From: Tom Stybr Holy Cross Wilderness Elevation Gain - 3,685 ft. Round Trip Distance - 14.5 miles Holy Cross Ridge via Holy Cross City II, Class 2 August 3, 1997
This past weekend, my neighbor, Jeff, and I headed to Colorado with the hopes of climbing Mount of the Holy Cross and Longs Peak. We left home at 0800 CDT Saturday morning. We arrived in Minturn around 1700 MDT after eating dinner in Silverthorne. Heading south out of Minturn, we had 11 miles to cover before we turned right of Homestake Road. In the meantime, we discovered that a Jeep Jamboree was going on and later, when we arrived at the Holy Cross City trailhead, we found that the route to Holy Cross City was a popular Jeep trail.
A little after 1800 we were on the trail and started to encounter descending 4X4's left and right. The trail did not allow them to move very fast and they mostly yielded to us. It was kind of fun watching some of them negotiate the dicier sections. Just after 1900 we passed the Holy Cross Wilderness Boundary and Hunky Dory Lake. The clear evening provided plenty of light to head north and I hoped to get to treeline by dark. We stepped off the trail just after 2000 while the light slowly dimmed, jumped a small drainage, and stepped right into the middle of a small, flat clearing at 11,500 ft. "This is home." I said.
We pitched the tent and I pumped some water. Jeff did not know I had a filter so he had carried all his water with him. He would have two quarts for tomorrow. I would have over a gallon. I thought I had told him we would be able to filter water at our high camp but maybe I didn't. By 2100 we were in our bags and headed into the night. At 0400 the next morning my watch would wake us.
I tossed per usual and wasn't sleeping soundly until the alarm sounded, again, per usual. But I felt rested and ready to go. It was a moonless morning and the stars blazed but I'd seen them brighter. We started back to the trail by flashlight and headed north towards the Seven Sister Lakes. It was 0431. We gained about 400 vertical when, in the predawn darkness, we lost the trail abruptly. Later, on our descent I found that the trail meanders through a marshy area where the trail becomes a strip of grass that is not well worn. But in the dark I couldn't find the exit from the other side of the marsh. I thought about waiting 30 minutes for more light but decided to head west for the ridge line. I knew we were too low for that but it turned out OK in the end.
We traversed over and around a rocky buttress then ascended a boulder chute to gain a south facing grassy slope that turned out to be the southern terminus of the Holy Cross Ridge. The slope was steep (30-35 degrees) but numerous small ledges made switching back possible and we gained the ridge at roughly 13,100 ft and 0630. From here it was a long (about 2 miles), rocky ridge traverse to the summit cone. Boulder and talus hopping replaced the grassy slope as no trail at all was or could be worn through this jumble of rock. Staying below the ridge points during the traverse, we stopped to rest at each intermediate saddle to take in the view to the east and rest. To the west, I could hear a helicopter beyond the next ridge and I wondered if the Air Force was responsible for the noise. Afterall, Gold Dust Peak and the infamous A-10 wreckage was just to our west.
By 0900, we arrived at the summit cone and prepared to scramble on the seemingly endless but stable talus to the summit. A young couple was ascending just above us having scaled the north ridge. Jeff stopped to rest but I continued and reached the summit around 0930. The couple, from Denver, was quite friendly and talkative and we chatted for 10-15 minutes before Jeff arrived. More summiteers arrived as the north ridge queue reached the end of its ascent. The weather was superb with scattered clouds, light breeze and warm sun. After snapping pictures and eating and drinking, we started our descent knowing we would be repeating the long traverse in reverse before reaching the saddle and the descent down to the uppermost of the Seven Sisters Lakes - the proper route off the ridge.
Jeff lagged about 200 yards behind but maintained this distance for most of the traverse. Visual contact was easily maintained for most of the traverse. I arrived at the second saddle around 1100 and scouted the descent route as Jeff arrived from over a small rise. The descent was a steep scree slope intermingled with stable talus and boulders. I asked Jeff to wait until I cleared the initial chute so he would not send rocks down upon me. We zigged and zagged down the slope to the snow-embraced lakes below; a large snowfield extended up from the lakes to meet us. Just as I was about to enter the snowfield, I noticed a climber below ascending through some large outcroppings. Our paths eventually met - she was blonde, attractive and thirtysomething - and we exchanged route beta; I steered her left of the cornice above and she steered me right of the lake below. We saw later that she scaled the ridge point above the lakes before descending to two friends who watched her progress from a perch just east of the uppermost lake. They thanked me for steering her away from the cornice and I thanked them for showing me the way out of the basin.
Descending the snowfield was very pleasant compared to the boulder hopping and scree surfing and we exited the basin towards the Fall Creek Trail quickly. We still had some route picking to do descending out of the basin but made it to the trail by 1145. Motoring single-mindedly down the mildly worn trail, we arrived at our camp at 1236, 8 hours for the round trip. At this point, Jeff declared himself disqualified to climb Longs Peak the next morning as was our plan because of blistered feet. Gentle quizzing revealed he had large blisters on the bottom of his heels and several other smaller ones elsewhere on his feet. I offered that we should go home. He asked if I wanted to climb Longs alone but I declined - truth be known I was pretty sore myself but I probably could have climbed the Keyhole Route. But I would rather have had a partner while climbing Longs.
We broke camp by 1300 and commenced "Haul Ass" mode arriving at the trailhead just after 1400. We stopped at a small stream to filter water for the drive home then headed north through Minturn to I-70. Heading east we were almost immediately delayed by traffic. After 20 minutes of crawling, we arrived at the culprit blocking the left lane - a Jeep Cherokee with scorch marks exuding from under the hood and fluid splashed and debris scattered on the roadway around it. Again we motored east towards Denver until, near Silver Plume, weekend warrior traffic started backing up. We eventually made our way through Denver and points beyond arriving home in Wichita at 0145 Monday morning. Now all that was left to do was shower and grab four hours of sleep before commuting to work, saving one precious day of vacation.