Humphrey's Peak March 9, 2004

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[Ed: Imported from Americas Roof ‘Summit Trip Reports’ forum]

[By: Dale on March 11 2004 at 10:25 PM]

[Link: http://www.network54.com/Forum/198362/message/1079061923/Humphrey%27s+Peak+March+9%2C+2004]

My son, his college roommate and I arrived in Flagstaff on Monday. We visited the ranger station on St. Mary’s Road and received our free wilderness permits. The permits are required for each climber/camper during the winter. We then went downtown to Babbitt’s Backcountry Outfitter and rented some terrible overused snowshoes. We began the climb at 7:30 am on Tuesday. The temperature was around 25 degrees, no wind and clear skies. We parked at the lower parking lot near the Arizona Snowbowl. Ski Area. There isn’t any “gate” problem parking at this trailhead. The trail was fairly easy to follow for the first 2 miles due to others climbing a couple days before. About two/thirds of the way up in trees the trail became harder to follow. We basically bushwhacked our way up above the tree line. We did not use our snowshoes at all climbing up. The snow was fairly “crusty”. However, about every 100 steps or so we would posthole up to our hips and wish we had snowshoes on. Above the tree line the snow was only about 6 inches deep most of the way. We climbed to the saddle and had an easy traverse to the summit around 11:00 am. We spent an hour on top and were joined by another climber who camped around 11,000 feet. He used snowshoes all the way to the summit. We glissaded part of the way down. The snow became soft as the sun hit it. Soon after reaching the tree line we put on our snowshoes for the rest of the way down. We didn’t have too much problem finding our way up or down even without GPS. This was a great winter climb for three Georgia boys. Of course, the weather was perfect! Thanks to all who took the time to give me the info I requested last week.

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