HOLY CROSS RIDGE
13,831 ft.
September 2, 2004
By Tim Briese
Holy Cross Ridge is a somewhat misleading name that has been given to Point 13,831, the highpoint on a three mile long ridge of the same name that extends south from the fourteener Mount of the Holy Cross. The ridge is punctuated by several points along its length, generally increasing in elevation from south to north. Point 13,831 lies only about a third of a mile south of the summit of the famous fourteener.
I left home at 3:45 a.m. with my labs Allie and Jorie and drove into the mountains under a moonlit sky. Dawn broke as I drove into Vail at 6 a.m., and I headed up the Tigiwon Road toward the Half Moon Trailhead. This road has undergone an improvement project of some sort during the past couple of years but I could discern no changes since I was last here. I arrived at the trailhead just before 7 a.m. An early start was important today because I knew this would be a rather long hike.
At 7:05 I struck off up the Fall Creek Trail and strode briskly along. After two miles I passed the turnoff for the Notch Mountain Trail, and a mile and a half later hiked past Lake Constantine. I continued up the valley and at 9 a.m. I reached a point where the Fall Creek Trail crosses to the south side of Fall Creek, about a half mile past Constantine Lake, at about 11,500 feet. I did not cross the creek but left the main trail here and found a strong trail that continued up the drainage above the right side of the creek. When I came around a bend I was greeted by the pretty sight of water cascading over the smooth granite slopes of a headwall across the valley, reminiscent of the Sierra Nevada in California. Presently I came to beautiful Lower Tuhare Lake, at 12,090 feet, and had my first glimpse of Holy Cross Ridge above to the northwest. The trail grew more faint, but nevertheless continued around the north side of the lake and carried me up through a steeper rocky area to Upper Tuhare Lake, at 12,365 feet.
Upper Tuhare Lake is a remarkable lake, set in a high basin surrounded by rugged, rocky splendor. I don= t think that I have ever seen so large a lake at such a high elevation, either, for it is nearly half a mile long. I continued around the north side of the lake, on a route considerably more difficult than a typical stroll along a lakeshore, because rough talus came right down to the water=s edge most of the way. Finally reaching the far end of the lake, I continued up the drainage by ascending steep talus, which grew old rather quickly. At about 12,600 feet I headed up to the right on runs of steep grass, which I managed to stay on most of the way to 13,000 feet. I admired a fine view of Point 13,768 off to the south when I stopped to catch my breath. At this point the angle of ascent eased slightly and I climbed up slopes of easier talus to a saddle at 13,700 feet just east of the summit. A dramatic view of Mount of the Holy Cross popped into view when I reached the saddle. I quickly scampered up the final hundred yards and stepped on the summit at 11:50.
The summit was quite a rewarding vantage point to attain, with fine views all around. Holy Cross towered above to the north, and I could see a half dozen climbers standing on its summit. To the west beyond the depths of the Cross Creek drainage lay Mt. Jackson (13,670'), and other peaks lying deep in the heart of the Holy Cross Wilderness Area. Three-fourths of a mile to the south along the crest of the Holy Cross Ridge lay Point 13,768, an impressive-looking peak that I considered climbing today as well, but decided against because of time and weather constraints. The valley to the southeast held the shimmering Tuhare Lakes. To the east the rough-looking Halo Ridge curved around to Notch Mountain, the famous vantage point from which the namesake cross on Mount of the Holy Cross can be best observed. The Bowl of Tears Lake lay in the deep basin between Notch Mountain and Holy Cross. A quick perusal of the summit register showed that about 100 climbers had visited so far this year, a rather large number compared to most other Centennial 13ers I have climbed. Casting an eye up at the sky, I noted that the weather was somewhat marginal, with intermittent patches of bluish-gray sky and misty gray clouds, with showery squalls dropping from their undersides. Weather conditions were not really threatening yet but certainly bore watching.
After relaxing for 45 minutes on the summit I left and began my descent. For the sake of adventure I decided to return by following the Halo Ridge around to Notch Mountain, and then taking the trail down its eastern slopes. The Halo Ridge turned out to be harder than I anticipated, though, with rough talus for much of the way and ups and downs that forced me to re-climb about 400 feet of elevation gain. I achieved some spectacular positions on the ridge, however, including one particularly impressive narrow place where I could look down at the Bowl of Tears Lake far below on my left side and the beautiful Tuhare Lakes on my right. After climbing up over a point and descending on steep talus to a 12,900 foot saddle I considered bailing off the ridge and descending a long slope to the east, to rejoin the Fall Creek Trail just below Lake Constantine in the valley far below. That would likely have been the easier thing to do, but I doggedly decided to stay on the rough ridge, because I wanted to see the Halo Ridge in its entirety. From the 12,900 foot saddle I contoured across a talus slope on the right side of the ridge in order to avoid a particularly rough-looking area along its crest. I found it necessary to assist Jorie in three or four places where the talus was especially rugged and blocky. As I neared Notch Mountain at the end of the ridge a blustery squall of snow blew in and I was viciously hammered by a strong southwest wind for a few minutes. I finally reached the Notch Mountain shelter house at about 3 p.m., and stopped for a moment to enjoy a fine view of Holy Cross and Holy Cross Ridge back to the west. It took me about two and a half hours to hike over two miles from Holy Cross Ridge to Notch Mountain. I do not recommend the Halo Ridge unless one is a big fan of hiking on talus!
From the Notch Mountain shelter house I descended the fine trail that switchbacks down the eastern slopes of the mountain. The trail seemed like a highway compared to what I had been on. It was nice to get out of the wind on the leeward side of the mountain, too. I admired nice views of the Gore Range off to the northeast as I came down. I briskly clipped along and reached the Fall Creek Trail in the valley below in just over an hour. I was getting quite tired by this time and I could tell that the dogs were, too. I hiked the final two miles down the Fall Creek Trail in pleasant sunshine and arrived back at the trailhead at 5 p.m.
I estimated that I hiked about 13 miles and climbed 4200 feet of elevation gain on this ten hour outing. If I had returned the same way I went up the distance and gain would have been a little less. This climb is not one to be taken lightly, because it requires a long hike, with steep terrain from Upper Tuhare Lake to the summit, and plenty of talus to test one= s legs and balance.
