Mt. of the Holy Cross

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 7/13/2024, By: reindeerzoozoo
Info: Long time lurker finally confident enough in my skills and knowledge to post. Left Denver at 4am. The dirt road leading to the trailhead is pretty well maintained and can be done with a 2 wheel drive vehicle. Started the main route at 7am kept a pretty chill pace with someone I met in the parking lot. Summited at 11 on the dot. took an extra long lunch at the top and ended up helping some one that ran out of water on the way back. Returned to the car just before 3:30. Absolutely amazing day on Holy Cross. Trail is all dry... other than the stream crossing which is very manageable, especially if you have poles. Being a Friday I saw quite a few people on trail most of which were backpacking in during my decent. Very well marked and easy to follow trail. Had a Blast. Will be back to do some backpacking in the area for sure. 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 7/10/2024, By: rainbow_fist
Info: Completely summer conditions. Trail was super easy to follow and well marked. Creek crossing was a bit sketch compared to last year since the trees were a bit more wobbly, but still had enough trees/rocks to walk across. Just had to take it a little slower. Backpacked in on 7/6 to Cross Creek and most of the campsites were full on a holiday weekend. Site 3 was super big and we fit 3 separate parties in it for a total of 4 tents. Probably could've fit 2 more 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 7/5/2024, By: AndrewJCraigie
Info: No snow at all to deal with 

Route: Cross Couloir
Posted On: 7/2/2024, By: MtnMann
Info: Summited via Cross Couloir on Saturday. Conditions were better than expected (I was nervous not being able to get eyes on the couloir before attempting the approach) with temps only getting down to about 36-38 on the summit, and some significant cloud cover/rain overnight. We decided to go for it and just be open/frank about turning around if we saw any significant instability in the snow. Started from the campsites by the river at 0340 Note: if you are going to go up to the Bowl of Tears, camp in one of the sites on the east side of the river (#1 or #2), so you only have to cross the river once in the morning, and not once in the evening and once in the morning. We came in late on Friday night and camped in #5 and only realized our error in the morning. From the sites to the base of the couloir took us longer than we hoped (~3.5 hrs), with the route finding in the dark. Almost no snow here, just thick trees, boulders and some wet areas to avoid. The snow in the couloir was definitely soft by the time we started (~0800) but it was mostly the top few inches and was still supportive, so we went for it. The couloir also took us longer than expected (2.75 hrs) and no established bootpack. We got lucky with significant cloud cover in the morning so the snow was mostly unaffected by the sun until ~1015 so it held up well for our climb. The runnel/slide in the middle is very pronounced, maybe 3ft deep in spots. There was definitely water running underneath the snow, but we were able to stay away from moats to the side and thin spots in the middle. Snow was pretty variable, with some stiffer pockets and some corn granules and some iccee consistency, but for the most part, any snow that made me nervous was only in very small pockets and we were able to shift to the side or move through quickly. Snow was still continuous from the top of the cliffs (at the bottom) to the summit, but definitely thin in spots on the side and larger rocks exposed in the middle part-way up. 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 6/29/2024, By: ehuber
Info: Great conditions overall! The road coming up was a little bumpy but Ive seen much worse. There were very few snowy patches until nearing the summit where there was a large snow patch right next to the trail but all very easy to go around. A few smaller streams crossed the path making some parts a little muddy, but even with the storm the night before, it wasnt bad at all. No snow gear was necessary and other than lots of wind and sprinkling rain in the morning, the weather was great. The trickiest part of it all was crossing the creek. We attempted to take our boots and socks off and walk through, but the water was so unbearably freezing. We ended up keeping boots on, finding a large stick to help us balance and walk across the logs, branches, and rocks that were somewhat out of the water. It worked great with waterproof boots, we just had to take our time to avoid falling in. Definitely the hardest fourteener Ive ever done, but glad I could check it off the list! 

