Peak(s):	Mt. of the Holy Cross - 14,007 feet
Date Posted:	07/23/2014
Date Climbed:	07/19/2014
Author:	panda518

Mt of the Holy Cross - North Ridge
Mt. of the Holy Cross Kelsey was back in Colorado visiting and we knew we had to get in our annual 14er trip. We have talked about doing Holy Cross for almost 2 years now, so it seemed like a good choice. I was a bit intimidated by both the distance and gain but we decided to go for it. We went back and forth whether to hike down to the creek and spend the night prior but decided with our late departure from Denver and not wanting to carry back up our gear, we decided to just head for the trailhead. This will make peak #12 for me, #11 for Kelsey and a handful for Norah, Sally and Rachel. This will however be the first 14er for both pups Archie and Gus. Friday around 5:18 PM our Murano full of 5 ladies and 2 excited dogs headed for the hills! We were quickly slowed down by the typical Friday afternoon weekend warrior traffic. The 2 � hour trip turned in to the 4 hours and we pulled in to the trailhead around 9:15 but our spirits were high! We knew there was a campground around and somehow we lucked out and got the last spot! We pitched our 5 person tent and paid for 2 nights ($12/night) so that we wouldn't have to take down the camp early in the AM. We were settled in by 10 PM, with the help of ear plugs and some Melatonin I had some great sleep, until the alarm woke us up at 3:30 AM. 4 AM! We were on the trail by 4 AM and two other groups were right at our heels with the same idea. We knew it was just around 6 miles up with some decent gain and the hope was to be back down to treeline by noon so we had a busy morning ahead of us! The first 1.5 miles is about 1,300 feet of gain and the trail is very easy to follow. We got to see the start of the sunrise before we crested over and began the 1.5 mile decent losing a little under 1,000 feet. Spirits were high as it had been about 2 hours and we were already half way done with the mileage as we crossed the stream! We knew the last few miles would take much longer though! First view of Holy Cross going down to stream AM sunrise Creek Crossing Once the sun came up, it was apparent the mosquitoes were going to be a problem. We planned ahead and had 2 bottles of bug spray after reading lots of trip reports! Unfortunately at 3:30 AM they didn't make it in to any packs so this was probably one of the most annoying things on the way up. PACK BUG SPRAY. The next mile or so (and 1,000') as you approach treeline you'll go through the forest and then through some rock sections. Again the trail is very well marked and route finding is not a problem. The next portion you will be gaining the lower ridge and as the route description mentions, "it weaves through talus to reach the upper ridge but it's defined and cairned." We did see two CFI workers out there and its absolutely true its well defined and there are huge cairns to follow. Luckily the doggies also found a giant snow area still remaining and loved cooling themselves off. We made it up this section slow and steady with breaks as needed. Once you reach the top of the lower ridge and the trail eases you can the last part of the north ridge that you have to climb. From here on up the route finding is a little harder but if you look carefully there are cairns all the way up. There are large rocks to climb up for this last part but stable. Luckily, there are no false summits and in no time you are at the top of this gorgeous mountain. View of lower ridge Gus and Archie in Snow Upper Ridge View The group did great and we summited at 10 AM. My GPS read 5.6 miles and 4,600' feet of gain. I figure hiking time was around 4:45 and resting for the remaining 1:15. When we first got up a lot of other groups were super impressed with our dogs. Gus, a tiny cockapoo, barely broke a sweat on the way up. I felt very strong going up, but I know descending is always the hardest part for me, not to mention the 1,000' you have to climb in the final 3 miles. We spent 45 minutes enjoying the top with about 20-25 other hikers. There was no breeze and it was a great time to be up there. Gals at top! Pano Heading back down, the dogs did have a little trouble on some of the bigger rocks and didn't always want to jump from one to another. Eventually we made it back down to the lower ridge and the knee grinding continued. We were making good time, but not going too fast and didn't need to stop much. I think we were back to treeline by around 1 PM. The clouds were rolling in a bit but we were in good shape. Looking back at Holy Cross in dark clouds The hike back down to the creek seemed to take forever. I felt like we had hiked 5 miles, but it was less than 3. By the time we were at the creek I already went through my 4 liters of water so I refilled 2 liters with my Steripen. The sun started to take its toll at this point and I had a very bad headache and stayed back from the group for most of the way out. The hike back up the 1,000' was slow and steady and didn't give me too much trouble. The last 1.5 miles my legs were so tired though and this was definitely the hardest part of the hike for me, even though the grade wasn't very steep at all. Luckily the mosquitoes weren't as much of a problem in the heat of the day so that helped. We made it back down to the trailhead at 3 PM after a great day on the mountain with perfect weather! I had kept cold a bottle of chocolate milk and this was the absolute best thing once returning to the car! It gave me some renewed energy. We took down camp and were on the road pretty quick. No traffic back to Denver and an easy 2 � hour drive. All in all this was a terrific hike. It was gorgeous and the wildflowers were out in full force. I'd recommend an early start to get back to treeline before the storms hit. We saw a lot of people headed up as we were on our way back down as the sky was getting dark. We could have spent less time at the top, but it ended up being just fine. Remember bug spray. My GPS Tracks on Google Maps (made from a .GPX file upload): Login required to view this map... Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Mt of the Holy Cross - North Ridge

