Day 39 - 8/23/2004 - Humphreys Peak (aka Mt. Hump-Me)

Today is the day of the first new highpoint in a few weeks, AND the highest elevation thus far in the trip.  Humphreys Peak is the highest point in a chain known as the San Francisco Peaks.  These are the remnants of a dormant volcano that blew its top some time back.  We knew we were in for some work - the summit is 12,633 feet high, and the elevation gain is 3500 feet over 4 miles.

We hit the trailhead fairly early and were on the trail by 8:30.  Normally, we try to get an earlier start, but since the climate near the summit approximates arctic tundra, we figured a little more sunlight wouldn't hurt.  It was a cool morning, and Hunter and I started with long pants, jackets, and hats.  The trail started gently across the "Snowbowl" - a local ski slope, and then twisted into the forest and started up through a series of switchbacks.  Shortly after getting into the woods, we were working up a sweat and donning jackets, hats, etc.  We could definitely feel the elevation as we started at about 9500 feet and slowly hiked up past 10,000 feet, and then 11,000 feet.  These switchbacks continued up for about 3.75 miles and 2500 feet of elevation, until you reach the "Saddle".  The Saddle is just what it sounds like - a natural saddle between Humphreys Peak and Mt. Agassiz (the pointy one in the picture below).  This is jokingly referred to as the halfway point (even though there is only another 3/4 mile to the summit).  We quickly found out why folks said this...

The saddle signifies several things.  First, it is just above tree line, and the rest of the hike/climb is fully exposed to the elements.  Second, the trail becomes as much a scramble over rocks as a hike.  Third, you climb over three "false" summits to reach the true summit.  As soon as we started up from the Saddle, the wind was hitting us full force with what I would estimate at 25-30 mph, with higher gusts.  Breezy, but not dangerous.  The temperature was in the upper 40's (estimate), so with the wind it was quite cold.  We dressed back up in our jackets and gloves and continued on.  Over the first false summit, over the second...and now the wind was getting stronger.  We were also really feeling the effects of the thin air as we were reaching 12,000 feet.  Up a couple of switchbacks - catch your breath.  Between the difficult footing on the rocks and the winds, it was also getting difficult to stand upright.  We pushed on to the third (last) false summit, as we felt the wind subside.  The summit of the last peak was blocking the wind.  As we crested the last false summit, we felt the full force of the wind trying to push us off of the thin ridge.  As we climbed/crawled to the base of the true summit, we were sitting in between boulders looking up about 30 feet at the summit.  We started up as a huge gust of wind hit us from the side, blowing us back down.  The gust was in excess of 70 mph - I know this from being in hurricanes and the fact that they were predicting 35 mph gusts in Flagstaff.  We regrouped, set down our hiking sticks (under rocks), and took off our gloves to hold hands (mostly so Hunter would not blow off at less than 100 pounds!).  We crawled like spiders up the final 30 feet, gusts flinging facefulls of pumice at us every few seconds.  I would get an eyeful of dust, right as I would feel Hunter's weight tugging on my hand in the wind.  After about a minute or two of crawling, we could just make out one of the stone bunkers at the top.  We stayed low and crawled over the closest edge into the relative calm.

In the safety of this foxhole was another hiker we had seen on the way up.  We chatted with him about the peak.  He was a frequent hiker of the area and was able to point out some of the local landmarks.  After a few minutes, the gusts dropped into the 50 mph range, and I was able to climb out for a few pictures.  I was able to snap two pictures before the batteries in the camera died from the cold (update note - I saved the batteries and shot a days worth of pictures with them the next day - it must have been colder than I thought).  We stayed up for about thirty minutes, and then prepped for the trip down.  We knew that the first 1/4 mile would be rough, with the climb off of the summit being the worst.  We grasped hands, sat down, and "crab-walked" our way down.  The mental aspect was worse going down - since you are looking at where you would be blown if you slipped.  We made it back to the walking sticks, collected them, and kept moving.  After a few more minutes we were again sheltered from the wind by the second false peak.  It took us another 45 minutes to make it back to the Saddle, where we climbed behind a boulder to shelter the wind.  There we had our fill of Gatorade and raisins.

The remainder of the hike down was just a matter of endurance.  Our bodies were exhausted from the climb, the wind, the cold, and most of all the elevation.   Hunter did something I had never seen before - he stopped to rest on the way DOWN.  He had not even done that on Mt. St. Helens.  We kept moving, and by 4:15 we emerged from the woods at the car.

A good dinner, a movie, and we crashed for the night!

P.S.  More pictures are forthcoming...