I did this hike in August of 2010 with my friend Mark Williams. We started close to noon on a Saturday and finished around 5 pm. We made it close to the summit and decided to turn around as we both were feeling light headed from the elevation. It was a beautiful day and the trail very lush with vegetation/forest.
The summit of Humphrey's Peak is the highest elevation in Arizona at 12,633 feet and one of the scenic rises among the San Francisco Peaks just north of Flagstaff, Arizona. Humphrey's, according to many avid hikers is the "best hike in Arizona" where those that reach the summit are rewarded with distant views of the Grand Canyon and Oak Creek Canyon as well as a 360 degree panoramic of the valley of beauty just below the Peak.
The trail is steep with a quick 3,333 foot elevation gain and becomes very rocky at it's higher reaches. The trail begins with wild flower covered meadows before reaching a dense forest of aspen, fir and spruce trees as it reaches the saddle connecting Humphrey's Peak with its sister peak, Agassiz.
Near the tree line, the thick forest is quickly left behind and replaced with bent and twisted bristlecone pines and plants that can only survive in tundra conditions. Those that have never hiked Humphrey's Trail can expect to reach three false summits before being rewarded with views from Arizona's highest point.
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