We Do Stuff: Mt of the Holy Cross

July 9, 2022

Mt of the Holy Cross 14,007 ft.
Cross Couloir

Laura and I have wanted to climb the namesake feature of Mt. of the Holy Cross for a quite a long time. It's a steep, 45 degree snow climb that is deeply inset in the mountain and holds snow well into July most years. It’s a lengthy drive over to Halfmoon trailhead from home and the many miles of road to the trailhead is only plowed after June 21st each year making access and timing along with getting decent snow conditions difficult.

First views of Mt of the Holy Cross

Every time I come to the Holy Cross Wilderness I remember why it’s one of my favorite areas in Colorado. It’s big, beautiful, green and amazing. Not only for climbing; it’s a backpacking paradise if you can handle the mosquitos.

Looking back at the sunrise

For this trip Laura and I left Friday night and made the drive up to the trailhead, leaving Hazel with grandma for the night. When we arrived around 8 pm the lot was packed and there were quite a few people who were doing the same thing as us, planning on sleeping in their car. We tried to get some rest but I only got about an hour before our 2 AM alarm went off. By 2:15 we are walking up to the sign at the beginning of the trailhead and steadily making our way up Halfmoon Pass. It’s about 1,000 feet up the pass that you have to then drop down before re-ascending the elevation you just gained and lost. At the bottom of half moon pass there’s a small cut off that is not easy to find. It takes you away from the standard trail and aims for the couloir.

Interesting rock patterns as we scrambled to the base of the couloir

We eventually found where we thought we needed to go but ended up wandering around for 30 minutes before finding what we knew was the proper trail. A GPX track was definitely helpful here. After crossing the stream for a second time, we traversed along the steep hillside and talus fields. We finally felt that we were on the right track and eventually saw Mt of the Holy Cross come interview. A couple more hours of hiking up the steep hillside and we were finally at our objective the cross couloir.

The Bowl of Tears at the base of the Cross Couloir

Justin in the Cross Couloir

We had 1,200 feet of 45° snow to reach the summit. We figured it would take us less than an hour to climb the 1,200 feet; however, once we got into the couloir it was terrible snow conditions. We had chosen only to bring hiking crampons and climb in tennis shoes, having climbed terrain similar to today with the same set up and being comfortable. Today would be a different story. There were many times we would step and find our feet sliding backward underneath us. The climb was very difficult and even sometimes a bit scary with just the hiking crampons. Next time I’ll be sure to bring boots even though it means carrying them for the extra miles. It took us almost 3 hours to reach the summit from where we entered cross couloir. About 3 times as long as we would normally take to climb a route like this.

Laura in the runnel in the Cross Couloir

We hung out on the 14,007 foot summit for 15 minutes and then started our descent down Halo Ridge. As we descended, we included the centennial summit of Holy Cross Ridge, getting me one peak closer to completing the highest 100 in Colorado. Laura had climbed this peak in the past so no new checkmarks for her today!

Looking back at Mt of the Holy Cross from Holy Cross Ridge

Halo Ridge is a long talus hop and scramble down. It goes up and over several summits and eventually leads to the Notch Mountain Shelter. It’s a beautiful building built in 1933 by the Civilian Conservation Corp for Pilgrims coming to see Mt. of the Holy Cross. It is very well preserved and offers excellent views of the cross on the mountain that we had just climbed. We stopped for a few minutes and took pictures and then started down the many switchbacks that lead to the good trail out to the trailhead. It took us just about 11 hours round-trip before reaching the trailhead and soaking our feet in the river and heading to the car and finishing up our day. 15 miles and 5,000 feet of elevation gain were our total.