6/24/07 – UN 13,768 & Whitney Peak – East Ridge & North Slopes

10.4 miles, 4440'


Since we returned to Colorado, Erin and I seem to have developed a pattern of visiting areas we hadn't been to in a long while. We had only been to the Holy Cross Wilderness once before to climb the namesake 14er, Mount of the Holy Cross, in 2002. We climbed the standard route, traversed to the summit of Holy Cross Ridge, and descended via Tuhare Lakes and Fall Creek. Holy Cross remains one of my favorite days on a 14er, but even so we had never taken the time to return to this watery wilderness. I was seeking to climb a couple of new 13ers and go to a spectacular location, but I was stumped over lunch on Friday. I had a few ideas, but none of them were jumping out at me. Later that afternoon I recalled the Seven Sisters Lakes, and I knew immediately I had found our destination. Though we had climbed to the summit of Holy Cross Ridge five years ago, more ranked peaks reside along the ridge, including the 118th tallest summit in the state, UN 13,768. Our secondary goal would be Whitney Peak, a rounded and massive mountain that juts southeast from Holy Cross Ridge and in no way resembles the tallest peak in the lower 48 states.

We arrived at the diversion dam along French Creek after negotiating the web of roads surrounding Homestake Reservoir and began our hike at 5 a.m. First we had to hike up a short cut-off trail to the Holy Cross City 4WD road. This nasty ribbon of rocks and boulders is well-known for being one of the tougher 4WD challenges in Colorado. We saw vehicular obstacles immediately and wondered whether anyone would attempt the road today. The spot where we left the road for the trail was just beyond the road's difficult crossing of French Creek. The road ascends the creek directly for something like 30-40 yards at an incline. Winch anchors were visible bolted into a few boulders along the crossing. We picked up the Fall Creek Trail and followed it to Hunky Dory Lake, which rests at the base of a waterfall that spills from Cleveland Lake more than 300' above. Beautiful cliffs line Hunky Dory and guard that upper basin.

It was here that I began to slow down. I had hurt my foot a week earlier in freakishly mundane style: just walking in my apartment! No particular event set it off. I suppose it was a cumulative injury from the stresses of climbing after having been away for two years. Whatever the cause, I was limping around all that weekend. I saw a doctor who determined it wasn't a stress fracture or tendonitis as I had feared. He taped me up, and after a few more days rest my foot passed a test piece on a foothill in Golden Gate State Park. I was anxious but hopeful about how it would perform. While ascending this rocky, narrow and uneven trail, my foot began to ache. Certainly nowhere near the amount of pain I had felt a week earlier, but it was enough to get my attention. I slowed my speed, and for more than a half-hour I lost sight of Erin, who had to have been wondering whether we'd be reaching our peaks at all. I maintained my slow and steady pace, crossed French Creek yet again, and in a tiny meadow met up with Erin who was waiting for me atop a boulder.

As we climbed higher in the basin, we began to see our unnamed bicentennial poking skyward from behind its east ridge while Holy Cross Ridge's southern stretch began to reveal its form. We passed by three of the Seven Sisters before leaving the trail and climbing rocky benches to reach the highest of the basin's lakes, still frozen in late June. The icy blues of the uppermost pool were enchanting. Climbing to the lake had been steep, but to my delight my foot settled down. For the first time I began to feel confident we would reach both UN 13,768 and Whitney Peak.

The ascent from the lake was on mostly stable talus with a few patches of grass. We reached the peak's east ridge and turned for the final 300' scramble to the summit while views to our right opened toward Holy Cross Ridge and upper Tuhare Lake. The views from the summit were panoramic. I was pleased to regard the deep maroons of Red Table Mountain and to peer into the Elk Mountains with binoculars. Nearer by, we could see some of the HCW's numerous and impressive lower peaks, such as "Hammer Peak." We couldn't stay as long as we wished, however, because the ascent had taken nearly 5-1/2 hours. We picked a different way down the rocky ledges and hiked across the southern outlet of the largest of the Seven Sisters. We found the Fall Creek Trail again at the exact spot we left it and then began the climb to the ridge crest.

Whitney Peak was completely adorned with wildflowers. We found forget-me-nots, beheld buttercups, and espied springbeauties. The floral arrangements kept us enthralled for the remaining – and tiring! – 690 feet up Whitney's north slopes. Our discovery that the nearer of Whitney's two summits was also the taller elicited a chorus of praise from us to the peak, and I mean that literally. Yes, we do talk to the mountains! We soaked in the views once more – "Ribbed Peak" in particular caught my eye – before beginning our descent.

I was slow and cautious hiking down the trail, but we made reasonably good time back to the Holy Cross City road. We noticed something new on the road as we hiked down: the steadily dripped evidence of a smashed oil pan. Someone had driven this "road" today! 20 minutes later, we came across a trio of specialized Jeeps. The middle vehicle was cocked at an angle on a rocky obstacle with a very flat tire. They had their work cut out for them changing a tire while the Jeep was perched so precariously. A while later we found the cut-off trail without any difficulty, and we completed our hike with just under a 12-hour round trip time.

Along the drive home we took a shortcut/detour over the Shrine Pass Road. This road connects the town of Red Cliff directly with Vail Pass. To our surprise, we were treated to a knockout view of the Holy Cross massif. I've kept a mental note of this spot about three miles from Vail Pass because this would be an amazing place to watch a sunrise! Shrine Pass itself is just a mile from Vail Pass and provided a familiar view of beautiful Pacific Peak. As we neared Copper Mountain, we got a call from Kurt, whom we hadn't seen since we got back to Colorado. We gladly arranged to meet him at Tommyknockers in Idaho Springs where we chatted while traffic on I-70 died down. All in all, it was another great day in the mountains, and I look forward to a much swifter return to the Holy Cross Wilderness next time.