end of Minturn. You will pass the Battle Mountain Trading Post on the right, then turn right between a "do not pass" sign and a blue house onto an unlikely looking dirt road (pic below).

: road.jpg (128.29 KiB) Viewed 1302 times

About 100 yards up this road is an open area that may be an informal parking area for the trail, but it wasn't clearly marked and is definitely surrounded by private land. Because it was too early to ask anyone the day I was there, I was worried I'd return to a towed car and hefty fine, so went back and parked along the highway in town and walked in.

Once you are in the open area, the signed trailhead is about 100 yards up the hill to the left (left side of pic). You don't want the faint trail that heads directly up the hill from the parking area (right side of pic).

: Martin_creek_thead.jpg (128.77 KiB) Viewed 1313 times

Once you find the trailhead, the trail itself is reasonably straightforward other than the overgrowth in some of the meadows described in the previous post (the flowers and plants are especially high in the first mile or so, but it gets much better as the trail gains elevation). The one place I got a bit confused was at an old cabin about 3 miles in from Minturn (pic below).

: Martin_creek_cabin.jpg (142.3 KiB) Viewed 1311 times

Between about the 1 mile mark and the cabin the trail is an old jeep road that is about ten feet wide and nearly impossible to lose, then the trail seems to simply end at the cabin (probably because the cabin really was the end of the road when it was still in use long ago). However, a much more faint trail continues past the cabin (around the left side in the picture) and through the trees into the next meadow - this new trail should be fairly obvious once you find it, and becomes especially clear after you fight through another 200 yards or so of tall plants just past the cabin.

The trail is then really nice the rest of the way to the clearly marked Grouse Mountain trail junction 6 miles in. As noted in my previous post, the next confusing section occurs about a half mile after the trail starts to drop down toward Cross Creek, and I unfortunately don't have any information about the last set of switchbacks over the final 400 vertical feet down to the Cross Creek trail and Cross Creek/East Cross Creek confluence.

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