#mountoftheholycross

Ambrose Andrews (1805 – 1859) 

I picked Mount of the Holy Cross on purpose as my 14th 14er (Golden!).  I’d heard a lot of crazy stuff about people getting lost, never being found, etc. so I wanted to kind of turn my perception of this mountain around. Oh, and the weather looked like it would cooperate in the morning, so I went with it.  

This trailhead is 3.5 hours away from my house so I needed to get up at 1:45am to make it to the trailhead with enough time to hike before the weather set in (storms after 11am). I know what you’re thinking:  Why don’t I just drive to the trailhead the night before, park, and sleep in my truck?  

Several reasons.  I don’t sleep well at trailheads, so unless it’s 4 hours or more away I drive up the morning I’m hiking.  I wake up at 4am to go to work every morning, this was the end of my workweek, and the night before this hike I had a meeting until 10pm. I’d much rather get a good night’s sleep in my own bed, wake up warm and to a fresh pot of coffee, and then head out to the trail.  The only downside is I’m a bit sleepy driving (but not as much as if I’d gone the night before).  Coffee helps.

This trailhead (Half Moon Trailhead) was easy to find.  It was about 8 miles off a dirt road, but it wasn’t too bad to drive.  I’m confident just about any 2WD could have made it (but I put my Tundra in 4WD just to be safe).  There were probably 20 other vehicles there when I arrived (picture at end of post).  There was a bathroom but the lock didn’t work and it was out of toilet paper.  No worries:  I always bring my own.  

I made it later than I’d have liked (6am), and the sun was already beginning to rise.  I usually start about half an hour before sunrise, so I needed to get a move on!  I got out my maps, checked the maps at the trailhead, verified my route, and was on my way.  

The beginning of this hike was quite easy.  It gained a moderate amount of elevation on a well-worn path. 

I saw several aspen trees that had been visited recently by deer.

After about a mile and a half I came to Half Moon Pass.  At this point I was going to LOSE about 1000 feet in elevation, just to make it up again later.  This was ok with me though, because I’d rather hike up than down.  I regularly hike uphill (5-10 miles a day) so muscle memory would kick in.  

I ended up hiking down a lot farther than I thought I would!  Then I rounded a corner, and BAM!  There it was!  Mount of the Holy Cross.  My jaw dropped!  Woot! I was going to hike this?!? Awesome!!!  I was super excited this was the mountain I was going to climb today!  This looked so freaking fun!

While not it’s namesake, I found a cross in the upper right of the mountain.  Though not quite as prominent as it would have been last month with more snow.  

Cool fact:  When there’s snow Mt Shavano has an Angel on its East slopes, and Mount of the Holy Cross has a cross on its North Face.  Mt Shavano is the furthest South in the Sawatch Mountain Range, and Mount of the Holy Cross is the furthest North.  It’s like an angel and cross hold the mountain range together.  

At this point the trail got really steep going down (which meant extra work on the return trip), but I honestly didn’t care.  This hike was going to be amazing!

The downhill part stopped at Cross Creek.  I crossed Cross Creek and began regaining lost elevation.  

I just have to say, this trail is very well maintained.  It’s almost impossible to get lost because it’s so manicured.  I’m not sure if this was done after all the “incidents” or before, but either way it’s appreciated. The only way I could see someone possibly getting turned around is at these campsites, but they’d need to be missing the indicators of the hiker would need to be extremely naive.  

Cairns.  There were tons of cairns, just in case the pathway of rocks wasn’t enough (which I know it wouldn’t be in the snow).  

Mount of the Holy Cross is to the left, the path is to the right.

The only difficult part of this hike was the last quarter mile, and it was only difficult because of the sun. It just so happened the time of day I was hiking was right when the sun was coming up over the mountain, casting an intense yellow glow directly in the path I was supposed to take.  Sunglasses did not help.  I just aimed for the top and kept hiking upwards.  Most 14ers don’t have much of a trail the last mile or so anyway.

I summited at 9:20am. I looked around, noticed all routes down looked the same, and placed my hiking pole in a position to indicate which way I’d come up so I knew which way to head back down.  This is really the only way I could see someone getting lost: taking the wrong trail down from the summit.

I took a picture to prove I’d made it

One of the summit marker (I was so excited this summit had one!)

And a few of the amazing views!  Check out those lakes!

Then I was off back down the mountain.  I looked for the ridge I’d followed coming up and was glad I’d indicated with my hiking pole:  there were 3 “similar” ridges.

Hiking down was pretty easy. I once again looked for ways to get lost and had a hard time finding any.  In fact, I found a trail I assumed went to the lakes but it wasn’t what anyone would take instead of the main trail (it was overgrown and didn’t look used). I also met a few guys searching for a 13er route, but that trail wasn’t visible either (I’d looked on my way up too).

Oh, I saw a grouse…

And check out this tree: how did that happen?!?!?

I made it back down to the trailhead at 12:45pm.  So I hiked 12 miles, 5600+ feet in elevation gain in 7 hours.  Not a great time, but I stopped to take a bunch of pictures, and I spent a lot of time at the summit, so I’ll take it!

I’m pretty sure this is my new favorite 14er (besides Pikes Peak:  That will always be my favorite as I’ve hiked it 12+ times and it holds special memories).  I loved how it went uphill both ways, the flowers were beautiful, and that mountain: majestic!!!  This was much of the trail:

Oh, and when I got back down the trailhead was FULL of cars.  Full.  That line goes for about a quarter mile.  

Notes:

I saw no less than 8 Park Service Rangers (2 installing a sign at the summit and 6 hiking to the lakes)

There were a lot of people on this hike, but it didn’t feel crowded.

I saw a nun hiking (she had on a hiking skirt that went to her ankles and a nuns scarf).  She didn’t start until 11am.  I hope she made it before the storms set in.  

I can see how someone could get lost below treeline because you can’t see any of the mountains and lose sense of direction, however above treeline the trail is pretty easy to follow. Descending from the summit is the only plausible way to get turned around.

I had another guy follow me today.  Once again nothing creepy, but there has to be a better way?  Guys:  do not follow 5,10,15, or 20 yards behind a woman hiking alone.  You may think you’re respecting her space but it’s just creep! Several times I either walked faster, stopped, or encouraged him to pass me.  The time I asked him to pass he said he was just about to stop for a blister, and when I went faster so did he (and slower was the same).  I never felt threatened (he seemed like a nice guy) but it’s creepy just the same.  I felt like his pacer.  Guys: Stop and give some distance or pass us.

Video from the summit: