GC3TWF3Near the Boundary--Holy Cross Wilderness
Type: Traditional
| Size: Small
| Difficulty:
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By: Denali41@
| Hide Date: 08/17/2012
| Status: Available
Country: United States
| State: Colorado Coordinates: N39° 30.002 W106° 25.944 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 0
Wilderness -- "an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain ... an area protected and managed so as to preserve its natural conditions." —The Wilderness Act of 1964The Holy Cross Wilderness lies immediately west of the Continental Divide. Some have called Holy Cross a "water wilderness" because of the innumerable pools and cascades of the wilderness area's many streams, its dozens of alpine lakes, and the wide expanses of valleys inundated by snowmelt. Holy Cross's abundance of water set the stage for one of Colorado's longest running and most bitter conflicts over wilderness versus water development.
The wilderness takes its name from 14,003-foot Mount of the Holy Cross. The famous photographer William H. Jackson embellished the peak's reputation by doctoring his 19th-century photographs of the perpendicular snow-filled couloirs on the mountain's east face. Jackson's additional white touches enhanced the already strong resemblance of these couloirs to a cross and drew countless thousands of pilgrims in subsequent years. This fourteener is by no means the only high peak in the northernmost extension of the Sawatch Range; more than twenty-five peaks over 13,000 feet in elevation dot the wilderness!
Holy Cross represents the archetypical Colorado wilderness area - soaring ridges and peaks built of 1.7 billion-year-old schist and gneiss tower over immense, U-shaped glacial-carved valleys whose headwaters contain placid emerald-colored lakes. The wilderness encompasses 122,797 acres and has 164 miles of trails that are popular with hikers, mountain climbers, and anglers. Elevations within the wilderness area range from 8,000 to 14,003 feet. It was designated as a wilderness area by the U.S. Congress in 1980.
The cache is located just outside the wilderness area boundary near the trailhead for the Fall Creek Trail. Look for a good-sized pill vial that is wrapped with camo tape. Bring a pen or pencil to log your find. It was placed after a great hike and climb to the summit of Holy Cross Ridge, a fine Centennial peak that is located just south of Mount of the Holy Cross. I passed close to three lovely lakes and some gorgeous waterfalls along my route to this marvelous peak. Find the cache and then take a hike to appreciate this wonderful wilderness area.
09/03/2017 By Pale Raven Gave this one a good search for about 10 minutes after climbing Mount of the Holy Cross, but couldn't spot it. The GPS kept jumping from one place to another. Had to give up when the rest of my team came down. Oh well.
07/21/2017 By DrPowercat Hiked to the summit of Holy Cross today with my son to finish off the Sawatch range. Beautiful day and great hike. Stopped to find this cache before heading back down the road. All is well with the cache. Signed log and replaced as found.
08/08/2016 By biglee67 TFTC. Logged it after backpacking and climbing Mt Holy Cross. Didn't have a writing implement, so I didn't sign the log.
07/18/2015 By Quintescence It was a hard find I'll tell ya if you're not looking for a specific place you will never find it
08/27/2013 By TomAndJean Searched a 25' radius around the coordinates and couldn't find a thing.
Near the Boundary--Holy Cross Wilderness
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Just Under the Wire (56.12 kms W)
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