The sunrise turns the rocks red as we start off
Holy
Cross Mountain Holy Cross is an an enjoyable scramble and one that I recommend. You can park at Sentinel parking lot and take Pack Trail Coulee but you gain and lose 100 m going over Grass Pass. The shortest route is up Gunnery Creek trail; park on the highway shoulder about a kilometre west of Sentinel parking lot. (We went up Gunnery Creek but returned via Pack Trail Coulee. The profile indicates our return trip.) At GR705878 you'll reach a high point on the trail and start dropping down. Follow this for a few minutes before leaving the trail and heading NW. After about 500 m of easy bushwhacking you should encounter a good trail, freshly blazed. I assume this trail reaches Gunnery Creek trail but it would be longer and you would lose elevation. Head west on the blazed trail until you come to a grassy knoll. I lost the trail here but was unconcerned. A few dozen metres away, is a good animal trail. Head west up a lightly wooded slope and you should soon come across it. The trail breaks out of the trees onto a talus slope where there's a good view of Holy Cross Mountain. We climbed up the gully to the summit and came back down on the NE ridge. In hindsight, the reverse would be better, offering good scrambles up and loose rock on the descent. |
MOVIE (2:32)
The sunrise turns the rocks red as we start off
On the blazed trail, Holy Cross comes into view. The trail appears to end
on
the
next grassy knoll.
A view of Holy Cross from the animal trail.
We reach the base of the gully.
Going up the gully
The gully is best done on the return leg.
The skyline ridge leading from the summit to Mount Head on the left. We tried
it
but were soon
stopped by a knife-edge ridge with sheer sides.
Coming down from the summit
The NE ridge offers interesting scrambling.
Partway down the ridge
Looking up from the NE ridge
Back on the trail
360° view from the top. Mount Head is in the foreground.
82 J/7 Mount Head
