On Saturday, July 3, 2010 I headed out early in the morning for a hike
to the Mount of the Holy Cross - 14,005'. The trailhead starts around 10,000 ft and is a steady climb through the forest to the
Half Moon Pass summit - a 1,000 ft ascent. From there, the trail drops 1,000 ft to the valley below - a trail that is steep and
rather narrow in spots. The stream crossing was not the easiest and I can only imagine what it must be like with greater snowfall
on the mountain.
Once across the stream, the hike up is really steep in spots which took more out of me than I thought it would. I only managed to
get to 13,000 ft when I realized I needed to head back. My energy was depleted and I still had to reclimb the 1,000 ft to the
top of Half Moon Pass. This is a peak that got the better of me on this day. But, it will be there to climb another day.
The hike up from the valley floor was a tough one. It was very steep in places and the nagging thought I could not get out of my
head was that I still had to cross that stream and climb 1,000 ft to Half Moon Pass before doing another 1,000 ft down to my jeep.
I got above treeline and nearing 13,000 ft when I decided I had reached my limit. I sat near this cairn, ate my peanut butter and
jelly sandwich, got some rest, took some pictures - this one facing East, looking at the Continental Divide - and headed back down.
Oh, in the center of the picture, just above the cairn in the near distance, is the Half Moon Pass ridge I will need to
get back to. While a pretty view, it was rather depressing.
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