Route: Halo Ridge
Posted On: 6/24/2024, By: gingers101
Info: Great conditions. No need for traction. Lots of water. I crossed the creek after half moon pass with wet feet and just accepted it. Ascended the trail, did halo ridge, then ran down from notch mountain hut. Lots of water on the notch trail - nice to do at the end of day 

Route: Halo Ridge
Posted On: 6/27/2024, By: zackj99
Info: Ascended the Halo Ridge Route and Descended the North Ridge Route. Summer conditions with only a few snow fields ahead of the final ascent. Some snow on the North Ridge route but all avoidable. Didn't use any traction. Cross was still very much visible! Great day! 

Route: Cross Couloir
Posted On: 6/23/2024, By: jway2952
Info: Camped out a few miles from the trailhead. It was raining pretty hard when we got there around 845 and continued until about 11 which made for some type 2 fun setting up and then waking up with a soaking tent in the morning After some gear mishaps, we got started around 5:45. We hit a pretty nice window to climb the couloir without dealing with much snow elsewhere. The creek crossing on the other side of HMP was barely doable without taking our boots off (although other groups took the plunge!) The approach towards the Bowl of Tears was quite time consuming as we chose to rock hop below the North Ridge rather than approach down closer to the lakes and streams. It was absolutely GUSHING all day, so we opted to keep our feet dry. It took us about 5 hours to get to base of the climb. The couloir itself was pretty manageable, although the deep runnel down the middle and less-than-perfect snow conditions (it was about 11/1130 when we started to climb) made it a bit annoying. Two skiers that we met at the creek crossing were only able to ski down about 500 ft before having to downclimb the rest of the way. Ouch. We climbed continuous snow to the summit. The Halo Ridge was... taxing. Some snow patches helped at times and hurt in others, but overall it's just a slog. I tried to be cute and didn't refill my water at the Bowl of Tears and regretted it for hours as we stumbled along that never-ending ridge. Some passing clouds brought fleeting flakes and rain, but nothing serious enough to warrant concern. After making it to the shelter, we descended on a nice trail (although it was more like a river in many places) back down to the car. All in all, I logged 14.45 miles, 5,839 ft elevation gain, and 12:26 car-to-car. 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 6/23/2024, By: jaredsciarrotta
Info: Very close to perfect conditions on Holy Cross! Road up was great, just a lot of water-filled potholes from the storm the night before. Trail was dry up until the other side of Half Moon as you start to descend to the creek, but even that was very minimal. I ran into a group at the creek who had scouted it out up and down and it was at that point that they determined the best way to move forward was to take off boots and socks and just go across barefoot. There are a decent amount of rocks and logs to balance on. One could definitely attempt to do it with boots on, but some serious coordination would be required to stay dry. From there the largest sections of snow you'll come across are on the way up to the ridge through the rocky sections and forest after the creek. Some were fine to go through while most of them were easy to avoid just by going around. After this it's completely dry until the final pitch. Funny enough, the way up to that point looked exactly like Photo 20 where there were huge snow drifts to the left of the trail separated by a ditch. On the final pitch from 13,400 to the summit, there was very light snow spread through a good chunk of that area. Only some of it was icy. Traction wasn't required and probably would've been a nuisance for how spread out it was. Luckily it was also very easy to avoid most of this snow depending on which rocks you decided to come up. We may have scrambled a bit more than necessary had the conditions been snow-free, but it was still no problem at all to use the rocks to our advantage and avoid some of the slick/icy conditions from the rain the night before. Once we reached the summit we had a beautiful day to enjoy. There's a large snow section on the summit as you move across to get a better view of Notch Mountain, but you can also avoid that and stay on the initial dry section that you'll reach once you make it to the top. Started at 5, summited just after 9:30, took our time at the top and left a little before 10:30, and got back to the car about ten after 2. I wasn't looking forward to this one just because on paper it seemed like a slog, but I couldn't have been more wrong. I loved so many sections of this hike, especially with all the different angles you can see the summit on the way up. A very unique looking mountain and just an overall great day. 

