Holy Cross
Usually a run to Holy Cross means you'll get home past midnight even though you leave your house at 6AM, but this run was different. We got an early start and we were off the trail about six hours after we started. We didn't hurry and no one got any significant trail damage and we had a blast -- is it possible to have a bad time on this trail?
The original plan was to have two Trail Damage runs for the day. One was supposed to leave Downieville at 7AM and the other at 8AM, with eight vehicles in each run. It turned out that five vehicles were in the first run and two in the second run, and the second run caught up to the first fairly early in the trail so we combined into one run.
We also timed it perfectly for watching the Aspen trees turning colors. This trail is perfect for that, as you're surrounded by them for the beginning of the trail.
We ran into a group with some drive shaft troubles before we even hit the rock garden. They didn't take long to fix it, but then it broke again so they pulled out of our way and we passed them.
When we got to the first obstacle there was another group on it so we decided to pull off there for lunch. That's when the group we had originally gone by passed us. We ate lunch and watched them do the first obstacle, and then it was our turn.
Mike R. made it through the middle of the obstacle without any issues at all. Gary also made it through the middle. Everyone else went around the right side and no one had too many issues.
We continued on to French Creek and found the line to be so long you couldn't see the creek from the back. We walked up and found the group that we had seen on the first obstacle was having some issues on the rocks. They eventually pulled a full-sized truck back down and then the group that had passed us went through.
We started up and Monica went through without any issues. Eric and Wayne both got through with a minor rub on their front fender flares on the usual rock on the left.
Joe worked his new truck up the creek and had plenty of clearance. Mike R. went up the middle of the creek like it was made of tiny pebbles. He got a good pose in at the end, too. Gary worked on the line to the left for a bit but it wasn't working out too well so he made it up the left line just as the rain started coming down (great timing!).
It rained for awhile but it didn't rain very hard, so when we got to the "puddles" we were surprised to find them completely dried up. We got to the third obstacle and it was a little wet but not soggy so we weren't expecting too much trouble.
Wayne managed to get himself pretty tippy, right on the edge of the third obstacle. He was concerned about tipping over if he backed up so he used his winch to make sure he didn't go over. Joe's long wheelbase made the obstacle really easy, and Gary's short wheelbase meant a little rock stacking was necessary. Mike R. took a line that put him inches away from the tree on the right but got him extremely tippy.
We got up to the top and it was packed with vehicles at the city and at Cleveland Rock. Mike R. was the only one to try it, and he went up pretty easily and got down it without a hitch.
We headed back down without any issues at all, and found ourselves off the trail well before the sun was even thinking about setting. Wayne had a leaky valve stem so a tire change on the pavement was in order, but other than that we all escaped without too many scrapes.
We had plenty of time after the run, so a couple of us went to Oktoberfest in Breckenridge, which was packed full of people. It was a great run and a fantastic day!
Reports from Other Days: 9
Use the arrows or dots to flip through the previews of the other reports for Holy Cross. Click one of them to read more and see all of the photos from that day.
