Humphreys Peak, Arizona 12,633 feet

Climbed 9/14/1993

We climbed Humphreys Peak with Mike's mother Joan and his brother Jim as part of the celebration of Joan's 50th birthday. We drove from Phoenix to Flagstaff on Joan's birthday and stayed there overnight. We visited our first WalMart in Flagstaff. We bought water and snacks for the climb, and Mike bought two tapes to listen to in the car: Are You Gonna Go My Way by Lenny Kravitz (which he finds derivative but very enjoyable) and Give A Monkey A Brain and He'll Swear He's the Center of the Universe by Fishbone (which is loud and unlistenable but has the coolest title).

We set off early the next morning. We parked in the nearly empty parking lot of the Arizona Snow Bowl ski area. The sky was clear and the air was c-c-c-cold. Joan's thermometer read 50ºF, but it felt colder as we stood in our shorts and T-shirts. The trail rose steeply through the forest, becoming switchbacks as it made its way toward treeline.

Joan and Mike along the trail

Just around treeline (around 11,000 feet), Joan decided she had had enough. She settled into a spot out of the wind next to a rock slide to wait for us to return from the summit.

Patches of snow appeared along the trail as we reached the ridge between Humphreys Peak to the left and Agassiz Peak to the right. It didn't look too far, but we ran into the usual problems that afflict hikers near mountain summits: the trail became hard to follow through the rocks and the obvious highpoint turned out to be a false summit.

Mike and Jim take a breather

When we reached the top we could see for miles, but, as usual, the sun was high enough in the sky that everything looked a little hazy. We took a few pictures, then headed back down to find Joan enjoying feeding the squirrels.

So glad to have finally reached the top