Humphreys via Inner Basin • Hike • Arizona • All Triplogs • HikeArizona.COM

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joebartels

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We headed North to catch the last bit of color of the Inner Basin.

The road to the Inner Basin is still closed, so it's an added 3.1-mile road walk each way to access the trailhead (TH). The walk went quickly enough, and it definitely helped keep the peeper traffic down.

The aspens in the area from the TH to the Waterline Road are still popping for the most part. There is plenty on the ground, but that just adds to the ambiance. They should be good through the weekend at least.

Once on the Waterline, they are still showing off until things open up by the Bus Stop area. Those aspens are completely void of leaves.

The road from the bus stop heading west out of the meadow has been recently graded, filling in all of the washout crevices that used to exist. The beginning of the Inner Basin has also been fixed and was not as rough as it used to be.

We cruised on the Weatherford Trail, making our way to the Humphreys Saddle where we took in the views and had some lunch. The peak was not in the cards; our excuse was the amount of available daylight.

We traced our steps back to the TH, finishing at dusk.

Nice temps throughout. We passed a smattering of people on our road walk up. On the way down, in the aspens, we passed a mother with two children (who without a doubt finished in the dark), and a few bikes passed us.

Good to get in this classic fall hike and catch up with Joe-Joe the wonder chimp.

Autumn Foliage Observation Substantial
Aspens in the area from the TH to the Waterline road are still strong. Lots-o-leave litter on the ground adds to the experience. Aspens in the Bus Stop area have long lost their luster.

	Doyle Spring	Dry	Dry
	There is no evidence of any spring in the area

_____________________

There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
Dave Barry

Oct 20 2025

joebartels

Guides 264
Routes 2,811
Photos 14,625
Triplogs 5,908

male

Joined Nov 20 1996

Humphreys Saddle via Inner Basin, AZ

Hiking		Oct 20 2025
		joebartels • Triplogs 5,908

Hiking	20.58 Miles	4,617 AEG

Hiking	20.58 Miles	9 Hrs 25 Mns	2.48 mph
	4,617 ft AEG	1 Hour 8 Mns Break

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The_Eagle

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We hiked in via the closed road to Lockett Meadow and only crossed paths with a few all day. The saddle was only lightly occupied by younger folks who opted for the shorter tree root approach.

The forecasted 24 mph gust only panned out on two small stretches before the saddle. Phenomenally perfect weather otherwise. Two to three small hints of nearly gone snow or ice between the bus stop and Weatherford.

A fat-tire bike was recently ridden to the crossover saddle before heading down to Humphrey Saddle. We saw the tread imprint intermittently in the soft surface heading up from Inner Basin.

A delightful day hike sans post-hike cramping.

Autumn Foliage Observation Substantial
Ending soon. There are patches of leafless Aspen's from high winds and recent weeks. The majority is winding down.

Wildflowers Observation Isolated
Almost gone

_____________________

- joe

Oct 10 2024

joebartels

Guides 264
Routes 2,811
Photos 14,625
Triplogs 5,908

male

Joined Nov 20 1996

Humphreys Saddle, AZ

Hiking		Oct 10 2024
		joebartels • Triplogs 5,908

Hiking	20.83 Miles	4,629 AEG

Hiking	20.83 Miles	8 Hrs 59 Mns	2.55 mph
	4,629 ft AEG	48 Mns Break

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The_Eagle

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Roughly 9 vehicles at the impromptu gate-trailhead. Easy 3.25mi walk to the trailhead.

The road is closed because there is a gate and a potential washout spot that was not currently being worked on.

I twisted Bruce's arm suggesting we skip the peak today due to the bonus road walk. He hemmed and hawed and said thank-god.

From the TH to the empty saddle we passed one guy. Calm pleasant day, if warm for October. The mammoth ditch-trail stretch up from the bus stop shelter has been graded smooth.

Lunched at the saddle netting another 4 hikers and one runner that must have knocked out the Kachina Loop quickly.

Enjoyed the nice hike down, passing 39 fellow autumn enthusiast in the lower portion.

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Lockett Meadow

Meteorology

Meteorology [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Autumn - Color Foliage

Autumn Foliage Observation Substantial
The light side of substantial, one area was really nice when the light hit.

