Humphreys Peak
17 December 2015
Right in the middle of a long drive across America to see my family for the holidays, I couldn’t resist bagging a peak. I initially intended only to visit the Grand Canyon during the early miles of the journey, but coincidentally realized Arizona’s high point was a mere stone’s throw away. And it looked to have a knockout snow climb during these winter months. My hunch was confirmed correct when I noticed the mountain had 3-4 ft of snow on it. Game time.
I went for a sneaky start by coaxing my Civic up Snow Bowl Rd at about 7:00 local time. Based on some research I learned this would allow me to take advantage of the groomed ski runs should conditions deteriorate to mass-postholing. Thankfully this was not the case, and I managed to follow the main trail through the GORGEOUS pine trees, their boughs drooping gracefully under the first winter snows. All was quiet and soon the sun began to rise in the east.
I made good time up the trail, following others’ snow tracks, before the tracks started to fade out about halfway up the mountain. Whether people started giving up around this elevation or higher winds blew snow over the tracks I could not tell. Nonetheless conditions became dire as I fell through the drifts. I began to doubt whether I could make it when I stumbled onto a groomed 4×4 road above one of the ski runs. Gratefully walking up this road, I then followed the groomed ski run. The lifts were just starting up for the day, and I was reminded by a very courteous ranger that I should leave the run and get on up the ridge! I noted the ridge slopes off toward Humphreys looked to be full of sloppy, deep snow, so we made a compromise that I could leave the run headed for the more wind-swept flanks of Agassiz Peak. I took care not to stray too close to the peak, and further stayed on the snow to ‘protect the fragile tundra,’ according to the signs. As a fan of the frozen tundra to be found at Lambeau Field this time of year, I maintained no quarrel about following these instructions.
Thanking my good luck for finding the groomed terrain as well as the calm conditions on the mountain, I began the ridge traverse. The traverse marked the second time today I thought I would never make it. Any tracks made by previous parties were long gone. As the only climber on the mountain today I was reduced to postholing my way through deep drifts. I took a break, ate some jerky, drank a ton of ice water (bottles were near to freezing on this chilly day), and regained my spirits. Soon I found myself past the false summit on rocky terrain. All along the traverse I followed some very handy trail posts marking the way to the top. Many of these had frightening ice on their lee sides, blown intro grotesque configurations by gale force winds.
About this time I started to become nostalgic about snow climbs past. The summit was serene. I could see the Grand Canyon to the north, and the skiers so far below looked like little surfing ants. I discovered a corner of the register protruding from the rocky ring here but was unable to extricate it from its icy tomb. I suspect less winter ascents are recorded in these things than actually happen.
Well no time to be nostalgic now. I ate some more food and slogged my way back down, largely following my ascent route. Descending was not so easy as many steps required me to raise my snowshoes out of the deep snow. Hadn’t worked those muscles in a while! And when the front tips got stuck beneath a buried branch or rock I often flopped face first into the snow. Getting to the parking lot comes before dignity up here.
Oddly I didn’t talk to anyone besides the ranger today; usually I am a chatterbox on the mountain. I suppose the long miles on the road has put me in an introspective mood. And it is hard to talk to those skiers when they fly by so fast. I strolled into the parking lot around 15:30, some 7.5 hours after I started this morning. Not to be overlooked: the all-important post-hike gorging: I went to Coco’s Bakery Restaurant in Flagstaff which was just what I needed. I ordered a hot broccoli soup and a steak and ate to my heart’s content. I really recommend this hike in the winter (under the right snow and weather conditions of course). It is a great challenge with beautiful scenery.