Mt. of the Holy Cross

Kelsey was back in Colorado visiting and we knew we had to get in our annual 14er trip. We have talked about doing Holy Cross for almost 2 years now, so it seemed like a good choice. I was a bit intimidated by both the distance and gain but we decided to go for it. We went back and forth whether to hike down to the creek and spend the night prior but decided with our late departure from Denver and not wanting to carry back up our gear, we decided to just head for the trailhead. This will make peak #12 for me, #11 for Kelsey and a handful for Norah, Sally and Rachel. This will however be the first 14er for both pups Archie and Gus.

Friday around 5:18 PM our Murano full of 5 ladies and 2 excited dogs headed for the hills! We were quickly slowed down by the typical Friday afternoon weekend warrior traffic. The 2 � hour trip turned in to the 4 hours and we pulled in to the trailhead around 9:15 but our spirits were high! We knew there was a campground around and somehow we lucked out and got the last spot! We pitched our 5 person tent and paid for 2 nights ($12/night) so that we wouldn't have to take down the camp early in the AM. We were settled in by 10 PM, with the help of ear plugs and some Melatonin I had some great sleep, until the alarm woke us up at 3:30 AM.

We were on the trail by 4 AM and two other groups were right at our heels with the same idea. We knew it was just around 6 miles up with some decent gain and the hope was to be back down to treeline by noon so we had a busy morning ahead of us! The first 1.5 miles is about 1,300 feet of gain and the trail is very easy to follow. We got to see the start of the sunrise before we crested over and began the 1.5 mile decent losing a little under 1,000 feet. Spirits were high as it had been about 2 hours and we were already half way done with the mileage as we crossed the stream! We knew the last few miles would take much longer though!

First view of Holy Cross going down to stream

Once the sun came up, it was apparent the mosquitoes were going to be a problem. We planned ahead and had 2 bottles of bug spray after reading lots of trip reports! Unfortunately at 3:30 AM they didn't make it in to any packs so this was probably one of the most annoying things on the way up. PACK BUG SPRAY.

The next mile or so (and 1,000') as you approach treeline you'll go through the forest and then through some rock sections. Again the trail is very well marked and route finding is not a problem.

The next portion you will be gaining the lower ridge and as the route description mentions, "it weaves through talus to reach the upper ridge but it's defined and cairned." We did see two CFI workers out there and its absolutely true its well defined and there are huge cairns to follow. Luckily the doggies also found a giant snow area still remaining and loved cooling themselves off. We made it up this section slow and steady with breaks as needed. Once you reach the top of the lower ridge and the trail eases you can the last part of the north ridge that you have to climb. From here on up the route finding is a little harder but if you look carefully there are cairns all the way up. There are large rocks to climb up for this last part but stable. Luckily, there are no false summits and in no time you are at the top of this gorgeous mountain.