Wildflowers Observation Isolated
A few here and there

_____________________

- joe

Jul 04 2024

PatrickL

Guides 7
Routes 80
Photos 2,459
Triplogs 654

male

Joined Jan 10 2010
Pomona, CA

Flagstaff, AZ

Hiking		Jul 04 2024
		PatrickL • Triplogs 654

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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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.

Wildflowers Observation Light
Nice colors above treeline - blues, reds, yellows. More isolated elsewhere.

_____________________

1 archive

Jun 10 2022

Guides 99
Routes 1,515
Photos 16,173
Triplogs 1,405

male

Joined Jan 07 2017
Fountain Hills,

Flagstaff, AZ

Hiking		Jun 10 2022
		DixieFlyer • Triplogs 1,405

Hiking	16.27 Miles	4,433 AEG

Hiking	16.27 Miles	8 Hrs 20 Mns	2.18 mph
	4,433 ft AEG	52 Mns Break

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[ checklist ] Abineau Peak Agassiz Peak Bill Williams Mountain Coconino Plateau Doyle Peak Fremont Peak Humphreys Peak Inner Basin Kendrick Peak Rees Peak Sitgreaves Mountain

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I decided to head up to Flag and hike up to Humphreys again. This time I went from the Inner Basin, a route that I like much better than coming from Snowbowl.

There is no snow left on the Inner Basin Trail, although there were a few drifts alongside the trail. The Weatherford Trail is completely snow free -- I was thinking that there might be a little snow left on the trail on the east side of Agassiz, but that was not the case.

It was a nice day for the hike, although clouds started in build in the late morning. On the way back there were a few rumbles of thunder as I descended the Inner Basin Trail, and I got rained on when I got into the open area of the Inner Basin. I stopped for 10-15 minutes in the shelter in the Inner Basin and waited until the rain stopped.

I hardly saw anyone on the hike until I got to Agassiz Saddle. There were quite a few people coming up as I descended from Humphreys down to the saddle, and I had to stop a number of times to let uphill hikers come through. I do not recall ever seeing so many people on this section of the trail.

It was nice to escape the heat of the VOS and do this hike again!

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

Wildflowers Observation Isolated
There were a few flowers here and there, but it is a bit early yet in this area.

_____________________

Civilization is a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there

Sep 08 2021

Guides 99
Routes 1,515
Photos 16,173
Triplogs 1,405

male

Joined Jan 07 2017
Fountain Hills,

Lee Humphreys, AZ

Hiking		Sep 08 2021
		DixieFlyer • Triplogs 1,405

Hiking	18.00 Miles	4,902 AEG

Hiking	18.00 Miles
	4,902 ft AEG

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[ checklist ] Fire Lookout Structures Fraley Pose HAZ - Hike HAZard Osborne Fire Finder Wooden Dwelling

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I hiked up to Humphreys Peak via the Inner Basin, and on the way home I stopped off and hiked up to the Lee Butte Fire Lookout.

Humphreys Peak
I hiked up to Humphreys from the Inner Basin. The upper section of the Inner Basin Trail seems much rockier than it used to be.

In the morning I saw a couple of deer in the lower section of the Inner Basin Trail, amongst all the aspens.

It was a near perfect day for the hike -- not cold, not hot, and with a gentle breeze blowing for much of the day.

On the way back I took a service road back to the TH instead of going through the switchbacks on the lower portion of the Inner Basin Trail.

Lee Butte
On the way back home I stopped and hiked up to Lee Butte to see the fire lookout tower there.

The lookout is inactive, but the tower is in decent shape. The stairs seemed solid, so I climbed the stairs and got up in the cab. The views were nice, and I am glad that I made the trek to this lookout.

I found a benchmark underneath the tower.

It was a nice stroll up a forest road to the tower. This is a nice area and I enjoyed the short hike.

Synopsis
Sorry Humphreys, but Lee Butte was the highlight of this hiking day.

Distance and elevation gain for the 2 hikes are below. Stats above are the sum of the two.

