Holy Cross / Notch Mtn route question

[Porkrind]

We're pondering a two-day loop hike of Mount of the Holy Cross. Wanting to see the morning light on the cross from Notch Mtn., we were originally planning to overnight at the Notch Mtn Shelter but have learned that it is not allowed. Next plan was to camp at East Cross Creek camp area to cut the hike shorter for the next day.
My question is: is it possible to hike up East Cross Creek basin past Lake Patricia and angle up toward the Notch Mtn Shelter? From there we would continue on the Halo Ridge Route, summit, and then back down the north ridge.
We don't want to run into any thickets, cliffs, or anything above class 3. Is this doable? Are there any reasons its a good/bad idea or anyone have any other suggestions?

[TallGrass]

Possible, yes. Recommended, no. You're better off leaving the standard trail head early enough to reach Notch Mountain from Half Moon Pass. See my trip reports for more beta. You could do it all by headlamp as it's solid trail to the pass, and well-cairned from there. After that, traverse the Notch and do the Halo loop to Holy Cross. There's just a short low-exposure C3 scramble after the Notch to regain the ridge a short stroll from the shelter.

Pack plenty of water (3+ liters) and have something to filter water at East Cross Creek on the way out which by going clockwise puts you in the shade of the trees on the way out. Fancy Creek / Missouri Lakes and Hunky Dory THs (follow Fall Creek Trail south) offer some great hiking and Holy Cross City. I approached Holy Cross from near that TH years ago.

[Porkrind]

Thanks for the info, Tallgrass.
I was wanting to do a campout to shorten the 15 miles roundtrip loop hike, and, the Notch Mtn traverse looks a bit steep for our group.
You say the hike up through East Cross Creek basin is not recommended, what are the reasons for that?

[bergsteigen]

First of, it's cliffy. There are giant boulders in that basin to navigate around. The east side of that drainage is a nightmare. And the slope up to Notch is likely to be a steeeep scree/talus pile of sh!t.

Every single skier trip report (except mine - which goes a different route) talks about the difficulties in that drainage.

[Porkrind]

Thanks, Bergsteigen, that's the information that I was looking for.
It doesn't look 'that bad' on GoogleEarth, but I know you can't always see everything from a computer.

[bergsteigen]

My advice (since the sunrise on the Cross is pretty spectacular, check out the photo in my latest TR): Camp at the trailhead campground. Day hike Holy Cross, then day hike up to the Notch Shelter on day 2. I've backpacked the first time up Holy Cross, but then the next 2 times, I've day tripped from the trailhead. Totally doable with an early start. The trail up to Notch Shelter is nice. First part is rather flat, the second part is switchbacks. Really well maintained, if I remember correctly. (It was snow covered on my second trip) So that would make a good day 2, if you are tired from Holy Cross. I've heard summer conditions on Halo ridge can be tedious as well, with lots of boulder hopping, so the full loop in a day would be tough.

[SoCool]

the slope up to Notch is likely to be a steeeep scree/talus pile of sh!t

I have to agree with Otina, when viewing this slope from afar it looks very unpleasant. Also I met some guys that had descended the way you are proposing to ascend, they said it was arduous and worse than it looked.

But I do like your sense of adventure, thinking outside the box for a potential off-trail section of hiking.

[TallGrass]

I was wanting to do a campout to shorten the 15 miles round trip loop hike, and, the Notch Mtn traverse looks a bit steep for our group.

+1 to camping out at the TH. Sliced any way, HC is a long day. How do you make a marathon shorter than 26.2 miles? You don't; you suck it up, princess, and keep moving. Type 1 Fun is built on a base of Type 2.

If you wanna view HC from N at sunrise, "the" way is as I described. Fall Creek Trail to Notch Shelter Trail on up is only Class 1, but those switchbacks take f-o-r-e-v-e-r. Imagine taking the long gradual wheelchair ramp instead of the direct stairs, but for thousands of vertical feet. Guess you could hike up Notch one morn then down to ECC to camp that night, then up to HC back to ECC and back over the pass, but just seems like more work. The full loop has the best views hands down, and done CW is best in terms of heat, water, and weather.

Traverse is too steep for you? Forget about doing Holy Cross. Harder getting out of the deep end of the pool where there's no ladder. Like someone posted before, from afar they look harder than they really are. If you know the general layout, don't even need a map because it's all solid trail, ridge run, cairned, and SUPER-cairned coming off the North Ridge to guide back onto trail. Traverse tricks are laid out in my TR. And if the solid rock of the traverse looks bad to you, Patricia to Shelter would really burn you.

Start EARLY (4am or earlier). Pack plenty of water. Suck it up. Keep moving.
You say "group" so we don't know the ages, ability, nor background of the rest.
Actually, same for you. What's your 14er, mountain, altitude, endurance, hiking story?
Some are slow with low range. Some fast with high range. Some slow but can put in a 16+ hour day at altitude.

[Stiffler_from_Denver]

IMG_3473.JPG (170.35 KiB) Viewed 1243 times

I hiked up to Notch Mt. Shelter on Sunday via Fall Creek then Notch Mt. Trail. There were a number of switchbacks that were covered with snow piles but they weren't too bad to get around.

[cougar]

I agree with TallGrass - easiest way to do this in a day is to camp at the trailhead, start at 4am, and get to top of HalfMoon Pass, then head up Notch Mtn from there. Once you gain the ridge with some talus hopping, there's a trail up the Notch Mtn ridge to the east summit of Notch. Then traverse below it or the notch depending on your comfort/skill level. Below it the basin looks like scree but manageable. This put me at the top of Notch Mtn for sunrise/alpenglow or close to it (July 4). And nothing steep.

Doing Halo Ridge this way is still a long day, but you don't lose the elevation coming down off Halfmoon Pass to Cross Creek - you only have to regain it once on the way back. And it's shorter mileage than the Fall Creek trail.

DSC05410.JPG (57.62 KiB) Viewed 1185 times

additional note: I didn't see any other climbers on this route until I got near Holy Cross Ridge.

It's also possible to reverse route back to Notch Mtn shelter from HC. It's all big solid talus so reversing direction shouldn't be a problem.

[Porkrind]

Thanks for all the information and tips, I definitely won't be trailblazing up through East Cross Creek basin now.
I do want to see the sunrise on the Holy Cross from Notch Mtn, and know that a very early start and a long day goes along with that.

Though I'm not as experienced as you Coloradans, I have done fourteen 14ers so far including Longs Peak, North Maroon Peak, and Mount Whitney via the John Muir Trail.

[glenmiz]

Route up to Half Moon Pass, over Notch Mtn, past the shelter around Halo Ridge is long, hard and worth it.