Mount of the Holy CrossI left the Halfmoon TH and headed up the North Ridge of Mount of the Holy Cross. I encountered some mosquitos on the ridge just below treeline. A more favorable encounter was a ptarmigan on the ridge just above treeline. I reached the summit in 3 hours and 20 minutes from the TH.Holy Cross RidgeI descended Mount of the Holy Cross and climbed Holy Cross Ridge. I was surprised to see two other people on the summit.Point 13,373I descended Holy Cross Ridge down Halo Ridge to Point 13,373. I was now beggining to get a good view of Mount of the Holy Cross, but could not yet see the Cross Couloir.Point 13,248Descending Point 13,373 was slightly nerve wracking because it is so steep and loose. In addition, the boulders are huge, so rock fall could result in serious consequences. This section was very short, though. I passed a couple of young men who attempted Holy Cross Ridge and Mount of the Holy Cross with overnight gear. They only made it to Point 13,373. I continued up to Point 13,248 and could now see the Cross Couloir. It took me 5 hours and 38 minutes to get to the summit from the TH. I was surprised to see a summit register on top. However, it is a ranked thirteener coming in at #441.
Mount of the Holy Cross from Point 13,248. |
Point 13,224I descended Point 13,248, passed the shelter and climbed Point 13,224. This is the southern, lower summit of Notch Mountain.Notch MountainDescending Point 13,224 involved some route finding. At first, I tried to descend the north side, but I knew the route was only rated class 2+, so I knew this wasn't right. From that point, however, I could see that the west side looked like the way to go, so I reascended Point 13,244 and kept looking for a route on the west side of Notch Mountain. I eventually found it and was no harder than class 2+. I continued up to Notch Mountain.Point 12,743From just below the summit of Notch Mountain, I picked up a trail and followed it to Point 12,743 and descended towards Halfmoon Pass. I abandoned the trail due to snow avoidance and met up with Halfmoon Trail below Halfmoon Pass.
Annotated Map Detailing Route |
Elevation: 5,827'
Time: 7 hours 57 minutes Images
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Northern Sawatch Range > Holy Cross, Mount of the > 7 Summits in the Holy Cross Wilderness