Humphreys: 16.3 miles with an AEG of 4,554 feet
Lee Butte: 1.7 miles with an AEG of 348 feet

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Abineau Peak Agassiz Peak Doyle Peak Fremont Peak Humphreys Peak Inner Basin Lee Butte Lee Butte Fire Lookout Rees Peak

_____________________

Civilization is a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there

Aug 04 2021

Guides 99
Routes 1,515
Photos 16,173
Triplogs 1,405

male

Joined Jan 07 2017
Fountain Hills,

Humphreys - Deadman LO, AZ

Hiking		Aug 04 2021
		DixieFlyer • Triplogs 1,405

Hiking	18.40 Miles	4,643 AEG

Hiking	18.40 Miles
	4,643 ft AEG

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[ checklist ] Abineau Peak Humphreys Peak Rees Peak Strawberry Crater Sugarloaf Peak

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I hiked up to Humphreys from the Inner Basin, and afterwards drove north of the San Francisco Peaks and hiked up to the Deadman Fire Lookout atop Peak 7143.

Humphreys
It was about a perfect day to hike up to Humphreys - mild temperatures with no threat of rain or storms. I only saw one person on the trail until I got to Agassiz Saddle; from the saddle to the summit there were a few people on the trail, but not very many.

The road into the Inner Basin (FR 553) is about as good as it gets right now -- most any car could easily make the drive. When I drove in there was a road grader parked at the turn to FR 553; when I came back in the afternoon the grader was gone. So I would guess that they graded the road a day or two prior to my hike.

Deadman LO
I have been wanting to hike to the Deadman LO, and this seemed like a good day.

I was a short hike on a forest road (FR 773A) to the summit. The vegetation on the way up to the summit was really green, and there were a few wildflowers blooming along the way. The summit has some really nice unobstructed 360 degree views. I enjoyed the views as much or more than from atop Humphreys.

All that is left of the lookout cabin at the summit is the foundation and floor joists. I do not know any details about the lookout, other than it was a 2 story cabin. Here is a link to a picture of it:

If you go to this LO, be leery of google maps directions, which will try and get you go FR418 to FR419. FR418 is a good road but FR419 is rocky and gnarly. I went in FR514 to FR773. I only drove a short distance on FR773A and decided to park and hike up to the summit. It is a pleasant stroll so I am glad that I hiked up the road.

Summary
These are 3 good hikes; I really enjoyed the short hike to the Deadman LO and I will probably do it again sometime.

The stats for the 2 hikes are below. The total above is the sum of the two.
Humphreys: 16.7 miles with an AEG of 4,400 feet
Deadman: 1.7 miles with an AEG of 243 feet

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Bolete Mushrooms

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Fire Lookout Structures HAZ Rides

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

_____________________

Civilization is a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there

Jul 07 2021

Guides 99
Routes 1,515
Photos 16,173
Triplogs 1,405

male

Joined Jan 07 2017
Fountain Hills,

Buck - Humphreys, AZ

Hiking		Jul 07 2021
		DixieFlyer • Triplogs 1,405

Hiking	17.90 Miles	4,672 AEG

Hiking	17.90 Miles
	4,672 ft AEG

no routes

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6 linked trail guides

Buck Mountain L.O. CNF 7571

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With the Coconino NF reopening after a fire closure, I decided to hike up to Humphreys Peak from the Inner Basin. On the way back home I stopped off to hike to the Buck Mountain LO, off of Lake Mary Road.

Humphreys Peak via Inner Basin
I enjoy hiking Humphreys from the Inner Basin much better than from Snowbowl. Except for the upper section of the Inner Basin Trail, the tread is pretty good on this hike until you get up to Agassiz Saddle.

It was a warm day, but I started early so it wasn't TOO bad. On the way I up I stopped for a break at please-don't-call-me-Doyle Saddle, and I saw someone coming down the Weatherford Trail on his way to Fremont Peak. He was the only person that I saw on the way up until I got to Agassiz Saddle. Even then, there were far fewer people than normal between the saddle and the summit. Maybe people didn't realize that the forest had reopened. On the way back there were a few people on the lower section of the Inner Basin Trail.

Buck Mountain LO
I drove up to the barrier on the road that is about 0.7 miles below the summit, and then just walked the road up to the LO. There was a rocky section on the drive up that might deter non-4WD vehicles, but other than that the road on the drive is in pretty good shape.

On the way up I saw several wild turkeys. The area looks like a good place to spot elk or bear if you time it right.

There is a lookout tower on top, but it is not in use. There were some new looking composite steps on the LO, so I climbed up as far as I could and checked out the views.

Below are a couple of anecdotes that suggest that there have been issues with the safety of the tower in the past.

