Mt. Humphreys and Agassiz Peak

After a 7 hour drive to Flagstaff, I arrived at the trailhead around 2 a.m. At dawn, I crawled out of my truck all stiff, starting up the trail as the sun came over the horizon. Due to the big snow year, there was snow under the trees, a good 8 feet of it higher on the mountain. At some point, I lost the trail in the deep snow and the tracks went in every direction. Looking over the topo map, it was all clear for a straight up climb to the ridgeline. Soon I broke out of the trees, scrambling on volcanic rock to the ridge. Humphreys can have a reputation as a windy peak in May but it was very calm for me. After a couple of false summits along the ridge I was enjoying another great state summit. The views were so high above the surrounding area there wasn’t a lot to study. Dropping down to the saddle between Humphreys and Agassiz, I ran into 2 climbers who just left their camp. The 2 little camping spots looked like nice places, right along the ridgeline.

Next I climbed up and over Agassiz Peak, the second highest peak in Arizona. This was illegal because of some plant species under Federal Protection. There’s a ski lift a few hundred feet below the summit. Hiking down the ski runs was way easier than the packed snow under the trees would have been. I ran into several people way off route looking to climb Humphreys. It was mid-day and they weren’t moving too quick. The warm Arizona sun was a delight near the bottom, what a reward.