Mt. of the Holy Cross Trip Report 08/17/2015

Peak(s):	Mt. of the Holy Cross - 14,007 feet
Date Posted:	08/17/2015
Modified:	09/02/2015
Date Climbed:	08/15/2015
Author:	jgar15

Holy Cross
To see the whole report and post of the trip check out my blog at liveoutside.com I got to the trailhead late Friday evening but noticed people camping by the road nearly all the way up to the top. The lot was also nearly full. I would recommend getting here a little earlier than you anticipate in the morning as the lot was very full and even up to a mile down the road had cars parked along it. The trail was very well maintained with only a little mud despite it raining the night before. What surprised me was the number of people attempting this 12 mile hike and the number of them that started before I did around 630. It was very straightforward as far as the ascent to the top of the Half moon pass was very easy and well maintained but be prepared for the descent down to the creek. You have the pleasure of seeing all your hard earned gains leave when you reach the creek. I filled up my water here before making the push up to the summit. It seemed the camp sites here were nearly all filled and there was also lots of trash including wrappers and water bottles. I picked up what I could but really did not make a huge dent in the trash left behind. Please pick up your trash and even others to keep nature natural. The trail up from the creek to the ridge crest is very rocky but also very maintained. Most of the time it is more like rock steps as compared to a trail so the knees definitely feel it. Once on the ridge crest it is a nice break from climbing before the final push to the summit. The final 600+ feet is more of rock hopping and going from Cairn to Cairn but I would recommend just shooting for the summit and taking whatever route you think seems best. The summit was great and I dropped down a few feet to the ridge that juts out from the rest in order to take some good photos but this was at least class 4 climbing required, so probably not for everyone. The route back was much the same and definitely accentuated by the 1000+ uphill climb after the creek. Once again, on the way out the trailhead was packed with cars that went quite a ways down the road so plan accordingly. Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Holy Cross

To see the whole report and post of the trip check out my blog at liveoutside.com

I got to the trailhead late Friday evening but noticed people camping by the road nearly all the way up to the top. The lot was also nearly full. I would recommend getting here a little earlier than you anticipate in the morning as the lot was very full and even up to a mile down the road had cars parked along it. The trail was very well maintained with only a little mud despite it raining the night before. What surprised me was the number of people attempting this 12 mile hike and the number of them that started before I did around 630. It was very straightforward as far as the ascent to the top of the Half moon pass was very easy and well maintained but be prepared for the descent down to the creek. You have the pleasure of seeing all your hard earned gains leave when you reach the creek. I filled up my water here before making the push up to the summit. It seemed the camp sites here were nearly all filled and there was also lots of trash including wrappers and water bottles. I picked up what I could but really did not make a huge dent in the trash left behind. Please pick up your trash and even others to keep nature natural. The trail up from the creek to the ridge crest is very rocky but also very maintained. Most of the time it is more like rock steps as compared to a trail so the knees definitely feel it. Once on the ridge crest it is a nice break from climbing before the final push to the summit. The final 600+ feet is more of rock hopping and going from Cairn to Cairn but I would recommend just shooting for the summit and taking whatever route you think seems best. The summit was great and I dropped down a few feet to the ridge that juts out from the rest in order to take some good photos but this was at least class 4 climbing required, so probably not for everyone. The route back was much the same and definitely accentuated by the 1000+ uphill climb after the creek. Once again, on the way out the trailhead was packed with cars that went quite a ways down the road so plan accordingly.

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

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