July 31, 1953: "Attached you will find a bill of materials and a sketch of our proposal to make the Buck Mountain Lookout a safe place in which to work and live.
As you know the steps are steep, the tread is narrow, and considered to be dangerous. This was substantiated by the accident of July 1, 1953 in which William F. Langenbruner injured his right shoulder. Langenbruner is an excellent carpenter and with a little help can complete the job on contributed time.
Your prompt consideration of this request will be appreciated."(To Forest Supervisor from District Ranger)

October 17, 1967: "On September 28, 1967, Ron Barger, Wood Technologist for the Rocky Mtn. Forest and Range Expt, Sta., and myself inspected the treated timbers on the Buck Mtn. Lookout tower. We could find no evidence of rotting or deterioration of these timbers.
As a result of the inspection we feel that the basic structure and treated timbers in the tower to be sound. In view of this inspection the District will plan to go ahead and catch-up with the maintenance work on the tower." Memo - Buildings - Coconino National Forest Archives)

The mileage and elevation gain for the hikes is below. Stats above are the sum of the two.

Humphreys: 16.5 miles with 4,416 feet of AEG
Buck: 1.4 miles with 256 feet of AEG

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Quaking Aspen Western Sneezeweed

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Wild Turkey

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Fire Lookout Structures

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Buck Mountain Buck Mountain Lookout Tower Fremont Peak Humphreys Peak Inner Basin Kendrick Peak

_____________________

Civilization is a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there

Sep 16 2020

Guides 99
Routes 1,515
Photos 16,173
Triplogs 1,405

male

Joined Jan 07 2017
Fountain Hills,

Flagstaff, AZ

Hiking		Sep 16 2020
		DixieFlyer • Triplogs 1,405

Hiking	17.30 Miles	4,395 AEG

Hiking	17.30 Miles	8 Hrs 59 Mns	2.36 mph
	4,395 ft AEG	1 Hour 39 Mns Break

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I decided to take advantage of another nice non-soon day and do another hike up to Humphreys Peak(of course facebookers will tell you that it is Mount Humphreys, but I digress). This was my 8th time on Humphreys this year, and 22nd time overall. Maybe someday I'll catch @Jim_H , but I doubt it.

On the way up to Agassiz Saddle I only saw 2 people on the trail. I did not encounter too many people from the saddle up to the summit. However, on the way back from the summit to Agassiz Saddle it was like ants on an anthill; in other words, there were lots of people making their way to the summit.

Just below the summit, where you basically go a straight up some rock to reach the summit, someone had made some switchbacks on the SW side of the summit. I tried going that way on the way up, but it would have been much, much better to go straight up over the rock field to reach the summit.

I thought that I might actually do an axcent of Humphreys without seeing any unleashed dogs or getting seranaded by someone's music box. Sadly, on the way down to Agassiz Saddle there was one unleashed dog and one music box...oh well, maybe next time!

On the way back, I only encountered 2 people from Agassiz Saddle to the thick grove of aspens a couple of miles from the TH.

I did see 2 grouse on he way back (or is that grouses or grice??). Let me rephrase that: On the way back, on the Weatherford Trail about 1/4 mile before getting to fremontdoyle-takeyourpick saddle, I saw a grouse in the middle of the trail and another grouse just off the trail. I had no idea that grouse were in the area. I looked online and one article said that grouse were introduced to the San Francisco Peaks in the 1970's.

Not surprisingly, aspen leaves are still green. Hopefully they will be yellow in 3 weeks or so.

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Darton Dome Inner Basin O'Leary Fire Lookout O'Leary Peak Rees Peak Sugarloaf Peak

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Common Raven Dusky Grouse

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

Autumn Foliage Observation None
No yellow aspen leaves yet.

_____________________

Civilization is a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there

1 archive

Sep 14 2020

emilystardust

Routes 392
Photos 49
Triplogs 800

43 female

Joined Jun 23 2015
Phoenix, AZ

Flagstaff, AZ

Hiking		Sep 14 2020
		emilystardust • Triplogs 800

Hiking	18.00 Miles	4,400 AEG

Hiking	18.00 Miles
	4,400 ft AEG

no routes

no photosets

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Started at Lockett Meadow about 7:30 am. We saw one person coming down Weatherford as we were headed up and around a dozen people on the summit trail, but that was it for traffic for the whole day on the mountain. It took us about 10 hours, with lots of photo-taking, hunting for mushrooms, and a lunch break once we hit Weatherford and a long rest at the summit. This way was much more interesting and scenic than the climb up to the peak from the other side.

