Mount of the Holy Cross
| Mount of the Holy Cross | |
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Mount of the Holy Cross, 2009
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| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 14,011 ft (4270.5 m) NAVD88 |
| Prominence | 2113 ft (644 m) |
| Isolation | 18.41 mi (29.6 km) |
| Listing | |
| Coordinates | 39°28′01″N 106°28′54″W / 39.4668287°N 106.4816869°WCoordinates: 39°28′01″N 106°28′54″W / 39.4668287°N 106.4816869°W |
| Geography | |
 Mount of the Holy Cross
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| Location | High point of Eagle County, Colorado, United States |
| Parent range | Sawatch Range |
| Topo map | USGS 7.5' topographic map Mount of the Holy Cross, Colorado |
| Climbing | |
| First ascent | August 1873 James Gardner and W.H. Holmes |
| Easiest route | North ridge: hike/scramble (YDS Class 2) |
Mount of the Holy Cross is a high and prominent mountain summit in the northern Sawatch Range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The 14,011-foot (4270.5 m) fourteener is located in the Holy Cross Wilderness of White River National Forest, 6.6 miles (10.7 km) west-southwest (bearing 244°) of the Town of Red Cliff in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. The summit of Mount of the Holy Cross is the highest point in Eagle County and the northern Sawatch Range.
Mount of the Holy Cross was named for the distinctive cross-shaped snowfield on the northeast face. Under USDA Forest Service administration, the mountain was proclaimed "Holy Cross National Monument" by Herbert Hoover on May 11, 1929. The monument was transferred to the National Park Service in 1933. In 1950, it was returned to the Forest Service and lost its National Monument status—the number of visitors to the mountain and the nearby "Pilgrim's Hut" had waned, and the expense of full-time staff could not be justified.
This mountain has been the subject of painters, photographers and even a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ("The Cross of Snow"). The first publicly available photograph was published in National Geographic magazine. Thomas Moran depicted the mountain in an oil painting, which now is part of the collection of the Museum of the American West, part of the Autry National Center in Los Angeles, California. It is still much photographed but it is not as well known today as it was in the past.
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