The group did great and we summited at 10 AM. My GPS read 5.6 miles and 4,600' feet of gain. I figure hiking time was around 4:45 and resting for the remaining 1:15. When we first got up a lot of other groups were super impressed with our dogs. Gus, a tiny cockapoo, barely broke a sweat on the way up. I felt very strong going up, but I know descending is always the hardest part for me, not to mention the 1,000' you have to climb in the final 3 miles. We spent 45 minutes enjoying the top with about 20-25 other hikers. There was no breeze and it was a great time to be up there.

Heading back down, the dogs did have a little trouble on some of the bigger rocks and didn't always want to jump from one to another. Eventually we made it back down to the lower ridge and the knee grinding continued. We were making good time, but not going too fast and didn't need to stop much. I think we were back to treeline by around 1 PM. The clouds were rolling in a bit but we were in good shape.

Looking back at Holy Cross in dark clouds

The hike back down to the creek seemed to take forever. I felt like we had hiked 5 miles, but it was less than 3. By the time we were at the creek I already went through my 4 liters of water so I refilled 2 liters with my Steripen. The sun started to take its toll at this point and I had a very bad headache and stayed back from the group for most of the way out. The hike back up the 1,000' was slow and steady and didn't give me too much trouble. The last 1.5 miles my legs were so tired though and this was definitely the hardest part of the hike for me, even though the grade wasn't very steep at all. Luckily the mosquitoes weren't as much of a problem in the heat of the day so that helped.

We made it back down to the trailhead at 3 PM after a great day on the mountain with perfect weather! I had kept cold a bottle of chocolate milk and this was the absolute best thing once returning to the car! It gave me some renewed energy. We took down camp and were on the road pretty quick. No traffic back to Denver and an easy 2 � hour drive.

All in all this was a terrific hike. It was gorgeous and the wildflowers were out in full force. I'd recommend an early start to get back to treeline before the storms hit. We saw a lot of people headed up as we were on our way back down as the sky was getting dark. We could have spent less time at the top, but it ended up being just fine. Remember bug spray.

My GPS Tracks on Google Maps (made from a .GPX file upload):

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

geoffirons	camping? 7/23/2014 9:16pm Congrats on a great climb and thanks for an excellent trip report. My wife & I are backpacking in to do this climb. We are considering camping near Lake Patricia, but also wondering if there are some decent places to camp near the main trail near treeline. Did you happen to notice anything that looked good? Thanks very much!
panda518	camping 7/23/2014 9:49pm After you cross the creek 3 miles in, there are a handful of designated camping spots. There are numbered posts that lead back to each spot. All of them had rocks on the post (means unavailable) as we passed through, but if any of those are open they'd be great because they are set back from the trail. As you walk through this area I did see at least 2 other obvious spots that were used by others as camping so there may be more as well. It seems if the designated spots were full you would be able to create one, hopefully in the day light! I'm not certain when you'd break off to Lake Patricia or what the route entails, but it was beautiful from the lower ridge!
Coley22	Camping 7/24/2014 8:13pm We bumped into you ladies at the summit We had the brindle dog and border collie. Those mosquitoes are killer...my legs were covered when I got home. We had asked a guy who was camping near that creek crossing if they were bad and he said no...but passing through you definitely get eaten alive. I am guessing there were 10-12 camping spots but were all filled the morning passing through. These were off the North Ridge route
panda518	camping 7/25/2014 3:08pm Oh yes! It looked like your pups were doing well on the hike too! Great day to be out there and I was happy the mosquitoes were better later in the day :-)
Yikes	mosquitoes 7/25/2014 10:50pm yeah, they were pretty bad. i think it helped me set a record climbing back up to the pass; was almost jogging up that 960' to get out of there before I died from blood loss.

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Mt. of the Holy Cross

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