This was my fourth
time hiking up to the 12,633 foot summit. First it took me 2 hours and 52 minutes just to reach the pass. Then I arrived on the summit after a 4 hour and 34 minute hike. It was 10.4 miles round trip and took me 8.5 hours. The trail starts in a meadow at the Arizona Snowbowl at 9,333 feet. After leaving the meadow the trail enters a dense forest of aspen, fir and spruce trees until it reaches a saddle connecting Humphrey's Peak and Agassiz Peak. Beyond the saddle the thick forest is quickly left behind and bristlecone pines thrive in the tundra environment. But soon the bristlecones disappear too, and the landscape is relatively barren, and the plant life of this tundra environment is extremely fragile.
It was so nice to escape the desert heat. It was
in the mid 50s on the summit. This time it only took me 4.5 hours to reach the summit. The goal of reaching the summit keeps my mind focused, and my OCD becomes a distant annoyance.
Humphrey's Peak is a stratovolcano. The
volcano had multiple eruptions between 900,000 and 400,000 years ago. It
is also the 26th most prominent mountain in the lower 48 states with an
elevation rise of 6,053 feet.
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Looking back at the trail.
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The 12,633 foot summit and marker.
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