Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Humpreys Peak Arizona???

Has anyone ever hiked Humphreys Peak in Arizona? If so, how does it compare to Whitney? Exposure? Animals? Water on trail? Average number of hikers on trail? Temperature? If Whitney is a 10 for strenuous, how much easier is Humphrey. Any other advice?? We will be on vacation in Arizona and want to hike something so we will probably select humphrey

I used to live in Flagstaff. If you can hike Whitney in a day you can hike humpreys in an afternoon, it would be a 3-4 on the Whitney is 10 scale. It is around 9 miles RT starting around 9k. No water on the trail, zero exposure, maybe some deer and elk. The big risk is weather, if you are up there in the summer, the last mile and a half or so is above the tree line and extremely exposed to thunderstorms, so start early.

JMH, when are you planning to attempt Humphrey's? You want to avoid any monsoon weather, like now. Lightning is very prevalent on Humphrey's & people die every year from lightning strikes on the summit. It's the tallest object in a 500 mile radius so it attracts all the weather....

It can be extremely windy also & being on the summit ridge when it's blowing 60 mph is pretty dangerous. There is no protection & nothing to stop a fall.

Now for the good news ;-)... A super mountain to hike. I found it more on a par with Baldy than Whitney. Very similar in mileage, EG & steepness. Only about 9 or so RT miles. TH is the Arizona Snow Bowl parking lot about 30 mins out of Flagstaff. You start out in the forest & after the 'saddle' you're going up the volcanic ridge. Trail is easy to follow but there also are trail markers that keep you on track, which I'm thinking is more for snow travel, & there are several false summits before the true summit...

I would say early summer like June, & fall are the best times. I did it in Oct last year, caught a high pressure weather window so it was clear, really warm, & zero wind. Watch the weather via Mountain Forecast. Will be crowded on weekends, & there are bears around but like anywhere else you're not likely to encounter any. & in Oct I did not see any water on the trail but that's not to say there wouldn't be some earlier in the year.

Hope this helps!

Last year my son (who lives in Flagstaff) and I set out to climb Humphreys Peak. Wanting to see more of the mountain we opted for the Weatherford trail route from Shultz Pass. This is much longer, probably well over 20 miles with ~5000 gain but well worth it if you have the time. We did an overnight backpack camping at Doyle Saddle and yes there is no water on the mountain. It was August and while ascending the south slopes to camp we were pounded with classic monsoon storms of heavy rain, muddy flooding trails and hail. The forests are dense and more like temperate rain forest with lots of aspen,really different from the sierra. As we made camp the views of the colorful rock in the inner basin made the wet hike up all worth it. Starting very early the next day we made it to the "saddle" where you join the ski area trail with OK weather. We got to within about 1/8 mile of the summit and as the weather rapidly deteriorated beat a hasty retreat off a very exposed ridge. The alpine area south of where the ski hut trail takes you is very special with lots of low growing plants and flowers due to all the summer rain. The habitat is so unique that any hiking off trail ( except for the summit ridege) will be a $200 fine. The forested areas lower down had an amazing variety of mushrooms of every color.
If you feel you don't have time or want this long of a hike the Inner Basin trail will hook up to the Weatherford and round trip short enough for a day hike. The area is in the Kachina Peaks wilderness no permit required in the summer.

We plan to meet again in Flagstaff for another go in a couple of weeks for another trip up the mountain.

Bythebeach