This mountain exceeded my expectations. I thought it was going to be little more than a long slog, lots of miles and vertical. I wasn't really looking forward to climbing it, but I wanted to do it this year to fulfill my requirement to climb the highest and lowest 14ers left on my list each year. I had planned to climb via the Halo Ridge or from the Homestake Road, anything to avoid climbing 1000' over Halfmoon Pass on the descent. I finally decided to climb the standard route in one day as a challenge, since I've been in good shape this year.

I didn't want to camp on this trip, so I got to bed around 20:00 the night before, and actually managed to get a few hours of sleep before waking up at 01:00. Jake and I left our house at 01:30, drove through Conifer and Evergreen to I-70 and arrived at Halfmoon Trailhead at 04:30. The drive up was mostly rainy, but it wasn't raining much west of the divide. There was some construction on Tigiwon Road, as I had to cross several gravel piles and new culverts were laying in the ditches. There were several vehicles parked at the trailhead but none of their occupants appeared to be stirring yet. After a few minutes to get my boots on and sign in at the trailhead register, we started hiking at 04:40 by headlamp. The trail was easy to follow; it was mostly overcast, and my headlamp seemed to be getting dimmer, but I could still find my way. After a while my headlamp seemed to be fading faster, but I just turned it off and could navigate well enough by the ambient light once my eyes adjusted.

We came out of the trees and reached Halfmoon Pass at 05:30, and it was starting to get light. The trail down the west side of the pass is fairly level at first, then it switchbacks down to Cross Creek. The switchbacks only became somewhat steep near the bottom, so it didn't look like the return trip would be too bad. On the way down from the pass I saw my first view of Holy Cross, and it was really impressive, not your typical Sawatch pile of rocks. A beautiful mountain in a beautiful setting. We reached Cross Creek at 06:00, and I filtered some "holy water" to replenish my Camelback UnBottle. I stashed my filter in some rocks to lighten my load, and we started hiking west to the ridge. At one point Jake let out a yipe and limped up the trail to me, favoring one of his hind legs. He lifted his paw and I saw nothing stuck in it, but saw a small abrasion on his leg. I decided to let him walk it off and sure enough, 30 seconds or so later he was running like nothing happened.

          
Fotos ©2001 by John C. Maki

The trail made its way up through the trees and onto the wide ridge northeast of Holy Cross. Once out of the trees we followed huge cairns on stable talus. After some time the ridge narrowed down and joined the North Ridge of Holy Cross. I could see some snow dusting the summit area, and some of the talus still had a light coating of ice, which made the going more difficult. By the time we passed the top of the Angelica Couloir, the temperature had dropped and the summit was socked in with clouds. On the upper ridge the route becomes less distinct, and there weren't many cairns to be seen. I checked my bearing with a compass a few times so I would be able to find my return route, and generally climbed upwards. My altimeter read 13,800' when I thought I saw the summit block. Just before we reached the summit the clouds lifted and the sun hit us, providing an awe-inspiring view. It really was heavenly (pardon the pun). We summited at 08:35, the first that day I'm sure, making for an ascent of just under four hours. I found the summit register, signed in, took some pictures, and shared a Clif Bar with Jake. I peered down the Cross Couloir, and became nervous when Jake looked over the edge of the sheer east face. We stayed on the summit for only 20 minutes; I would have stayed longer if not for the possibility that the east wind might blow in some more route-obscuring clouds.

Foto ©2001 by John C. Maki

          
Fotos ©2001 by John C. Maki

I passed a group of 5 on the narrow part of the ridge, then I cut west of the trail across some grassy meadows and rejoined the trail just above treeline. I saw one guy with a dog while I was below the trail. Not a lot of people on this route on a weekday. Once below treeline, we ran into a backpacking couple with two dogs that carried their own packs. They asked if I knew anything about the ridge route from the summit down to Seven Sisters Lakes. I told them I had considered that route so I knew it was passable, but it probably involved some minor scrambling that might be harder with full packs. I also pointed out that the talus was sharp, and unless their dogs were experienced they might have problems with sore paws. I emphasized my point by showing them where a chunk of flesh had been removed from my palm when I slipped on some ice and stopped my fall with my hand. I did tell them it would probably be a very scenic route. They planned to stay out for a few more nights and return on the Fall Creek Trail. I wished them luck and continued down the trail.

We reached Cross Creek at 10:35, and I retrieved my water filter and pumped some more holy water from the creek. Jake and I had another Clif Bar to sustain us up to the pass. The trail up to the pass was a little steep at first as I remembered, and I had to adjust my pace to keep from getting winded. I enjoyed the views of Holy Cross on the way up, and we reached the pass at 11:30. Near the pass we ran across a few more hikers, one carrying a fishing pole, and I hoped they weren't planning to summit that day with such a late start. On the way down to the trailhead from Halfmoon Pass my right knee began to give me a little trouble, but nothing too bad. At 12:05 we reached the trailhead, and I noticed for the first time some signs regarding the construction on Tigiwon Road. They were replacing all the culverts on the road, from 07:00 until 19:00 pretty much all of August and maybe into September. The signs warned drivers to expect two hour delays. I replaced Makalus with Tevas and we drove down the road, hoping to catch the workers between culverts, maybe on their lunch break. No such luck...

About halfway down the 8 mile road, an excavator was blocking the narrow road, ripping open the ground to install a new culvert. I watched while Jake napped in the back of the Jeep; I actually find this kind of work interesting. I wish I had access to a piece of equipment like that to work on my own 300 yard long dirt driveway. They weren't kidding about the delay on the signs; after almost two hours they finished that culvert and moved the excavator and front-end loader to allow traffic to pass. Finally off Tigiwon Road, we drove up the short stretch of 24 to get on I-70. Cars were stopped on I-70... "what now?" I wondered. More construction. Apparently, while climbing during the week is great, road travel is not. The delay was not too long and we made it home at about 17:00.

The standard route on Holy Cross was long and tiring, but it was not nearly as bad as I had expected. I think the difficulty of ascending a pass on the return route is more mental than physical, and I am starting to get over my prejudices against climbing on the return. I really would like to view the Cross Couloir some time, so a route on Halo Ridge might be in my future. After some steep snow practice I might even climb the Cross Couloir.