Mt. of the holy cross

Colorado peak questions, condition requests and other info.
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craigjhn
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Joined: 9/13/2006
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Re: Mt. of the holy cross

Post by craigjhn »

Wow that sounds great! And thanks for breaking a trail up there. I think I will appreciate that. Is it too much to hope for another calm day up high? I love those balmy summits when you don't have to hurry back down. Loving this great weather. Thanks B.
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jlarson630
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Re: Mt. of the holy cross

Post by jlarson630 »

How deep/packed was the snow up there? Just wondering about gaiters/poles
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BAUMGARA
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Re: Mt. of the holy cross

Post by BAUMGARA »

jlarson630 wrote:How deep/packed was the snow up there? Just wondering about gaiters/poles
I'd use gaiters above treeline, you might post hole every now and then. No gaiters below treeline. I went without gaiters; (I was breaking in some Nepal Evos and was curious about how well they cinched above the ankle.) Poles, personal preference.
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craigjhn
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Joined: 9/13/2006
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Re: Mt. of the holy cross

Post by craigjhn »

In case anyone's interested, thought I'd report in. I made it up to the trailhead in my front wheel drive Accord, no problem. No chains were needed. I had thought from the reports that the slippery parts of the road were ice. In fact, on Thursday, there were just a few short stretches of packed snow where the sun could not get in and melt them. At 6am everything was frozen and the snow was kind of granular, offering very good traction. Then on the trip down 11 hours later, the road was wet and muddy in spots and the snow was slushy. So if the weather stays dry, no problems with the Tigiwon road.

On the mountain, there is now a pretty good trail of footprints in the snow. The postholing doesn't really get too bad until above treeline on the north ridge. I got off the trail a few times above treeline and ended up gaining the ridge a lot further south (and higher up) than where the actual trail gains the ridge. That entailed a lot more postholing, and a steeper climb. If you go, I would recommend trying to stay on the trail as best you can and gain the ridge ASAP. Once on the ridge, it's easier to follow the trail and the postholing is minimized. Snowshoes definitely not needed yet, but I left the microspikes in the car and kind of wished I'd brought them a few times. If it gets colder, things will get slicker.

As it turned out, the extra postholing wore me out and I turned around short of the summit. Still a great day though.
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