Holy Cross overnighter

[YELLAHEEP]

For those of you that haven't done Holy Cross Trail before - and/or haven't done the overnight stay before, here's some helpful information:

I expect that this will be a popular run and will involve a large group, so I'd like everyone to be well prepared.

Road to the trail head:
Once off the highway, there's about 3 miles of dry, dusty, washboard road. The washboard can be awfully rough so if you don't have everything good and tight, you'll likely find out what's loose here. We'll probably air down before the dirt road to make the washboard less harsh.

The Trail:
This trail is an "in and out" trail, not a loop which means the obstacles will be run twice. If you value your stock bumpers, untrimmed flares/fenders and unprotected rockers, this trail is NOT for you. Led has this trail rated between an 8 to a 9 on the difficulty scale. The main reason for this rating is for the "feature" obstacle at French Creek. This obstacle has 3 approaches and for the most part, the "easy" line is still a moderate obstacle. Due to this particular obstacle, your rig will be REQUIRED to have at least a 3 inch lift with 31's, transfer case skid, and front/rear tow points. Even with the minimum lift, rocker and belly skid protection are recommended for all rigs. If you have the 8.25 rear, you will hang the diff in several locations. A locker is helpful for this trail, but open rigs have been able to complete the trail. Once the group is past French Creek, the hard part is over with the exception of the "Plymouth Rock" play area - this is a place for hard-core rigs with front and rear lockers only, some nasty off-camber obstacles.

Camping:
Once at the top of Holy Cross, there's lots of areas in the trees and in the meadow to set up tents. This is primitive camping - no bathrooms. There will be a place for a nice sized pit-fire as well. Be prepared for cold temps at night with the always possible chance for rain in the afternoon to evening. Bring lots to drink and plan to pack lunch and dinner for Thursday, breakfast and lunch for Friday.

In the past, the group gets off the trail about mid-afternoon, so many of us will likely want to eat dinner in Leadville (I know a great Italian/pizza place) on the way back to Buena Vista. Also, there's a NAPA in Leadville and they have been very helpful in the past for repair parts.

Here's a decent link for additional information about Holy Cross with good pictures of the obstacles:

http://www.mhjcontherocks.com/Community/Trips/337.aspx

This is gonna be a great run!

Troy

[fatwreck]

The plan sounds good! You're smart to run it during the week. I don't know that I'll be able to make this one, but I'm sure you'll have a great crew.

Here's a video of this trail from last year for those that are interested:
http://www.projectxj.com/videos/holycross2.wmv

[hjeepxj]

Yeah im soooooooooooo down for this run. This time imma do teh hardline on FC.

[YELLAHEEP]

Excellent vid Brian! That gives a great perspective on what can be expected of the trail.

The area where the creek was flowing heavy, that's French Creek and the obstacle that everyone must be able to negotiate. The easiest line is off to the right in the video - the blue YJ took the hard line and the orange Bronco took the in-between line.

The last part of the video is Plymouth Rock and is optional. Last time I was there, I did the same thing the gray TJ did!

[fatwreck]

Originally Posted by YELLAHEEP

The last part of the video is Plymouth Rock and is optional. Last time I was there, I did the same thing the gray TJ did!

Yeah, I thought it was a pretty good representation of the trail. Granted we took most of the hard lines....but I still think you get the idea.

I wanted to do that trick too, but by the time we got there and it was my turn....it was a full on down pour and the open top guys weren't too excited. So, we turned around and went back.

[JEONLYEP]

Troy, this is the trail we did part of last year? Video looks worse than I remember. We turned around at Cleveland rock? Plymouth rock (some type of rock) how much more is there?

Daryl

[YELLAHEEP]

Daryl,

Heh heh, Cleveland... Plymouth... whatever, I can never remember.

Yeah, this trail was the one you're thinking of. We weren't far from the end of the trail where the camp area is. For the most part, we were done with the trail.

[jrsxj98]

They tell me there is some diff. areas to play on above cleveland.

[fatwreck]

Originally Posted by jrsxj98

They tell me there is some diff. areas to play on above cleveland.

Yeah, there is a double ledge with multiple options for lines.....and it is pretty fun to play on. The far right is easy, so it isn't much to worry about. You can definitely roll there if you're not careful though.

I can't seem to find a photo of it, but here are some scenery shots so everyone knows what the reward is like at the top







Who's a rock star?

[MMIXJ]

Originally Posted by YELLAHEEP

Once off the highway, there's about 3 miles of dry, dusty, washboard road. The washboard can be awfully rough so if you don't have everything good and tight, you'll likely find out what's loose here. We'll probably air down before the dirt road to make the washboard less harsh.

this is an understatement... that road was the harshest ride i've ever experienced! i thought
for sure i'd get out at the trailhead and parts would just start falling off (bumpers, wheels, etc)


at least this year i've got these sweet longarms which should help suck up the hits!

P.S.
nice pix brian. looking forward to getting to the top this time (got too late of a start last time).

terry

[YELLAHEEP]

Originally Posted by MMIXJ

looking forward to getting to the top this time (got too late of a start last time).

terry

That's usually the case especially with a large group. Depending upon what time we get to Holy Cross City and what the weather is doing, we'll have to decide if we'll try Cleveland Rock before setting up camp, or save it for the morning before heading down - or heck, maybe both!

[96 Classic]

Troy, do you know what the elavation is in that area? Just wondering.

[planefixer]

Originally Posted by YELLAHEEP

That's usually the case especially with a large group. Depending upon what time we get to Holy Cross City and what the weather is doing, we'll have to decide if we'll try Cleveland Rock before setting up camp, or save it for the morning before heading down - or heck, maybe both!

No "navigational errors" this time I presume

[fatwreck]

The very top of the trail is right at timberline.....so, 10,500 ft?

[JEONLYEP]

Originally Posted by planefixer

No "navigational errors" this time I presume

So your saying that there is a way to get there faster than we did last year?

Daryl