This is a hike I have always wanted to do, I just never had the time. It is a fairly difficult hike, about 10 miles round trip with a little over 3,000 feet of gain. The terminus of the hike is the shelter cabin near the summit of Notch Mountain. This is the best view point to see the cross on Mt. of the Holy Cross.
We intended to do this as a day hike, it really doesn't need to be any longer. We left Denver around 4:30 a.m. and got to the trailhead at around 7:00 a.m. I couldn't believe how many people were already there. I know everyone else was climbing Holy Cross because we didn't see another soul on the trail.
The hike is actually much easier than I had thought. The switchbacks near the end of the trail make it rather simple. The first 2.5 miles follow the trail to Lake Constantine. Only a couple of steep sections to worry about, nothing more. Once you find the junction with the Notch Mountain trail, the climb begins. Treeline isn't too far away, so pay attention to the skies (see below). The switchbacks start soon after treeline, and the end is close. We got about 0.25 miles from the shelter cabin when it started to spit rain. There had been some clouds earlier, but nothing we thought to worry about. We put on the rain coats and were going to continue to the shelter cabin, until the lightning struck. It couldn't have been more than 20 feet from us, as Nancy's hair was standing on end (no joke). That changed all our plans. We turned around and got off the mountain as soon as we could. There had been no other thunder or lightning before this, so it really caught us by surprise. The lightning was bad enough, but the rain made it worse. I guess I shouldn't say rain; lets try DOWNPOUR. It rained all the way back to the trailhead. We were all soaked to the core, even with the raingear. The trail was a small stream all the way back. I am glad however that we were not trying Holy Cross when it hit, that is much harder to get down from.
We almost made it to the shelter cabin, and we will try again next year. Overall I enjoyed the beginning of the climb, but not coming down. Getting soaked is no fun, I'm just glad I had extra clothes in the truck.