Route: Halo Ridge
Posted On: 6/21/2024, By: rkarsten26
Info: Started 2pm and spent the night in notch mtn shelter. I would recommend biking the service road if you go before the road opens on the 26th. It adds 10 miles to the hike and is a major pain. Was turned around by snow fields and wind on the backside of holy ridge. Didnt bring ice axe, and wasnt comfortable with the exposure without equipment. Snow melting fast... Some snow fields you can scramble around, others not so much. 

Route: Cross Couloir
Posted On: 6/14/2024, By: vertical_volume
Info: We saw 3 decent overnight freezes in a row and decided it was probably our last chance to go for the cross this season bc of the heat. We took the North Ridge up and skied the Cross Couloir. Started from the gate with bikes at 2:20, summit by 8:30 and dropped into the cross at 9. The west side of halfmoon pass was a posthole fest for 0.25ish miles but not enough to warrant switching to skis/skins knowing wed be back in trail shoes right after. below treeline as we gained the north ridge there was a lot of snow patches, some avoidable, others postholey and again, we stayed in trail shoes. After we broke treeline it was smooth sailing, from halfmoon trailhead it took us 4:15 to the top. The couloir itself was softer than we wouldve liked and theres a pretty big runnel in it already. its not in great shape but 8 seems to be the ideal drop time with a decent freeze 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 11/5/2023, By: daway8
Info: Brutal solo day on Holy Cross. Thankfully some hunters put in tracks to Half Moon Pass and a tiny bit beyond which made that section quicker/easier. After that I had to trail break the rest of the way. Went off trail into one of the campsites by mistake then blundered around somehow consistently missing the trail but hitting just about every campsite. Snow got deeper on the climb up through the trees which seemed to go on forever (relentless monotony with no views). Got fooled a hundred times over by the ol "the ridge is just right up there trick" and "oh that cairn must be the top of this segment of the ridge, no that one, no that one..." Lots of exposed rock on the ridge and I swear every patch of snow in between is a bottomless pit. Every. Single. Patch. Boulder hopping was the order of the day. 95% of the rock was solid but on the way down I think I must have found every single rock that composed the other 5%, perhaps in part because I was rushing to get down to my trail at treeline before the sun set - I had started late, almost 8am. Followed my blundering off trail madness back through the campsites because, now in total darkness, that was easier than trying to find where the actual trail was. By this point I had been out much longer than planned and was running low on water so I had to ration sips as I reclimbed the 1,000ft to Half Moon Pass which was agonizing at that point of the day. Crashed in the back of the 4Runner for a few hours before putting on chains to drive down the very icy road in the middle of the night and to cap it off, for some reason I struggled for over an hour getting the stupid chains on despite having just done the process in 5 minutes on Friday afternoon. Anyways, the trail should be easier now for the next person who gets there before the road closes or the next storm arrives but you might want to seek out the proper path through the campsites. 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 10/9/2023, By: Troyister
Info: Perfect blue bird day with almost no wind. Road is in good shape and no issues driving an old AWD Murano. My Honda Accord would have scraped in a couple of places so a little clearance is nice if you don't want to beat up your vehicle. Above tree-line snow and ice was common but no traction was needed. I used trekking poles on the way down to incase of a slip and slide. Fall colors are past their prime but still good. This report will be obsolete once the next system arrives Tuesday night bring a few inches of snow and wind. 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 10/9/2023, By: mrodgers445
Info: Some snow and ice mostly above tree line. Traction not needed. 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 10/11/2023, By: Tlorbets
Info: Probably the best day ever to climb this mountain. Absolutely no wind, blue bird skies and the trail conditions were almost perfect besides some slick spots from previous snow fall. When it snows after this post, bring traction for sure. Get here before they close Tigwon road for the winter. :) NOTE: This was my 6th time climbing this mountain, this time I wasn't in my best shape and very humbled by the work it takes with the elevation gains and loss. Left at 7am back at 4pm. Leave early and bring headlamp just in case. The long route is no joke even though it's not technical.