Humphrey Popularity

[Jim]

Is it me, or is this the month of Humphrey? I don't think I've ever seen so many Humphrey Trips in a single month, and we've got more on the way. It can't just be the fire closures, can it? I mean, there is more on the Peaks than just the one trail. Thoughts?

[joebartels]

June gets the divvy nod for triplogs. I was commenting to Bruce before we reached the saddle yesterday that last year I swore there was a hundred people at the saddle. Not quite a hundred this year but definitely in the fifty range from the saddle to the peak.

[big_load]

The fires and other closures must have had quite an effect on overall trips, and I wouldn't be surprised if Humphreys picked up some of the slack. It can only hold so many backpackers at a time, though. It wouldn't be my first choice for solitude right now. I don't like having to be so constantly aware of whether I'm impeding somebody or frustrated by wanting to get past somebody.

[whereveriroam]

Backpacked Kachina/Weatherford/Humphreys last weekend. I too was thinking whats up with all the people at the saddle? We saw a ton on Kachina but less then 10 on Weatherford. I think some of the people who hike Humphreys do so to be able to pat themselves on the back and brag to co-workers on Monday that they climbed the highest peak in AZ. Wonder how crowded Kendrick has been in comparison. The amount of downfall on the lower portions of Humphreys trail is scary.

[Jim]

Did Doyle Yesterday and saw other people on the summit. It was a first for me on any non-Humphrey Peak and probably the first time since last summer for me despite all the summits this winter. Still, we didn't see anyone else the entire way down and only saw other people by the pumps, so solitude can be found on the Peaks. You're just not going to find it on Humphrey in June.

[RickVincent]

I prefer hikes with more solitude myself (in fact, a trail isn't even required). My hiking buddy has been itching for a Humphrey ascent, and since I'm the one who usually picks 99% of the hikes we go on, I figured I would throw him a bone.

[big_load]

I too was thinking whats up with all the people at the saddle?

When I started heading toward Fremont on my way out, some of the hordes amassed for the final ascent looked at me as if I were jumping out of an airplane without a parachute. I got the impression that Humphreys is just a bigger Camelback to those folks.

[joebartels]

If only Camelback had an alternative route that is better and only 5% use like that one

[hippiepunkpirate]

I do Humphreys every June because after a winter long drought of hitting the alpine tundra, I gotta get my fix. Yeah, the crowds aren't optimal, but I think the experience makes it worth it. I mean, a 9 mile completely on-trail hike that leads to a 12,000 foot peak that is the highest in Arizona, with easy, paved car access....of course it's going to get busy on a Saturday. Fremont and Doyle are uncrowded and awesome, and frankly I think the Weatherford is just a great trail, and I would probably prefer to do those hikes any day over the standard Humphreys Trail, but those options usually take up a bigger chunk of time than I normally have at my disposal, so standard Humphreys it is.

[Jim]

I expect crowds in May, June, July, August September, and October before it gets cold. It's normal for Humphrey when dry and warmish. I've even seen people hiking uphill in a rain with thunder and lightning. I always waited for the rain to stop.

If I don't want to deal with what the Summit Trail #151 is this time of year, I don't have to do it. Crowded or not, I just found it interesting that there have been so many triplogs this month. We've got at least 5 more coming.

If I want peace and quiet, I do it in winter. Besides, the 183 mile views only exist in winter, and the tundra is more tundra like when covered under snow and ice. Frankly, the alpine flowers on the Peaks are not that great when compared to better growing places like Colorado or New Mexico, so getting to them to see them is not a priority. Humphrey just feels wilder and more like a high mountain peak in winter. Not so in summer.

[big_load]

Frankly, the alpine flowers on the Peaks are not that great when compared to better growing places like Colorado or New Mexico ...

That's true, but I'm still fascinated that they're there. Some had to bridge huge gaps in habitat. I like to ponder how they did it. Hitchhiking on fauna, especially birds, seems most plausible. I suppose going passively airborne is another, although the odds aren't good, especially with the prevailing wind direction. However it happened, it seems from my thoroughly uneducated perspective that AZ alpine flora has more in common with the Rockies than the Sierras.

[Jim]

Ice ages mean that in the past, the stuff that is up high was down low, much lower. The species richness it there, but the overall development is not. What is today ponderosa was once spruce-fir, so distances were less.

[azbackpackr]

It didn't hitchhike from anywhere. It is all remnant habitat, left over from the Ice Age. At least, that is what I have been told. I wasn't around during the Ice Age, unlike what some may think... ;)

[big_load]

OK, that makes sense. It would be interesting to see time-lapse maps of zone coverage from the previous glacial max to the present.

[joebartels]

How does a plant that only grows at altitude get left over from when it was lower?

Genetics (or whatever it would be called for plants) evolve from something else perhaps?

[azbackpackr]

Seems to me that the climate changed very slowly, so that could have given plenty of time for all the plant communities to migrate to higher altitudes over the years. Makes sense to me.

Don't we have a science nut here somewhere on HAZ who can explain it in a more science-nut kind of way?

[big_load]

How does a plant that only grows at altitude get left over from when it was lower?

My time-lapse thing would answer this perfectly! "Altitude" back then had to be down to 5k, because it was colder overall. There was probably a max elevation in effect for plants at that time. They would have moved up as it got warmer, but there had to be alpine temperatures at some time on a good stretch of the plateau for them to reach Humphreys.

[Jim]

Once yesterday's triplogs are written up, the month of June for the Humphrey Summit Trail #151 will have nearly double the number of triplogs of any other month. June Is the "in" month to do this. June currently has 100 logs, July and September (also a good month) have 64, August 62, and the other months far fewer. I just find all this popularity to be fascinating.

[RickVincent]

I was blown away by the number of cars at the trailhead when we pulled in at 6:30am. I enjoyed my first ascent of Humphrey, but if and when I return, it will not likely be in June.

[hippiepunkpirate]

Once yesterday's triplogs are written up, the month of June for the Humphrey Summit Trail #151 will have nearly double the number of triplogs of any other month. June Is the "in" month to do this. June currently has 100 logs, July and September (also a good month) have 64, August 62, and the other months far fewer. I just find all this popularity to be fascinating.

Do take into account that with the Apache-Sitgreaves, the Coronado, and the Tonto are all closed.