Halo Ridge
Halo Ridge - Class 2
Partner: Kristi Henes
Trailhead: Half Moon
Summits:
* PT13248
* Holy Cross Ridge
* Mount of the Holy Cross
Distance: 13m
Vertical: 6100ft
Duration: 10hrs with an hour of summit time
GPX
Our day started at 4:30am. We hiked the Fall Creek Trail to the Notch Mountain Shelter where Halo Ridge begins. Halo Ridge circles the Bowl of Tears to PT13,248 then on to the summit of Holy Cross Ridge. From Holy Cross Ridge we continue to Mount of the Holy Cross. From the summit of MHC we descended the standard North Ridge route to cross creek, over Half Moon pass and back to the trailhead.
PT13248 14ers.com Page
Holy Cross Ridge 14ers.com Page
Mount of the Holy Cross 14ers.com Page
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13m - 6100ft - 10hrs
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Sunrise from Fall Creek Trail
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Pano of Mount of the Holy Cross and Holy Cross Ridge from Notch Mountain
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Alex, Kristi and the Cross Couloir from Notch Mountain
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In 1924 a stone shelter called the Pilgrim's Hut (now Notch Mountain Shelter) was built near the summit of Notch Mountain. In the 1930s, thousands of Christians would come to see the cross, climb the mountain, or dip holy water from the Bowl of Tears Lake below.
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Alex on Halo Ridge... eyes PT 13,373
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Looking back to Notch Mountain
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The description calls the terrain on this route 'tedious' however we found the class 2 scrambling on relatively solid rock to be fun.
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Kristi and Upper Tuhare Lake
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Pano of Tuhare Lakes
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Typical terrain... class 2 scrambling on solid rock.
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Alex and Kristi on the summit of Holy Cross Ridge. Mount of the Holy Cross behind us.
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Summit of Holy Cross Ridge. The views weren't shabby.
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Bowl of Tears and Notch Mountain. You can see the Notch Mountain Shelter if you look closely.
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Alex descending from Holy Cross Ridge on the way to Mount of the Holy Cross
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The ridge between Holy Cross Ridge and Mount of the Holy Cross
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Alex approaches the last hump before the summit of Mount of the Holy Cross
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Kristi with Holy Cross Ridge... getting close to the summit of Mount of the Holy Cross
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Summit of Mount of the Holy Cross. Holy Cross Ridge in the distance
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Descending the standard North Ridge route ( to complete the 13 mile loop
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On the way out we needed to climb roughly 1000 feet to the top of Half Moon Pass. I prefer hiking uphill vs. downhill so it wasn't too bad. Last look at Mount of the Holy Cross from the top of the pass.
