"Obsessed" is such a strong word. I don't think I am "obsessed" with seeing the Mount of the Holy Cross, but it certainly has been "on my mind". It has great history (people took it as a sign of "Manifest Destiny", and God's Blessing of the white man's westward domination of this continent) and great art (Thomas Moran's wonderful oil painting "Mountain of the Holy Cross", 1875, at the Autry Museum of the American West in Los Angeles) associated with it. It would be cool to see it.
Today marks THE THIRD TIME I have made this attempt. On Sept 17, 2013, although I took the correct turnoff and went up the correct dirt road, I STOPPED TOO EARLY and parked at the wrong parking area/trailhead! Had a very nice hike (saw a moose), but it was not the hike I had expected. On Oct 6, 2016 I made it to the correct parking area, but took the wrong trail from there, and wound up hiking up to the 13000-foot cairn on the Mount of the Holy Cross itself - I could even see over to Notch Mountain, which is where I wanted to be!
So I figure Third Time's The Charm! It was cold when I got up:
and the moon was setting in the west when I went to get some stuff from my car:
I had a good drive through Colorado, and headed up Tigwon Road:
next to Eagle River:
The aspens are beautiful:
and the road is ok (just take it easy):
Made it to the Fall Creek Trailhead at 10:45
and wound up doing a Great Hike - 12.4 miles in 5 hours 53 minutes, with an elevation gain of 2,665 feet:
The trail goes up through a nice pine forest:
with some VERY COOL VIEWS back-and-down:
I was on "Fall Creek Trail", and after 2.6 miles (1 hour 10 min) I reached the intersection with the "Notch Mountain Trail":
The Trail goes up-and-up, back-and-forth. It breaks out of the forest:
with some nice "wide open" views
I looked on a map, and the only way to get to those three lakes down there is to bushwack:
Well, not today, Jesse Bear.
A panorama from the nice trail through the scree field:
In "The Notch" of Notch Mountain is a building that was erected as a shelter for the pilgrims who journeyed up here, on the same trail that I just did:
An excellent article from the "Colorado Encyclopedia" can be accessed HERE, including:
The Notch Mountain Shelter was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1933 as a shelter for pilgrims coming to see nearby Mount of the Holy Cross. Located on the south shoulder of Notch Mountain at an elevation of about 13,100 feet, the rustic stone shelter is near the spot where in 1873 William Henry Jackson took photographs that made Mount of the Holy Cross famous.
Mount of the Holy Cross was named for the 1,500-foot-high cross formed by snowy crevasses on its northeastern face. It was described as early as the mid-1800s but did not become famous until the 1870s, when an 1873 photograph that William Henry Jackson took from Notch Mountain and an 1875 painting by Thomas Moran made the mountain into a renowned Christian symbol. Pilgrimages to view the mountain gradually grew in popularity.
In 1912 Episcopal Bishop Benjamin Brewster made the first recorded pilgrimage to the top of Notch Mountain, where he performed the Holy Eucharist under the sign of the giant snowy cross.
...
Today about 1,500 people per year hike roughly five miles from Tigiwon Road on Fall Creek Trail and Notch Mountain Trail to visit the shelter, where they can rest and enjoy the panoramic view.
The inside is kind-of sparse:
but there is a NICE VIEW out the windows:
"The Mountain of the Holy Cross":
Um, looks more like "Mountain of the Holy Vertical-Line", if you ask me.
It is pretty wind-blown and desolate up here:
Heading back through a pair of cairns:
Looking down the trail/mountain:
Of course there are hikers in the center of that picture:
The spaces are PRETTY VAST out here!
I found a COOL ROCK, but it is kind-of embedded in the mountain:
I made it back down to the trails intersection, then travelled a little farther, just to see what it was like. I turned around when it started going downhill ("Every step down is a step you will have to go up on your way back."), and finished a little after 5 PM. I, OF COURSE, want to/have to give a BIG SHOUT-OUT to Shannon Lane and her STEP class at the Manchester Athletic Club; if it wasn't for that Mon-Wed-Fri class, I WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO DO THIS HIKING! Thank you!
Driving down to Leadville, I saw a cool sign:
and its nice profile against the sun going down behind it:
I made it down to Leadville at 6:05, which unfortunately was too late to visit the Temple Israel Museum (closed at 6):
And by the time it opens tomorrow at 10:30, I expect to be a couple of hundred miles south of here.
Um - NICE SKY:
Checked into the Rodeway Inn (the former Super 8 - I had been here twice before), and crashed for the night. Thank you God for ALL THESE WONDERFUL ADVENTURES! and for the health to accomplish it!
Blogging Music:
Bill Evans - Live at Art D'Lugoff's Top of The Gate, 2014 double cd, recorded Oct 23, 1968
Driving Music:
The Waterboys - The Live Adventures of the Waterboys, 1998 double cd
The Eagles - Eagles Live, 1980 double album
well, it looks like it was a "live music" kind of day.
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