Holy Cross Wilderness

[marquiri]

Our group is going to be doing the Cross Creek/Fall Creek Loop in the Holy Cross Wilderness. We're hoping to get to the upper (Half Moon) trailhead to start the hike, and leave a car down below at the Cross Creek Trailhead. I'd like to try to arrange a shuttle prior to heading out there in September, but haven't had any luck finding any sort of shuttle company out of Leadville or Minturn. Does anyone know of any trail shuttle service out there, or have any suggestions other than hitching?

 

[Wanderlust073]

Don’t know of any shuttles, but it’s only about 6 miles of road hiking between those trailheads.

 

[marquiri]

Worst case scenario I drop the group off at the top with all the gear and drive back down and walk up myself. It would be nice to knock off that 6 miles and 2,000 feet of vertical gain though.

 

[RyanP]

This is what old mountain bikes are for!

 

[marquiri]

Think Southwest would let me check a mountain bike on my flight from Orlando to Denver?

 

[Bob]

Could buy one at a thrift store in denver. Donate it back when done

 

[wick e. pedia]

The Tigiwon Community House is a bit over half way from Cross Creek TH to Half Moon TH, and it hosts weddings and events and whatnot. In other words, it's a known destination on Tigiwon Road that you might be able to talk an Uber into taking you to. The road itself is dirt but usually in decent condition. Also, there's pretty decent cell service at both of those THs if you were trying to coordinate with someone else.

Or you might just bump into me out there and I could shuttle you up the hill. I've always loved that loop!

 

[Janice]

When we did this, we had 2 cars so we didn't have to worry about a shuttle, so I can't help you with that. But here are a few things to consider:

1) I see you're coming from Florida. Will you have any days to acclimate to the altitude before starting? Depending on how far you go your first day, you'll get quite high, perhaps up to 11,500. My husband and I had already been doing dayhikes in CO for a week, so the altitude wasn't a problem for us, but the other part of our group flew one day and started hiking the next day. One person really struggled with the altitude and was sick enough that they exited early. (We would have stayed with them, but they were a group of 3 and convinced us - after much difficult discussion - that it would be easier for 3 to catch a ride than 5.) Anyway, as soon as they got lower, he was fine.

2) If you have time and energy, you might want to head up to Tuhare Lakes. We were there too early in the season to get all the way up to the bigger/higher lake (too much snow that we didn't have the confidence and experience to cross), but we came close and really enjoyed that scenery.

3) Are you planning to do the Missouri Lakes loop? We didn't, but when we got to the turn-off for Missouri Lakes, we stashed our packs and went down to explore some of the lakes. They are so beautiful. Then we retraced our steps and had to go all the way back up, but it was worth it.

I just looked at my pics from that trip - so fun after not looking at them in a long time! The photos reminded me that when we camped at Fancy Lake, we went behind our site for sunset and saw beautiful sky and mountains way off in the distance. I didn't use the PeakFinder app back then, but I had looked at a map and was pretty sure we had seen Breckenridge, Quandary, Pacific, Atlantic, etc. Great scenery!

 

[marquiri]

We're spending 2 nights in Leadville prior to departure, and we'll do a warm up hike the day before to get up a little bit higher. We're spending 8 days on the trail, so we'll have a lot of time to explore. We're definitely open to campsite suggestions. I have Fancy Lake marked, but I've heard that there isn't a lot of flat ground surrounding it.

 

[Janice]

Great that you'll have time to acclimate, as well as lots of time to explore along the trail!

Here's a picture of our tents at Fancy Lake - there was enough room for 3 tents, and if I remember correctly there was at least one other group somewhat nearby. I was facing east when I took this photo, and the lake is somewhere behind me.

I don't have specific location info or coordinates, but I'm almost positive we were on the east/southeast side of the lake, perhaps where one of red dots is on this image. So I think it should be possible to camp in the Fancy Lake area.

 

[ImNotDedYet]

Fun fact. Leadville is the highest incorporated town in North America. A couple days there and a warm up hike should have you well acclimated.

 

[Wanderlust073]

Fun fact. Leadville is the highest incorporated town in North America. A couple days there and a warm up hike should have you well acclimated.

Not sure a straight shot from the airport to 10k is ‘acclimating’ but it should spotlight anyone who’s going to have a problem quick enough…

 

[Bob]

Generally higher than the winds.... More days would be better toacli ate.... But take hiking slow, lots water and remember to eat

 

[ZLmtns]

Fun fact. Leadville is the highest incorporated town in North America. A couple days there and a warm up hike should have you well acclimated.

Negative . Leadville is the highest incorporated city in North America. Alma is the highest incorporated town. An argument can be made for Winter Park as well.

Alma, Colorado - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[ZLmtns]

With the popularity of climbing Mount of Holy Cross from Half Moon I don't see that hitching a ride would be a problem. Early mornings would be best but there is likely traffic on the road most all day. Wave 20 bucks at a car going in either direction and ask for a ride. Cheaper than a shuttle.