_____________________

Aug 20 2020

Guides 99
Routes 1,515
Photos 16,173
Triplogs 1,405

male

Joined Jan 07 2017
Fountain Hills,

Flagstaff, AZ

Hiking		Aug 20 2020
		DixieFlyer • Triplogs 1,405

Hiking	17.20 Miles	4,386 AEG

Hiking	17.20 Miles	7 Hrs 55 Mns	2.57 mph
	4,386 ft AEG	1 Hour 13 Mns Break

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I was once again looking to escape the heat of the Valley, so I decided to head up to Flagstaff and do this hike again. This is a great hike, and it's my favorite way to go to Humphreys Peak.

It was a nice day for a hike, and it was very pleasant on the summit. We got back down to Fremont Saddle about noon, and I was glad of that because there were a few clouds building up off to the south. We got sprinkled on a bit for the last mile of the hike, but it was kinda nice actually.

After the hike we stopped at Northern Pines restaurant for some rehydration and post-hike grub, and then I headed to Kingman to spend the night on my way to Nevada. There were some pretty heavy rain showers in places during the drive, mostly between Flag and Williams.

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Geographic Landmark Labels Intrepid Back Shot

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Humphreys Peak

_____________________

Civilization is a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there

Aug 13 2020

Guides 99
Routes 1,515
Photos 16,173
Triplogs 1,405

male

Joined Jan 07 2017
Fountain Hills,

Flagstaff, AZ

Hiking		Aug 13 2020
		DixieFlyer • Triplogs 1,405

Hiking	16.30 Miles	4,489 AEG

Hiking	16.30 Miles	8 Hrs 1 Min	2.39 mph
	4,489 ft AEG	1 Hour 12 Mns Break

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I decided that I'd continue my escape from the heat of the VOS by going from the Mogollon Rim up to Flag and hike Humphreys Peak again.

I enjoy the hike from the Inner Basin much better than going from Snowbowl, so that is what I did.

There was a chance of rain and storms, so I left early and the weather turned out to be super. It was very pleasant up on the summit.

Amazingly, I saw no trash on the trail and none at the summit!

FR552 was rough in a few places, and was much worse than when I drove it back in July. You didn't need 4WD, but a little clearance will be helpful. The road is a bit washboardy and you'll want to slow down in a couple of spots.

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Geographic Landmark Labels

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Agassiz Peak Fremont Peak

_____________________

Civilization is a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there

Jul 06 2020

Guides 99
Routes 1,515
Photos 16,173
Triplogs 1,405

male

Joined Jan 07 2017
Fountain Hills,

Flagstaff, AZ

Hiking		Jul 06 2020
		DixieFlyer • Triplogs 1,405

Hiking	17.00 Miles	4,813 AEG

Hiking	17.00 Miles	8 Hrs 5 Mns	2.46 mph
	4,813 ft AEG	1 Hour 10 Mns Break

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For my 18th ascent of Humphreys I decided to do the hike the fun way -- from the Inner Basin. I enjoy this route -- compared to doing the hike from Snowbowl the tread and the scenery are much, much better.

We did not see anybody on the trail until we got to Agassiz Saddle. There was a short section of snow still on the trail on the upper portion of the Weatherford Trail below Agassiz Peak; however, it was no problem to deal with.

It was a little windy up on the ridgeline going up to Humphreys, but there was very little wind at the peak, which was nice. In fact the wind was mostly calm at the summit with an occasional light gust.

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] HAZ - Hike HAZard Old Glory

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Humphreys Peak

Meteorology

Meteorology [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Snow

_____________________

Civilization is a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there

1 archive

Jun 27 2020

Pickles

Routes 7
Photos 1,242
Triplogs 61

female

Joined Nov 21 2015
Phoenix

Flagstaff, AZ

Hiking		Jun 27 2020
		Pickles • Triplogs 61

Hiking	16.83 Miles	4,466 AEG

Hiking	16.83 Miles	9 Hrs 31 Mns	2.04 mph
	4,466 ft AEG	1 Hour 16 Mns Break

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te_wa

Route Recorded on Route Scout | Pop | Map | Popup | MapDEX

.

