MISSOURI PASS - FANCY PASS LOOP, COLORADO Elevation Range: 10,000' - 12,380' PAGE 2
July 20, 2016 - From atop the Missouri Pass the headwaters and landscape of upper Cross Creek open up with Mt. of the Holy Cross at a distance to the north and Vault Lake immediately below in the basin you next descend into. The trail crosses a mile of alpine tundra, passing the sign at right before heading up a rocky gully to the col at Fancy Pass. Significant evidence remains from the mining days in this area that centered on what is now the ghost town of Holy Cross City, three miles to the north.
The gully that leads down from Fancy Pass is steep, covered with snow and rugged talus. With banked snow covering the trail I bushwhacked straight down through the talus before reaching beautiful green Fancy Lake which empties into a precipitous canyon on its quick descent to the bottom where it emerges near the parking area.
