And I stand by them! The former was Type 2 fun (or if there's Type 3 fun, then it was that), and the latter all kind of start looking alike :) I was keeping it to AZ, but the list doesn't change a whole lot if we're talking other states. Mount Baker in Washington and Gannett Peak in Wyoming are pret...

Baboquivari, no question.

Honorable mentions to Eagletail, Cabeza Prieta Peak, Mount Ajo, and Cathedral Rock in the Catalinas

Where in Tennessee does your friend live? If it's the eastern side and they hike around the Smokies, I'd say you're probably ok on altitude. But in general, it is just so hard to predict how people will react to higher altitudes than they're used to. Some never feel it, some do poorly, and I've seen...

"Climb High, Sleep Low" - you guys could go up to Snowbowl the evening before the hike, and walk out a bit on the Kachina Trail? Then head back down and camp at the suggested Friedlein Prairie sites. Probably your best option on a 1-nighter

So... Should we ban hiking at the Humphreys Peak trailhead if the chance of thunderstorms is greater than 70%? Post someone at the saddle to stop any and all from breaching timberline on those days? Should we ban all entry into technical canyons when the chance of thunderstorms is greater than 70%? ...

chumley wrote:@sbkelley
Hey now. The HAZ forum is a fact- and science-free zone.

This coming from the Don of the weather thread.... ;)

Back to the original post, a couple things to point out: 1) The geographer in me couldn't help but point out: the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale MSA is simply the entirety of Maricopa and Pinal Counties, so all of these metrics are being evaluated at that scale. Are "health characteristics" consi...

@chumley

That's it, I'm registering you for the next race. I'll even pay your entry fee

Blake Wood (one of the guys who actually finished this) was one of my high school cross-country coaches. He's described the race using many adjectives, but "fun" was not one of them

The site listofjohn (pay $ite) has Maricopa County down at 914 "ranked" peaks according to the 300' prominence rule, 680 of which are 2,000' or higher, but a lot of those are unnamed. Goat Hill comes in at #471! Would take a long, long time to finish those 680, and I do wonder if anyone has?

Flatiron followed by a stop at the Apache Junction Filiberto's. How authentic an AZ experience is that?!

chumley wrote:@nonot
I doubt the percentage of unprepared people is any higher today than it was 30 years ago. But the number of people who do these kinds of activities is so much higher now that the overall numbers of rescues needed is higher too.

Somebody gets an A on their stats assignment!

Not too many climbers on the mountain referred to it as "McKinley" either. In fact, you were judged pretty hard just for uttering the name of the 25th president. Everyone in Talkeetna - resident and visitor alike - had a similar reaction.

Yep, looks like the AADT is ~24,000 (in 2014), at least according to the state DOT.

http://traffic-counts....

Looks like I-8 & I-40 will be getting a heavier dose of truck traffic to/from LA until the bridge is repaired!

Ha! That BBC show is on par with the quality of their Supervolcano gem!

Oh, hotspots - taking the spotlight away from tectonic margins...

No question that Cascadia is an area worth watching - it's been relatively quiet for awhile, save for the Mt St Helens incident(s). Of course, that subduction zone has given us some great mountains (Rainier, Hood, Baker, etc.), since, as my geology TA once told me in an undergrad class, "subduc...

I climbed Gannett back in 2009 - it's definitely a lot of work, but the scenery is incredible. The Wind River Mountains are the most scenic mountains I've ever seen, IMO. Here is the triplog. Good luck if you go and have fun!

I've run the stretch between Bumble Bee and Black Canyon City. If you go that direction, it is mostly downhill, but there are some good climbs to keep you honest. I'd definitely recommend it, on scenic grounds. Never had much trouble with running into anyone else out there, and it's probably still t...

As someone who relies on survey data for some of my academic research, I definitely support the cause and sign in when I can. Besides assisting in search efforts, an additional benefit of these data could be to track usage/visitation of areas, which may have an impact resource allocation for facilit...

Took me quite awhile to finish the County Highpoints - finally got my lazy butt up to Greenlee to complete them last July. It's - as chumley notes - a 6 hour drive! Was hard to justify that for awhile. Really liked Navajo County (Black Mesa) - just such different terrain. And the organization you me...