Humphrey's Peak: Arizona's highest point.
For my non-American readers, 12,633 feet is 3851 meters.
The air was a little thinner than what I'm used to (just over 1000 feet), but besides huffing and puffing more than usual, it wasn't bad.
Views were great, especially with the aspen putting on their spectacular fall show.
And yes, the hat and gloves were very much appreciated. If mountain-forecast.com was right, it couldn't have been more than 33-34 F (1 C) with winds up to 25 mph (40 kph). Coming from Phoenix, where we've barely started cooling down to highs in the high 80s (low 30s C) it was quite an abrupt change. When the wind really came up as I was hiking down from the peak on those treeless, rocky slopes, my nose and lips on the windward side of my face actually felt numb for a few minutes. :)
Fantastic hike!
Fantastic day!
Total hike stats (including the jaunt at the end into the gorgeous fall aspen grove, down to the Arizona Trail, and back up to the trailhead):
Distance: 11 miles / 17.5 km
Elevation Gain: 3953 feet (1205 m)
Geocaches Found: 1
Friends Made at the Peak: 4
Squirrels Watched: several
Aspen Gawked at: many more
Maximum Layers Worn: 4
Pictures Taken: 205
Other Times in my Life I've Stood at such High Elevation: 0
More details later, should you care to try this yourself.
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