Click on photographs to enlarge

On Sunday, July 11, 2004 the challenge began. After driving to Flagstaff from Phoenix, Ira Ungar and I met up at the motel and started the task at hand. The first of three summit hikes to be accomplished during the next three days. This hike was going to be the Mount Eldon Lookout hike a good hike for conditioning for the more difficult Mount Humphries hike. This hike, which begins in Flagstaff starts at an elevation of approximately 7,200 ft and proceeds for a distance of about 5 miles to an elevation of approximately 9,259 feet. Although the trail starts at the Fatman’s loop, which is considered an easy trail, it connects to the Eldon Lookout trail, which is a difficult ascent.

As we proceeded up the Fatman’s loop trail the sky had some cloud cover but we felt that the weather would hold out. About ½ mile up the trail we came to a fork. If we went right, we would take the longer 3-mile way to the Eldon Lookout trail. We opted for the shorter .3 mile route going up. When we arrived at the Eldon Lookout trail we proceed up. At this time the trail becomes much steeper and the decomposed rock became slippery. This would be more of a challenge coming down than going up. We continued up the trail and after about 2 hours we arrived at the Lookout tower on the summit of Mount Eldon. The vista at the tower was wonderful and it hadn’t rained yet.

After relaxing for about ½ hour, we proceeded back down the trail. As we thought, the footing was much slipperier and we had to be more careful. During our descent, we did encounter a few sprinkles but nothing to worry about. Again at the fork in the trail when we arrived at the Fatman’s loop, we opted to take the longer way back to the trailhead. The entire hike takes the hikers through some very lush and green country. The time it took from trailhead to trailhead was about 3 ½ hours at a comfortable pace both up and down. Although this hike is only a moderate to strenuous hike, I would encourage anyone planning to hike the Mount Humphries trail for the first time to hike the Eldon Lookout trail first to condition themselves for the elevation.

Map of Eldon	The Trailhead
Start up the mountain	The Trail
Lookin' Good Ira!	Don't slip!
We're here	Tomorrows challenge

As for the Mount Humphries portion of the hike on Monday, July 12^th, 2004, not much had changed since I last reported on it a year ago Mount Humphries.  This year the weather conditions were about the same too. We hit it just before the Monsoon season started. The bugs at the top were worse than last year, but we still didn’t have the wind or lightning.

The trail (Ira's)	I think I've been here before
You can see forever (Ira's)	How did I get here? (Ira's)
Ira's name in the log (Ira's)	I'll sign it too (Ira's)
Was it worth it Ira?	Tomorrows challenge

On Tuesday, July 13^th, 2004 it was time for the final summit hike of the three. The Kendrick Peak hike. Kendrick Peak trailhead is off the paved road about 5 miles. For anyone who wants directions to the trailhead, you proceed north on Route 180 (Highway to the Grand Canyon) to mile marker 230. It is marked, but you should be aware that it is about 15 miles out of Flagstaff. You turn left onto the graded road (FS 245) and proceed to the end where it connects to the graded road (FS171). If you turn left, you go to the lava caves, turn right and you go toward Mount Kendrick. Go about 3.1 mile to the turnoff to the Kendrick Peak trailhead. Do the full right turn; not the diagonal right turn. It is marked but it would be easy to make a mistake. About ½ mile up you turn into the Kendrick Peak trailhead parking area. There are restroom facilities there, but no water.

Once there, the skies looked threatening but I decided to attempt the hike anyway. It was worth it. This is the easiest hike of the three, I would rate it at just over a moderate hike but it is long. You start out at 7,980 feet and proceed up the trail through the forest that was burned in the fire of 2000. It is starting to recover. At about 1.32 miles up the trail at elevation 8,175 feet the trail turns onto and old abandoned forest road. The trail continues another mile or so and at elevation 9,248 feet the trail again turns into regular graded trail. At 10,063 feet the trail reaches the saddle. You now have hiked about 4 miles without a letup in grade. At the saddle there is an old cabin, which was a ranger station and is now shelter for hikers should they encounter inclement weather. From there, the trail proceeds another .7 mile to the summit and the Lookout station at 10,418 feet. The view is remarkable and we could see everything from Sadona to the Vermilion Cliffs. Since I had started at 7:00A. M., and it was now 9:00 A. M. and the weather was deteriorating rapidly; and I did have another 4.7 miles to hike to get back to the trailhead, I started back down the trail. I did have some rain on the way down but the skies didn’t open up until I was back in my car heading out.

Kendrick Peak Trail	The trailhead
Fire devastation	The old road
Nature comes back	Aspen Grove
Old Ranger station in the saddle	Clouds form over the previous days hikes

Upon returning to Phoenix, the reality sunk in. During the previous three days I had hiked 28.4 miles, ascended a total of 7,930 feet, descended the same amount and had hiked to the summit of three of the highest peaks in Arizona. The hiking life is wonderful!

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Larry Wayt (gnhikn@cox.net)