By Larry Wayt  larry@live2hike.org

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AT 8:00 AM on Monday, July 14, 2003, I and five other Squaw Peak hikers set out on another challenge.  To summit Mount Humphries Peak, the highest peak in the state of Arizona.  Since the trail head started at an elevation of 9,286 feet, and the summit is at 12,633 feet most of us arrived in Flagstaff the night before in an attempt to acclimate ourselves to the higher altitude.  We realized that our challenge was going to take us up over 3,000 feet in a short distance of 4.5 miles.  This works out to a trail grade of 13.038% which is far less than the 19.06% trail grade that we are used to with the Squaw Peak summit trail.  We also realized that the air was far thinner than we were used too and that would take it's toll in our abilities.  We still hoped to do the entire circuit in 7 to 8 hours.

As we set off across the meadow the skies were relatively clear and the temperature was a mild 65 degrees.  A far cry from the 100 plus degrees we were used to in Phoenix.  Our only concern was that we were entering the Monsoon season and the top of a mountain is no place to be when lightning strikes.  We were all feeling that we were going to be fine and summit without problems though.  The meadow was still in it's glory and the wild flowers were still in bloom.  As we entered the forest, the trail started to climb.  Although the trail was not steep, we did have to climb over some fallen trees.

About 2 hours into the hike we came upon other hikers coming down.  In talking to them we found out that they had not summitted and were just satisfied making it as far as they had.  This was also a good chance for most of us to get some food down.  As we continued on we all felt elated until we came upon the signpost that told us that we were only up to 11,400 feet.  Gee, that's only about half way.  We were also meeting other hikers, some who had summitted, and some that hadn't  All to soon though we were approaching the tree line and the growth was thinning out.  We knew we were doing good when we arrived at the saddle.  We could now see our destination.  We could also see the remnants of the previous winter.  There was still some snow in some areas.  Again we relaxed before continuing on.  We had been warned that there were some false summits ahead of us but we were still confident of accomplishing our goal.

Sure enough, there are false summits.  To start with, you are already tired and you see what appears to be the summit and when you get there, the trail continues on.  After this occurs about twice, you are tired and ready to quit but not this group of hikers.  They just had to finish what they started.  Lori was the first to hit the summit and I, like always was the last.  What a view!  If it had been a little clearer, we could have seen Squaw Peak. Well close anyway.  Even with the slight wind we had, the bugs were terrible.  We didn't stay long before we started down.  Just long enough to take pictures and sign the registration log. 

The hike back down was uneventful.  We got sprinkled on a couple of times, but not even enough to get wet.  We did pass a few other hikers, but not many due to it being a week day.  We finished the hike at about 3:00 PM tired, but feeling real good about our accomplishment.  We did the entire hike in 7 hours and 9 minutes and were glad it was over.

Again, I cannot praise this group of hikers enough.  Tara, Diana's daughter came over from Taiwan just to visit, and was a wonderful hiker.  The rest, without a doubt are some of the best hikers in Arizona, and I feel that it was my privilege to be included in the group.   We did miss one of our steadfast hikers Ira Ungar, but I'm sure we would do the hike again just to hike with him.  I look forward to many more exciting hikes with this group of hikers, and will keep the pages coming.

The Hikers