Flagstaff, Arizona
Humphrey's Peak is the highest point in Arizona standing at a mighty 12,633 feet. If you're a fan of skiing, you may recognize if at one of the peaks in the Arizona Ski Bowl during the winter months. Just outside of Flagstaff, this summit is a hard 10.1-mile out-and-back trail with 3,382 feet of elevation gain. As somebody who enjoys the vertical hike, this one was a very hard, very steep butt burner. It stays at a pretty constant grade but it did seem to be a little steeper towards the last few miles.
The best times to hike Humphrey's are late spring to early fall. When you're on the tail end of these seasons, be prepared for ice and snow and understand that it may be very chilly up on the summit. When you're hiking in the middle of the summer season, be prepared for the monsoon season. Just because there's no rain in the forecast does not mean that an afternoon storm may not pop up. It is strongly recommended that you are back inside of the tree line by 2:00 pm to avoid lightning strikes and if you'd like to avoid rain it may be best to think about being done with the hike by 2:00 pm.
There is a sizable parking at the trailhead, but when I was finished around 2:00 pm, it was definitely on the fuller side. The trail starts off in a beautifully forested area, but be sure to watch your feet because the trail, while clearly marked, is very full of roots and rocks to trip you up. I did this hike over the 4th of July weekend and there were a few snow patches still on the wooded portion of the trail, but nothing significant at all. It stayed that way for about three miles until you exited the tree line. This is a very good snack spot area in my recommendation, and the views are stunning and there are very few bugs which will come into play later. The remainder of the trail is steeper, there's some scrambling, and there's some trail finding, so even if you don't want to snack it would probably be a good idea to rest and review the remaining trail. Once you continue on, the trail gets steeper, there's less tree cover, and you'll be scrambling across rocks and trying to find the correct path across scree patches. They do have trail markers for when you get closer to the summit, so don't fret if the trail isn't immediately visible. Give it a few steps and keep your eyes open and always download the offline map from AllTrails.
There are several false summits, three to be exact, on this hike so don't imagine it's over until it's over. My travel buddies and I always try to guess the peak from the parking lot and next to never have we been correct. From my own experience, you can't see the summit until the last quarter mile and that is absolutely true for this hike. Keep pushing, take your breaks, and drink your water. When you get to the summit, especially if you're doing this in the summer, I will go ahead and warn you now. There are so many flies it is ridiculous, and they are all flying around the summit marker. I don't recommend stopping to eat here, and you may want to keep your bags closed. If you do stop to take in the view for a little while, look north. On a clear enough day, you can see the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.
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