Mt. of the Holy Cross Trip Report 08/22/2016

Peak(s):	Mt. of the Holy Cross - 14,007 feet
Date Posted:	08/22/2016
Date Climbed:	08/14/2016
Author:	a_shaggygoat

Lovely August Summit
Our hiking party arrived at the trail head around 3 pm Saturday (August 12th). The trail head parking was packed! Luckily there were a few folks leaving so we waited a couple minutes for a parking spot. Very much so worth not hiking up the road! It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky. Our plan was to hike in and camp at the East Cross Creek Campground then summit Mount of the Holy Cross on Sunday. We had researched the trip and knew about gaining about 1,500 ft just to lose it to get to the East Cross Creek but experiencing it was cruel to say the least! It does offer amazing views of the summit though! In chatting with hikers heading back to the trail head it was clear that camping was the way to go even though it was more gear to haul in, just to break up all of the elevation gain and to break up the time required to summit. There are only the 10 campsites in the East Cross Creek campground, starting as late as we did they were all full up but we talked to one of the groups and they didn't mind us sharing their spot. The campsites are well covered and quiet. We started our ascent before first light on Sunday (August 13th). The trail is steep heading up to the summit, having lost all of the elevation gained previously. I'm almost positive that the stated 3 miles from the campground to the summit is a lie or at least that's how my legs felt! The trail was empty for the first couple hours, getting busier closer to the summit but over all not many people! Here is a video of the hike: (There are other summit videos on my Youtube channel.) thanks!

Lovely August Summit

Our hiking party arrived at the trail head around 3 pm Saturday (August 12th). The trail head parking was packed! Luckily there were a few folks leaving so we waited a couple minutes for a parking spot. Very much so worth not hiking up the road! It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky. Our plan was to hike in and camp at the East Cross Creek Campground then summit Mount of the Holy Cross on Sunday. We had researched the trip and knew about gaining about 1,500 ft just to lose it to get to the East Cross Creek but experiencing it was cruel to say the least! It does offer amazing views of the summit though! In chatting with hikers heading back to the trail head it was clear that camping was the way to go even though it was more gear to haul in, just to break up all of the elevation gain and to break up the time required to summit. There are only the 10 campsites in the East Cross Creek campground, starting as late as we did they were all full up but we talked to one of the groups and they didn't mind us sharing their spot. The campsites are well covered and quiet. We started our ascent before first light on Sunday (August 13th). The trail is steep heading up to the summit, having lost all of the elevation gained previously. I'm almost positive that the stated 3 miles from the campground to the summit is a lie or at least that's how my legs felt! The trail was empty for the first couple hours, getting busier closer to the summit but over all not many people!

Here is a video of the hike:

(There are other summit videos on my Youtube channel.)

thanks!

Comments or Questions

Rollie Free	Good! 8/23/2016 11:04am Nice video and music. I did this last year and remember coming over the pass and seeing a seemingly impossible peak to have to climb and then looking down a 1,000 ft into the valley. Both discouraging and awesome at the same time. But....it wasn't so bad as I made it out to be. Looks like you had fun.
jmjr2k	Great Song For A Great Mountain 8/26/2016 9:28pm Matt Redman is a favorite for me, and you picked a good one for your video of Holy Cross! This 14'er is on our bucket list for next year. Congrats on your summit! ... Joe
Rynoref73	Well done 8/29/2016 7:52pm Excellent viideo and great song! Looking at this one this week.
yrastorza	good job 6/29/2017 11:12am nice video. love the song

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