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| Backpack | 24.25 Miles |
5,213 AEG |
| | Backpack | 24.25 Miles | 2 Days | | |
| 5,213 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | I've been going through some serious withdrawals since leaving Colorado earlier this month. I had to get out of the heat in the valley, and get my tundra fix. I need more alpine tundra in my life! Naturally, it was going to be Humphrey + some AZT.  The plan was to start at Schultz Pass, camp just below the summit trail, then summit Humphrey on Sunday.
Day 1
After dropping off the Jeep at Snowbowl, we drove the truck to Schultz Pass where we would start.
The AZT was extremely busy. I don't think we went for more than 30 minutes without seeing a biker or day hiker. I'm not one to complain about seeing the occasional warm body every few hours while out backpacking, but this was a little much. I knew Humphrey's Summit Trail would be extremely busy, but I was hoping we would find just a little bit of solitude on the first night along the AZT.
About 5 minutes after starting, my trail runners were causing me problems. It felt like either my feet had miraculously gone through some kind of grown spurt or my runners had shrunk. They fit just fine 3 weeks ago on the CT... Instead of being a Debbie Downer and asking my buddies to wait, and because I wanted to avoid expending an extra 10 minutes worth of energy to go back to the truck to get my backup pair, I decided to keep going. When will I ever learn? ](https://hikearizona.com/dex2/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall")
We cruised along the easy grade and excellent tread of the AZT, enjoying the excellent views of Agassi Peak with little glints of the prairie land below. After reaching Snowbowl Road, the crowds really picked up and there were constantly cars paralleling the trail. Looking at the Trails Illustrated map of the area, it looks like the AZT used to use the Kachina Trail, staying higher and more isolated from the roads below. Why was it rerouted?
Near the top of the climb from the bottom of Snowbowl Road, my feet were screaming. The backs of the shoes had rubbed my heals raw, and my toes felt like they were being squeezed tight by a vice. One of my partners was also having some footwear malfunctioning at this point too. His boots were literally coming apart. I announced that Humphrey would be a no go for me tomorrow unless I could get a hold of my backup pair at the truck. My buddy's boots also wouldn't survive a summit attempt.
We hobbled up the last bit of the hill then took a small side trail to join up with Snowbowl Road. We road walked the last mile to the parking lot. We jumped in the Jeep, drove to Schultz Pass in order to retrieve my backup trail runners, and drove to Flagstaff to get some new boots for my friend. After some dinner, we headed back up Snowbowl Road and decided to setup along NF-522. We carried all that weight for nothing. But hey, that extra weight builds more character, right? 
Day 2
My alarm rang around 6:00 am, we quickly threw everything in the truck and headed up to the parking lot for Humphrey's Summit Trail. When we arrived there were about 8 or 9 other vehicles there and a few groups about to get started. After parking, we prepared our summit packs and hit the trail. The sky was mostly clear and it looked like it was going to be a nice for a summit.
My feet were quick to reminded me how much they disliked me after ignoring them yesterday. After entering Kachina Wilderness, we all started tackling the trail at difference paces. The trail is graded pretty gradual in my opinion up until just before the saddle when the trail turns to mostly rock (think stairmaster). My feet progressively got worse as I continued the ascent, slowing my progress, but not deterring me from my goal of reaching the top. In fact, because of my feet, my Humphrey summit time actually ended up being about 30 minutes worse than my Elbert summit time. 
Once I reached the saddle, the sky was noticeably darker, but the clouds looked pretty "isolated" to me and I didn't really feel threatened by them at the time. After slowly working my way across the ridge, I reached the summit and joined the party. We took pictures of each other, and enjoyed some summit herbs.  That's state high point number 2!
About 10 minutes later it started to hail. Everyone at the summit quickly gathered their stuff and started to "boogie down" the ridge. About half way down the ridge we heard our first clap of thunder and picked up the pace. Some people were continuing up to the summit, some where stopped and deciding if they wanted to go on. We saw a few bolts hit over near Agassiz and near the road up to the top of the ski lift. One guy heading up the mountain just looked at us, shook his head, and said "this sucks..."
Relieved to make it back below treeline, the adrenaline faded and I remembered how much my feet hurt. I fell behind my partners again and slowly made my way down the mountain. The storm continued to gain strength as we descended, with the lightning strikes and heavy rain becoming more frequent. Boy would I hate to have had been up on that ridge right then.
By the time I reached the parking lot the storm had moved on.
Great trip, save the foot issues.
Next time, I'm thinking Inner Basin and/or Weatherford for (hopefully) more solitude. |
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Route Editor
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