Mt. of the Holy Cross Trip Report 07/11/2016

Peak(s):	Mt. of the Holy Cross - 14,007 feet
Date Posted:	07/11/2016
Date Climbed:	07/09/2016
Author:	gjoneswyo

Around and then up Mt of the Holy Cross
My stepson and I were looking for a 2-3 day backpacking loop, and the Cross Creek/Fall Creek loop in the Holy Cross Wilderness offered a potential 14er to boot. The fact that we would do a complete 360 around the peak before hiking up wasn't something we specifically looked for, but it seemed like a nice bonus. We set out from Boulder at 5:20 am on July 7, dropped our packs at the Cross Creek trailhead, and then arrived at the Halfmoon trailhead at 8 am. From there, we unloaded the two crappiest bikes that I was able to find in the garage that morning, and rode back down the access road to the Cross Creek trailhead. We ditched the bikes in the woods, briefly debated whether we'd be better off if someone did in fact steal them, hoisted our packs, and set off at 8:45 am. I didn't really know what to expect from the Cross Creek trail - some trails that follow a drainage like this can be pleasant but unspectacular, with lots of trees and few panoramic views. That was not the case with Cross Creek. After an early mama/baby moose encounter (she thankfully ran away from us rather than toward us), and a brief large scale mosquito assault (thank god for 95% DEET), the trail continued up in fits and starts. What looks like a steady but gradual uphill climb on the topo was actually a series of short, steep climbs followed by flattish stretches. It was more challenging than we expected, but nothing too soul-crushing. Route-finding was generally obvious, though there are a few trails that lead off to campsites that can get you briefly off-route; fortunately, the mistakes we made were obvious pretty quickly. The real bonus was the scenery - this is a lush valley, with lots of ponds/lakes, Mt of the Holy Cross on your left and impressive peaks to the right as well. The higher we climbed, the more beautiful it was. Despite being described as a "popular" trail on my map, it was also seemingly deserted. We saw 3 people in 18 miles, and the trail at times seemed to have been barely touched this year (it was a weekday, and the access road only opened June 20, so perhaps that explains it). Cross Creek drainage By the time we were finally making our way up Fancy Pass at the end of the Cross Creek drainage, we were pretty spent. Fortunately, it was a relatively gentle climb. We were pumped to reach the pass at about 5 pm, until we saw steep snow on the other side. We had no ice axes, so we took some time to survey our options and plan a safe route. We were able to make our way from boulder to boulder across the steeper sections, reducing the risk that a fall would turn into a speedy slide to the bottom. Fortunately, the boulders only became more sparse just as the slope eased, and we were able to safely boot-ski the end of it. Climbing Fancy Pass We made it to Fancy Lake at 5:45 pm. The GPS registered 18 miles and about 5,000 feet of vertical. We were toast, but the lake was a great reward - spectacular setting and only two other parties camping there for the evening. Overall, a great first day in Cross Creek. The goal for day two was to get to at least the Halfmoon trailhead, and perhaps venture over Halfmoon Pass to give ourselves an easier climb of Mt of the Holy Cross on day 3. My only concern for the 2nd day was Fall Creek Pass, and the possibility of more snow. We got out of camp just before 8 am. The trail transitions to a 4WD road for a bit as you pass Holy Cross City (some cool mining cabins/ruins). There are a couple junctions here, but it was pretty easy to keep on the right track, and before long we found the start of the Fall Creek trail just before the Hunky Dory trailhead (the trail has both a sign and a small log entry, making it easy to spot). The climb up and over Fall Creek Pass offered more spectacular scenery, and (thankfully) no challenging snowfields. From the pass to the Halfmoon trailhead was a mostly steady and pleasant downhill, with a few beautiful lakes along the way. The traffic picked up toward the end, as quite a few day hikers were headed out to Lake Constantine, even on a Friday. Overall, both side of Holy Cross were great, but my money is on Cross Creek as the more scenic of the two trails. Looking back at our climb up Fall Creek Pass We traveled the total 12 miles to Halfmoon pretty quickly, arriving just after 1 pm. We debated our options for camping at Halfmoon Campground versus crossing Halfmoon Pass to East Cross Creek, and ultimately decided that we'd be much happier not lugging our packs up and over the pass twice. Since we had our car at Halfmoon, we could car camp (eliminating bear bag and early morning packing hassles) and make the ascent of Holy Cross with just our Camelbaks. So we called it an early day. Halfmoon Campground is small (maybe 10 spots?) and pretty quiet - nothing exciting, but pretty nice for car camping. We had our pick of all the campsites at 1 pm on a Friday, but by about dinner time, the campground was at capacity. Fortunately, it was a pretty quiet crowd. We were asleep before 9 pm and set the alarm for 3:30 am with a 4 am goal for hitting the trail. That was a bit earlier than