_____________________

Jun 27 2020

te_wa

Guides 3
Routes 2
Photos 1,156
Triplogs 338

male

Joined Aug 22 2003
Mesa

Flagstaff, AZ

Hiking		Jun 27 2020
		te_wa • Triplogs 338

Hiking	16.80 Miles	4,460 AEG

Hiking	16.80 Miles
	4,460 ft AEG

no routes

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Pickles

Another one that was on our list of summertime summits. Starting at the beautiful Lockett Meadow, walking through the Aspens was a really nice treat in short time. Trail doesn't mess around with elevation obviously, you have to get 4650 AEG finished in just eight miles. Pushing on we reached the service road and took that for a ways until the Inner Basin Trail heads up towards Weatherford. This is where the fun begins! Climbing, and more climbing. Pretty soon after several switchbacks you can see Humphreys peeking out over the horizon. It's still a couple of miles away, and it seems like no matter how much more you hike you don't get any closer! After passing Agassiz we made the descent down to the saddle which was filled with people. Looking up you could see the stream of army ants coming and going from the peak. That last section of Humphreys was really rocky, and a lot of little ankle twisters along the route... Getting up to the top was fairly enjoyable, and I imagine the other 40 people would have agreed. A quick lunch, and back down we went. Probably passed four to five people the entire way down to the service road, then at least 15, with one group sitting on a log awaiting the rescue team. We passed a sheriff's deputy, and I told him where she was waiting. Headed back down the hill without incident, and we were both glad it was over. A great hike, a good workout, and excellent views. I'm glad we got to scratch it off the list :-)
ran into @DixieFlyer on the way up, his group was making their way up to Fremont. nice to meet ya!

_____________________

squirrel!

1 archive

Jun 24 2020

chumley

Guides 94
Routes 843
Photos 22,259
Triplogs 2,011

52 male

Joined Sep 18 2002
Tempe, AZ

Flagstaff, AZ

Hiking		Jun 24 2020
		chumley • Triplogs 2,011

Hiking	15.07 Miles	5,351 AEG

Hiking	15.07 Miles	7 Hrs 43 Mns	2.08 mph
	5,351 ft AEG	29 Mns Break

no routes

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Snowslide Spring via Inner Basin

Partners

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FOTG

A beautiful day on the mountain. There's some old snow drifts hanging on in the woods all the way down into the inner basin, but only a short stretch along the Weatherford. Didn't see anybody else going up from this side, but passed a couple runners in the inner basin doing a weatherford waterline loop.

Maybe two dozen people between the saddle and the summit, a quite a tolerable density for this one. Clouds kept things shaded about half the time, and a light breeze was just enough to make it borderline chilly. A very refreshing sensation in Arizona on June 24.

Saw Pam on the summit. Always a treat to run into another hazzer on the trails.

I had forgotten to move water from my cooler to my backpack, so I was out with more than 8 miles to go. With no treatment options on hand, melting nasty spring snow didn't appeal to me so I made the side trip over to Snowslide Spring, the only spot in the basin where I was confident in finding clean running water. After two liters I continued back to Lockett Meadow where I delayed the drive back to the furnace for an enjoyable nap in the shade of the quaking aspens.

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Alpine Penstemon Yellow Columbine

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] HAZ - Selfie

	Snowslide Spring	Gallon + per minute	Gallon + per minute
	At least 5gpm.

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I'm not sure what my spirit animal is, but I'm confident it has rabies.

1 archive

Oct 03 2019

LJW

Routes 154
Photos 1,505
Triplogs 266

31 male

Joined Jun 02 2019
Phoenix, AZ

Flagstaff, AZ

Hiking		Oct 03 2019
		LJW • Triplogs 266

Hiking	17.00 Miles	4,700 AEG

Hiking	17.00 Miles	9 Hrs 10 Mns	2.55 mph
	4,700 ft AEG	2 Hrs 30 Mns Break

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Friend and I wanted to get a summit from Lockett Meadow done before the snow starts falling on the peaks and were hoping we weren't too early for the changing of the colors in the Inner Basin. Made it to the summit, but the aspens were a week or so away from being fully autumned out.

Started at 6am saw no one on the Inner Basin/Weatherford Trails. Humphrey's saddle up and down was pretty busy, maybe a few more than a dozen groups of hikers, who were the only people we passed besides those in the Inner Basin on the way back.

