Mt. of the Holy Cross Trip Report 09/05/2012

Peak(s):	Mt. of the Holy Cross - 14,007 feet
Date Posted:	09/05/2012
Date Climbed:	09/01/2012
Author:	Fleischco

Holy Cross Backpack and Summit
DAY 1 Friday Pack into East Cross Creek and Setup Camp - 3.3 miles This was a 2-day trip with our daughters and also their very first 14er summit. (Yes, I know you have been on other 14ers-just have not summitted.) We thought like many, get to the Cross Creek camp and get a jump on the hike on Day 2. This was a good strategy for us as going the 11.5 mile to 12 miles roundtrip would have made for a very long day. Departure from the trailhead Friday night Friday night traffic on west bound I-70 on Labor Day Weekend was slow as one should expect. This gave us a later start from the trailhead than we had hoped and meant the first night hike into camp was by headlamp but a great trail to follow. Bonus, was a light rain on Half Moon Pass but this was not too much rain. There was a full moon (Blue Moon) that was covered up by clouds earlier in the evening but did shine on top of the tents at about 2am. There are 10 campsites which could be helpful when looking in the dark as we did We investigated occupied camps #1 and #2 and even #3 for good measure. #4 looked good and not knowing how many sites there were, we made it work at about 9:30pm. There are 10 camp sites here by the way. I would have like to have known that as we searched for a good camp. It was 3.3 miles to East Cross Creek and camp on day 1 using headlamps DAY 2 Saturday Hike up Mount of the Holy Cross and back to trailhead - 7.7 miles We got up at 6am, filtered water, brought back our food from the bear canister up the tree (some of us are "bear-anoid") and enjoyed breakfast before departing on the trail at about 7:20am. The weather was beautiful! The hike in the night before gave us that head start that allowed us to not be in a big rush. And we are off on the trail near the camp about 7:20am The path is very clear and good through the valley floor, through the trees and up through the boulders above treeline but that last 500 feet or so it seems you just have to find your way. CFI has done some great work on the path up high with markers, rock work, rock stairs even a rock escalatorjavascript:emoticon('') . The weather to our west had us concerned so we headed back down at about 10:50am to pack up our tents and enjoy that slog back over Half moon Pass! Congratulations on your first 14ers summit girls! There is a clear path (thanks to CFI) above treeline and up the shoulder of MoHC (orange and yellow markers) There it is.... As is often the case, up high, you can pick your own line Summit time was 10am and 10:25 am. Congratulations -first 14er summit for our daughters. As is often mentioned, this 1000 foot re-gain over Half Moon Pass is just a drag There is the TH parking lot and a seat. To MoHC summit down to the valley floor and regaining 1000 feet up and over the pass. Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Holy Cross Backpack and Summit

DAY 1 Friday Pack into East Cross Creek and Setup Camp - 3.3 miles

This was a 2-day trip with our daughters and also their very first 14er summit.
(Yes, I know you have been on other 14ers-just have not summitted.)
We thought like many, get to the Cross Creek camp and get a jump on the hike on Day 2.
This was a good strategy for us as going the 11.5 mile to 12 miles roundtrip would have made for a very long day.

Departure from the trailhead Friday night

Friday night traffic on west bound I-70 on Labor Day Weekend was slow as one should expect. This gave us a later start from the trailhead than we had hoped and meant the first night hike into camp was by headlamp but a great trail to follow. Bonus, was a light rain on Half Moon Pass but this was not too much rain. There was a full moon (Blue Moon) that was covered up by clouds earlier in the evening but did shine on top of the tents at about 2am.

There are 10 campsites which could be helpful when looking in the dark as we did

We investigated occupied camps #1 and #2 and even #3 for good measure. #4 looked good and not knowing how many sites there were, we made it work at about 9:30pm. There are 10 camp sites here by the way. I would have like to have known that as we searched for a good camp.

It was 3.3 miles to East Cross Creek and camp on day 1 using headlamps

DAY 2 Saturday Hike up Mount of the Holy Cross and back to trailhead - 7.7 miles

We got up at 6am, filtered water, brought back our food from the bear canister up the tree (some of us are "bear-anoid") and enjoyed breakfast before departing on the trail at about 7:20am. The weather was beautiful! The hike in the night before gave us that head start that allowed us to not be in a big rush.

And we are off on the trail near the camp about 7:20am

The path is very clear and good through the valley floor, through the trees and up through the boulders above treeline but that last 500 feet or so it seems you just have to find your way. CFI has done some great work on the path up high with markers, rock work, rock stairs even a rock escalatorjavascript:emoticon('

') . The weather to our west had us concerned so we headed back down at about 10:50am to pack up our tents and enjoy that slog back over Half moon Pass!

Congratulations on your first 14ers summit girls!

There is a clear path (thanks to CFI) above treeline and up the shoulder of MoHC (orange and yellow markers)

As is often the case, up high, you can pick your own line

Summit time was 10am and 10:25 am. Congratulations -first 14er summit for our daughters.

As is often mentioned, this 1000 foot re-gain over Half Moon Pass is just a drag

To MoHC summit down to the valley floor and regaining 1000 feet up and over the pass.

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

HarknessHooligans	Congrats! 9/5/2012 9:46pm What a great family trip and good job on the girls first 14er! What an accomplishment.
MtnHub	Congratulations... 9/5/2012 9:46pm ...on your summit of a special mountain!! Made especially so by sharing it with your daughters!! Great job on not an easy climb!
Aug_Dog	Camp 10 for the win! 9/6/2012 1:28am We camped at 10 and the view of Tge Gore is incredible!
Fleischco	Camp 10 and Congrats 9/6/2012 2:42pm @Aug_Dog: I took that picture of camp 10 so I could document how many sites there are...I wished we had known there was that many as we wondered in and out of the sites before we landed on #4 in the dark. @HarknessHooligans and MtnHub: Thanks for the congrats. I hope to give my daughters a healthy appreciation for Colorado and the mountains and hope they realize one day how lucky they are to live here and to get out and enjoy it. And yes, she will realize MoHC was on the challenging side, at least in terms of mileage.

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