necessary for our pace, but we figured the adrenaline would have us awake early anyway, and hiking at first light is always awesome. The campground was already pretty active at 3:30 am with several other parties preparing to set out. We were slowed down by coffee prep (note to self - always start pre-summit 3:30 am coffee prep with a full fuel canister), and ultimately left Halfmoon trailhead at 4:25 am. After two hard days with packs, the featherweight of a Camelbak with a few snacks and cold weather gear made us feel like superheroes. We coasted over Halfmoon Pass and down to East Cross Creek within an hour, and passed a few parties as we started the climb proper. The climb from the East Cross campsites to treeline was the crux in our view. The trail kicks up something nasty, and we were perhaps taking that superhero idea a bit too seriously as we blasted past 3-4 other groups. Realizing we were overdoing it, we downshifted a gear and carried on. Sunlight was hitting the peaks as we approached treeline and reached the ridge. I recall telling my stepson at this point that we probably had another 3 hours to go, even though we had probably completed 2/3rds of the hike in under 2 hours. It was just that the summit still looked pretty distant, and the last climb after the 90 degree left turn at the end of the ridge looked steep and oxygen-deprived. Holy Cross at first light Appearances can be deceiving of course, and thankfully that was the case here. The further we went on the ridge, the easier it seemed to get. The climb here was nothing like it was below treeline, and we settled into a good pace. We also had a rabbit ahead of us in the form of a lone hiker in a red jacket, so that gave us a nice target. We just about reached him at the end of the ridge, but stopped to refuel ahead of the steep finale. Brief aside here: the trail along the ridge is impressive - massive stone stairs, substantial rock walls on either side, and huge cairns. I always bring route pics just in case, but there was zero time spent route-finding up here. Hats off to whomever built that trail; it's awesome. Back to the trail. The final climb up to the summit is typical 14er stuff - there are occasional cairns or signs of a trail, but mostly it's just scrambling up big and quite stable boulders. We were feeling great up this section, and after about 15 minutes my stepson said it looked like we were almost there. I of course let him know that this was ridiculous and that we probably had another half hour to go. This was his first 14er and he clearly didn't realize how long the final 500' of vertical can take. Naturally, I saw sunlight hitting the summit boulders about 90 seconds later, and there we were. So, yeah, he was right. We made the summit at 7:30 am, a 3 hour climb. Summit view into Cross Creek and Maroon Bells in the distance It was spectacular on top, not least because we were in the sun after a shady/cool climb, and the wind, which was modest but chilly on the ridge, was nonexistent on the summit. The sky was cloudless, so we had no lightning worries on this day. We caught the man in red (Leo, as we discovered) just as we summited. We spent a little time (15-20 minutes maybe?) swapping stories on top and then started the trek down. There is, of course, the unfortunate re-climbing of Halfmoon Pass to get back to the car, but it's not all that bad. There's one grim little stretch, but most of it is a moderate climb. We reached Halfmoon trailhead at 10:25 am to cap off a 6 hour round-trip of 12 miles and 5,600' ascent. For the whole trip, we covered 42 miles and 12,500', according to the GPS. A quick drive down the hill to recover our bikes and then to Minturn for a solid lunch at the Sticky Fingers Cafe, and back to Boulder. A quick note on the trailheads/parking and access road: Cross Creek was empty on a Thursday morning, while Halfmoon was surprisingly full in the formal parking spots, but with no one parked on the road. When we got back to Halfmoon on Friday, and again when we left on Saturday, this parking area was a bit of a cluster - cars parked all over the place, and on pretty narrow stretches of the road. The road near the parking area is wide enough in many areas to comfortably park, but it's quite narrow in spots as well, and not everyone was making good parking decisions. If you're ok walking up to a 1/4 mile to the trailhead, it seems easy enough to find a reasonable place to park, but some people seemed to be unwilling to walk the extra distance and instead parked in places they really shouldn't. The road itself has its share of potholes and washboards and is 100% tedious, but definitely 2WD with minimal clearance issues - any car can make this journey. Overall, I'd highly recommend this combination loop/summit - great scenery, lots of challenging vertical, and the satisfaction of seeing Holy Cross from all angles. Enjoy! Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Around and then up Mt of the Holy Cross

My stepson and I were looking for a 2-3 day backpacking loop, and the Cross Creek/Fall Creek loop in the Holy Cross Wilderness offered a potential 14er to boot. The fact that we would do a complete 360 around the peak before hiking up wasn't something we specifically looked for, but it seemed like a nice bonus.