From the top it looks like the colors haven't really started to change around the peak, although Kendrick's eastern slopes were a mosaic of color. Forest fire to the southeast and its drifting smoke blocked much the of the view to the east/southeast, and the view got hazier in general as the day went on.

Autumn Foliage Observation Light

Aug 10 2019

MAP

Routes 137
Photos 1
Triplogs 105

44 female

Joined Oct 21 2016
Tempe, AZ

Flagstaff, AZ

Hiking		Aug 10 2019
		MAP • Triplogs 105

Hiking	18.31 Miles	4,229 AEG

Hiking	18.31 Miles	10 Hrs 30 Mns	1.74 mph
	4,229 ft AEG

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We decided to take the looong route up Humphreys because it's not hard enough on its own (ha haha). First, the road up to the Inner Basin Trail is extremely narrow and sketchy for a couple miles. It's fine for any vehicle but I would recommend going up the road at a less busy time of day so you're not stuck on the outside edge for the narrow steep passes. The Inner Basin Trail is absolutely gorgeous. The hike gradually climbs through a thick aspen forest with moss canopies covering rocks and bright orange fungus along the trail. Totally something straight out of a forest fairyland story. The trail continues up to a large meadow with yellow wildflowers galore. This is the first place you can get a good view of Humphreys and the elevation you're about to take on. The hike continues up a very rocky old road and then through forest again for a few more miles. We met the Weatherford Trail junction and kept cruising along. It is pretty much a continuous climb with some stretches requiring more exertion than others. Starting at the Inner Basin Trail actually adds about an additional 1,000 ft of elevation gain (and many more miles of beautiful scenery). Once we got to the saddle we were really feeling the altitude sickness and it continued the whole time we hiked the East side of Agassiz Peak. It's a weird feeling. We sat to rest and acclimate and my eyelids were actually closing even though I hadn't previously felt tired. My friend and I both felt woosey like we had been drugged or something. After resting a while we felt well enough to continue. We did stop a couple more times and continued on once the extreme feeling passed. Finally we met up with the more popular Humphreys Summit Trail and had way more company all of the sudden. Surprisingly, there were much fewer people on this beautiful weather day than on our previous ascent which was on a rainy foggy day. Go figure. Also, our altitude sickness magically disappeared! The last stretch to the summit is a unique experience with the alpine tundra landscape and views and is also just a monster to hike up. There is scrambling and rocky steep trail and seems to never end. Finally…the summit!! Yippee! We were lucky enough to enjoy one of those beautiful Arizona days with big clouds hovering and creating cool shadows but remaining high enough to allow for views for miles. It's incredible to look out towards Navajo/Hopi land and see where the landscape abruptly changes from green to pinks and oranges. Our total trip time was around 10 1/2 hours (including breaks) and mileage was recorded at 18.5 miles. The aeg was around 4,400 ft so great training hike for our R2R2R next week!

Wildflowers Observation Isolated

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Jul 16 2019

Brian14

Routes 20
Photos 3
Triplogs 19

49 male

Joined May 20 2019

Flagstaff, AZ

Hiking		Jul 16 2019
		Brian14 • Triplogs 19

Hiking	16.04 Miles	5,162 AEG

Hiking	16.04 Miles	7 Hrs 4 Mns	2.29 mph
	5,162 ft AEG	4 Mns Break

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Route Recorded on Route Scout | Pop | Map | Popup | MapDEX

This is the first time I’ve seen this trail without hip/knee deep snow! Funny how much easier it is to follow without haha. It’s a welcome change from doing the 151 rout up to Humphrey’s. But there are some forgettable sections too. For some reason this seemed harder than the longer hump, Weatherford, kachina loop. But maybe I’m just getting old:)
Highly recommend this route. Didn’t see a soul on the inner basin side which is always nice compared to the more heavily trafficked main route.
My friends think I’m crazy for waking up at 230an so I can make the drive from phx and hit the trail early, well maybe I am but it’s a great way to spend a day- and a good excuse to get a big ice cream cone on my way back to the valley of the brutal sun!

Wildflowers Observation Moderate
Lots of pretty mangenta ones on the inner basin side

Jul 13 2019

joebartels

Guides 264
Routes 2,811
Photos 14,625
Triplogs 5,908

male

Joined Nov 20 1996