AZ High Point

I decided I should get back to blogging - I know it has been a LONG hiatus. I was working on my 2009 scrapbook the other night and it was so easy to come back to this blog to figure out details from certain events. If I ever get to 2012 and 2013 in my scrapbooks it is not going to be as easy to come back to this blog for details since they will not be here. 

This last Saturday, August 24th, I hiked to the top of Mt. Humphrey's in Flagstaff, AZ. I have been wanting to do this hike for a while, and someone from New City planned it so of course I said yes. We left Phoenix at about 6am Saturday and made it to the base of the mountain a little before 10am. I had been watching weather.com the entire week because it said "scattered thunderstorms" but only a 40% chance.

The beginning of the hike was pretty simple - felt like we were in a rain forest (especially since it had started raining at this point).

You can't really tell, but there is a Snowbowl ski slope in the background of these pictures.

Tim and Dave had gotten in front of Kyle and I but we caught them here just before we got above the timberline.

As soon as we got above the timberline and we were out of the tree cover, it was miserable on the mountain. It was windy, freezing and the rain was coming down hard. Just past the saddle I made the comment that I was ok with not making it to the top. Tim then said let's get to the first false peak (there were multiple) and make the decision from there. Fortunately after a bit of time the rain had let up and once we were to one false peak we decided we couldn't turn around without making it to the top.

Made it to the top in about 2 and a half hours - we were all pretty happy with the time since it said it takes about 3 hours to get to the top, and most people take 4 to 4.5 hours. We only stayed at the top for about 5 minutes because it was hailing, windy and freezing.

Conquered the top of AZ - 12,633 feet.

                                    

There really was no view given all the clouds.

Once we got back into tree cover we took a short break to eat something. Usually when I hike I stay at the top for a while and have a snack but since it was so cold up there we just wanted to get down. We were all still pretty cold at this point...I didn't have feeling in my hands until we got to the car.

Back to where we started - that is Mt. Humphrey's in the background of this picture. It was sunny and warm again back at the base. This hike was definitely an experience to remember. I would like to go again when the forecast says "sunny." Good job team - and now I am so happy that we did not turn around. We definitely would have regretted not making it to the top!