We set out from Boulder at 5:20 am on July 7, dropped our packs at the Cross Creek trailhead, and then arrived at the Halfmoon trailhead at 8 am. From there, we unloaded the two crappiest bikes that I was able to find in the garage that morning, and rode back down the access road to the Cross Creek trailhead. We ditched the bikes in the woods, briefly debated whether we'd be better off if someone did in fact steal them, hoisted our packs, and set off at 8:45 am.

I didn't really know what to expect from the Cross Creek trail - some trails that follow a drainage like this can be pleasant but unspectacular, with lots of trees and few panoramic views. That was not the case with Cross Creek. After an early mama/baby moose encounter (she thankfully ran away from us rather than toward us), and a brief large scale mosquito assault (thank god for 95% DEET), the trail continued up in fits and starts. What looks like a steady but gradual uphill climb on the topo was actually a series of short, steep climbs followed by flattish stretches. It was more challenging than we expected, but nothing too soul-crushing. Route-finding was generally obvious, though there are a few trails that lead off to campsites that can get you briefly off-route; fortunately, the mistakes we made were obvious pretty quickly.

The real bonus was the scenery - this is a lush valley, with lots of ponds/lakes, Mt of the Holy Cross on your left and impressive peaks to the right as well. The higher we climbed, the more beautiful it was. Despite being described as a "popular" trail on my map, it was also seemingly deserted. We saw 3 people in 18 miles, and the trail at times seemed to have been barely touched this year (it was a weekday, and the access road only opened June 20, so perhaps that explains it).

By the time we were finally making our way up Fancy Pass at the end of the Cross Creek drainage, we were pretty spent. Fortunately, it was a relatively gentle climb. We were pumped to reach the pass at about 5 pm, until we saw steep snow on the other side. We had no ice axes, so we took some time to survey our options and plan a safe route. We were able to make our way from boulder to boulder across the steeper sections, reducing the risk that a fall would turn into a speedy slide to the bottom. Fortunately, the boulders only became more sparse just as the slope eased, and we were able to safely boot-ski the end of it.

We made it to Fancy Lake at 5:45 pm. The GPS registered 18 miles and about 5,000 feet of vertical. We were toast, but the lake was a great reward - spectacular setting and only two other parties camping there for the evening. Overall, a great first day in Cross Creek.

The goal for day two was to get to at least the Halfmoon trailhead, and perhaps venture over Halfmoon Pass to give ourselves an easier climb of Mt of the Holy Cross on day 3. My only concern for the 2nd day was Fall Creek Pass, and the possibility of more snow. We got out of camp just before 8 am. The trail transitions to a 4WD road for a bit as you pass Holy Cross City (some cool mining cabins/ruins). There are a couple junctions here, but it was pretty easy to keep on the right track, and before long we found the start of the Fall Creek trail just before the Hunky Dory trailhead (the trail has both a sign and a small log entry, making it easy to spot). The climb up and over Fall Creek Pass offered more spectacular scenery, and (thankfully) no challenging snowfields. From the pass to the Halfmoon trailhead was a mostly steady and pleasant downhill, with a few beautiful lakes along the way. The traffic picked up toward the end, as quite a few day hikers were headed out to Lake Constantine, even on a Friday. Overall, both side of Holy Cross were great, but my money is on Cross Creek as the more scenic of the two trails.

Looking back at our climb up Fall Creek Pass

We traveled the total 12 miles to Halfmoon pretty quickly, arriving just after 1 pm. We debated our options for camping at Halfmoon Campground versus crossing Halfmoon Pass to East Cross Creek, and ultimately decided that we'd be much happier not lugging our packs up and over the pass twice. Since we had our car at Halfmoon, we could car camp (eliminating bear bag and early morning packing hassles) and make the ascent of Holy Cross with just our Camelbaks. So we called it an early day. Halfmoon Campground is small (maybe 10 spots?) and pretty quiet - nothing exciting, but pretty nice for car camping. We had our pick of all the campsites at 1 pm on a Friday, but by about dinner time, the campground was at capacity. Fortunately, it was a pretty quiet crowd. We were asleep before 9 pm and set the alarm for 3:30 am with a 4 am goal for hitting the trail. That was a bit earlier than necessary for our pace, but we figured the adrenaline would have us awake early anyway, and hiking at first light is always awesome.

