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| Hiking | 22.00 Miles |
5,570 AEG |
| | Hiking | 22.00 Miles | 11 Hrs 8 Mns | | 1.98 mph |
| 5,570 ft AEG | | 23 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | Training for Mount Whitney. Needed some good mileage and AEG but it was too hot in Southern California this week - Humphreys turned out to be a solid alternative. Decided to jump into a 22 miler without much thought, other than starting early to beat the heat. Even during the ascent, I wasn't really thinking about having to come back down. 
Left Phoenix at 9pm and started from the locked gate on FR552 at 12:03am. Picked up a bunch of deer eyes with my headlamp while passing through Lockett Meadow - at least 9 deer in a couple separate groups. Also caught a glimpse of an awesome owl right on the trail but it took off before I could snap a mediocre pic. Saw first light along the first switchback after Doyle Saddle. The moon was awesome, however, seeing Elon's garbage satellite train for the first time kinda tainted the experience.
First one up to Humphreys as far as I could tell. Topped out around 6am. Quite cold above treeline at dawn - couldn't wait for the sun to reach the mountain. The juxtaposition between the low temps up top and the highs down below is crazy. The walk from Lockett Meadow back to the car was hot.
Pretty sure this is the longest day-hike I've done since Catalina to Lemmon in 2012. I have no interest in repeating it until the road to Lockett Meadow reopens (whenever that happens). The extra miles on the forest road turned the descent into a pumpkin slog. Had to take a ton of quick breaks to rest my legs, but made it nonetheless. It's type-2.5 fun. Still waiting to check out Weatherford Trail when it reopens too - probably a more scenic approach. |
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Wildflowers Observation Light
Nice colors above treeline - blues, reds, yellows. More isolated elsewhere. |
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Route Editor
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