The Humphrey's Peak Adventure
Humphrey's Peak, high point of Arizona @ 12,633 feet (3,851 meters)
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Humphrey's peak is just outside of Flagstaff, Arizona. It is a beautiful site as it stands out pretty much by itself. Well, actually, it stands next to it's brother, Mount Agassiz (12,356 feet). Mount Agassiz is home to Snow Bowl, what appears to be a pretty cool ski resort.
The Drive
Since Humphrey's Peak is near Flagstaff, you pretty much have to get there by driving from Phoenix. The drive out is pretty cool. We made an adventure of it on our first attempt. On the way there we stopped at an Indian reservation casino to do some gambling. It was just like any other Las Vegas or Reno casino. After dropping $20, we
decided we should move on, especially since the purpose of the trip was to be in the outdoors.
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Here you can see the peak (on the right) next to it's brother Mount Agassiz (12,356 feet)
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Another very tempting stop on the way is Sedona. But since this take an hour detour off the main freeway, we opted to do Sedona at a later date. (We still have this on our agenda). It is a shame that we could not stop there, though, as everyone raves about how beautiful it is. Instead, on the main highway, we were treated to the various views of desert like terrain with what Jen calls, "Wild Desert Animals".
After about three hours we found ourselves in Flagstaff. This is a wonderful small town that has two distinct areas. The first part of Flagstaff is the modern area. It has all the new hotels, shops, and restaurants. They even have the old standby Chili's (good place to stop after the peak ascent). The "Old Town" section is closer to the train station. This is a very active train station, by the way. Trains rush through here every half hour, non-stop. So don't do what we did and stay at a hotel next to the train station; you won't sleep for one minute. Anyway, the old town has some beautiful early 1900's style buildings. Very sturdy looking architecture, and newly remolded stores. It is really nice to walk around and visit all the little shops and try out the nice restaurants.
The Hike
If you are planning on attempting Humphrey's peak, it makes the trip much more relaxed if you stay in Flagstaff the night before, since the mountain is just outside of the city. WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND SPENDING A LITTLE MORE CASH FOR A NICE MOTEL in Flagstaff, since you can wind up with a dump if you are not careful.
Back in May of 1996, Jen and I had the opportunity to attempt the peak. Unfortunately, there was still too much snow on the trail, so we had to turn back due to exhaustion of battling the snow. It was tough calling the trip off since we knew we would not have a chance to attempt this peak again in the near future. As luck turns out, we did get another chance about a year later.
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Jennifer, Adrian, and Scott.
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In June of 1997 Jen and I made another attempt. This time we were accompanied by Scott, Jen's great college friend and accomplished "High Point Club" member well on his way to 50 peaks. In addition, Scott's friend, Adrian, from England joined us.
This is a great all day great hike that takes some stamina. The hike starts out at 9,600 feet at the Snow Bowl ski lodge. The picture above shows our group on one of the lower ski runs of Snow Bowl.
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We started our hike slowly wandering through the lower alpine terrain. Then, once we were warmed up, the trail changed to a series of long switch backs for a majority of the way. Finally, we passed the tree line. I personally was grateful for this, because I thought that meant we were almost there. WRONG!
We actually had quite a ways to go. Okay, so we were about 2/3rds of the way there. But still, the toughest part was yet to come. Without the trees, the wind really started to pick up. Not only that, it was really, really, really cold! Jen and I were not ready for this.
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Here is Jen telling me to pick up the pace.
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Scott and Adrian forging ahead!
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The picture on the left shows Adrian and Scott forging ahead. At this point in the trip, Jen and I were very tired and still freezing. Furthermore, at 12,000 feet, there is not as much oxygen as we are used to. So, we were whining pretty good at this point.
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Oh yes! We finally made it. Here is the whole group on Humphrey's Peak. Notice how Scott (in blue), and Adrian (in green) are nice and warm. Jen and I are freezing in the background. But hey, the thrill of accomplishing the climb was worth it!
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Picture of the group on the peak!
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What a couple!
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And yet another cute couple picture of Jen and me. From the peak you can see 360 degrees around. One of the more impressive views is the south rim of the grand canyon. Unfortunately, this day was somewhat hazy making any attempt at a picture difficult.
So there you have it, our adventure to Humphrey's peak. Stay tuned for other "High Point" Adventures!
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