The campground was already pretty active at 3:30 am with several other parties preparing to set out. We were slowed down by coffee prep (note to self - always start pre-summit 3:30 am coffee prep with a full fuel canister), and ultimately left Halfmoon trailhead at 4:25 am.

After two hard days with packs, the featherweight of a Camelbak with a few snacks and cold weather gear made us feel like superheroes. We coasted over Halfmoon Pass and down to East Cross Creek within an hour, and passed a few parties as we started the climb proper. The climb from the East Cross campsites to treeline was the crux in our view. The trail kicks up something nasty, and we were perhaps taking that superhero idea a bit too seriously as we blasted past 3-4 other groups. Realizing we were overdoing it, we downshifted a gear and carried on. Sunlight was hitting the peaks as we approached treeline and reached the ridge. I recall telling my stepson at this point that we probably had another 3 hours to go, even though we had probably completed 2/3rds of the hike in under 2 hours. It was just that the summit still looked pretty distant, and the last climb after the 90 degree left turn at the end of the ridge looked steep and oxygen-deprived.

Appearances can be deceiving of course, and thankfully that was the case here. The further we went on the ridge, the easier it seemed to get. The climb here was nothing like it was below treeline, and we settled into a good pace. We also had a rabbit ahead of us in the form of a lone hiker in a red jacket, so that gave us a nice target. We just about reached him at the end of the ridge, but stopped to refuel ahead of the steep finale.

Brief aside here: the trail along the ridge is impressive - massive stone stairs, substantial rock walls on either side, and huge cairns. I always bring route pics just in case, but there was zero time spent route-finding up here. Hats off to whomever built that trail; it's awesome.

Back to the trail. The final climb up to the summit is typical 14er stuff - there are occasional cairns or signs of a trail, but mostly it's just scrambling up big and quite stable boulders. We were feeling great up this section, and after about 15 minutes my stepson said it looked like we were almost there. I of course let him know that this was ridiculous and that we probably had another half hour to go. This was his first 14er and he clearly didn't realize how long the final 500' of vertical can take. Naturally, I saw sunlight hitting the summit boulders about 90 seconds later, and there we were. So, yeah, he was right. We made the summit at 7:30 am, a 3 hour climb.

Summit view into Cross Creek and Maroon Bells in the distance

It was spectacular on top, not least because we were in the sun after a shady/cool climb, and the wind, which was modest but chilly on the ridge, was nonexistent on the summit. The sky was cloudless, so we had no lightning worries on this day. We caught the man in red (Leo, as we discovered) just as we summited. We spent a little time (15-20 minutes maybe?) swapping stories on top and then started the trek down. There is, of course, the unfortunate re-climbing of Halfmoon Pass to get back to the car, but it's not all that bad. There's one grim little stretch, but most of it is a moderate climb. We reached Halfmoon trailhead at 10:25 am to cap off a 6 hour round-trip of 12 miles and 5,600' ascent.

For the whole trip, we covered 42 miles and 12,500', according to the GPS. A quick drive down the hill to recover our bikes and then to Minturn for a solid lunch at the Sticky Fingers Cafe, and back to Boulder.

A quick note on the trailheads/parking and access road: Cross Creek was empty on a Thursday morning, while Halfmoon was surprisingly full in the formal parking spots, but with no one parked on the road. When we got back to Halfmoon on Friday, and again when we left on Saturday, this parking area was a bit of a cluster - cars parked all over the place, and on pretty narrow stretches of the road. The road near the parking area is wide enough in many areas to comfortably park, but it's quite narrow in spots as well, and not everyone was making good parking decisions. If you're ok walking up to a 1/4 mile to the trailhead, it seems easy enough to find a reasonable place to park, but some people seemed to be unwilling to walk the extra distance and instead parked in places they really shouldn't. The road itself has its share of potholes and washboards and is 100% tedious, but definitely 2WD with minimal clearance issues - any car can make this journey.

Overall, I'd highly recommend this combination loop/summit - great scenery, lots of challenging vertical, and the satisfaction of seeing Holy Cross from all angles. Enjoy!

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

nychicol

Thanks
8/1/2016 3:28pm

Thanks for taking time for the TR. Enjoyable. The ease with which you accomplished the hike indicates maybe; your too modest, young, fit & live in Colorado where the thin air is not as big a shock as it is for us older, Chicagoans.

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