I'm looking to hike Humphery's Peak the first weekend in June via Humpherys Trail. I was wondering if anyone has been up there recently and how the snow conditions are, would I need crampons or just boots? This is the first time I have done Humpherys at all, so anything else we should keep in mind would be great as well. Thanks!

The trail's pretty well snowed under... I was up there last week and you can't follow it for more than a half mile or so. Things will melt, but we had a decent amount of snow this year and it might take a few weeks.

I can see snow on Humphreys from 55 miles away in Cottonwood, Arizona. Please give it a few more weeks.

I was there a 3 weeks ago. Lost the trail for about 20 minutes, otherwise it was not bad. I went super early and wish I had my yak traks. It is very doable. The winds have been unbelievable in town.

chewbachman wrote:I'm looking to hike Humphery's Peak the first weekend in June via Humpherys Trail. I was wondering if anyone has been up there recently and how the snow conditions are, would I need crampons or just boots? This is the first time I have done Humpherys at all, so anything else we should keep in mind would be great as well. Thanks!

Hmmm. This thread did have me crossing Humphrey's off of my list of considerations (same time frame), but I'm still not 100% convinced one way or the other. I've got Yak Traks, trekking poles, and a powerful dog that can be attached to me with skijoring gear. I would want to avoid having to deal with much post-holing.

I've never done anything in AZ, besides drive across the northern border area. I'll be on a trip with my wife, kids (age 2 and 4--still very easy to please), and dogs to NE OK/SW MO area from San Jose, CA area and needing to cover about 350 road miles per day on average. I expect AZ to be the highlight of the trip on the way out and can make up time further east. Short, scenic hikes and scenery along the way with a longer adventure to wear myself and the dogs out here and there would be ideal. Good spots to get off the beaten path for boondock camping/free, quiet, and safe overnight parking of our truck camper will be needed along the way (dirt, gravel, and mild 4X4 roads are OK).

I was thinkng a drive along the South Rim of the Grand Canyon with parking for the night in the NF east of GCNP followed by a drive through Canyon de Chelly on the way to Albuquerque area. Tagging Humphrey's and parking nearby for a night prior to heading to the Grand Canyon is something I have been considering. Given the time constrainsts, is Humphrey's worth it and am I missing anything great that would be easy to add to my plans?

Hi Sean,

I hiked Humphrey's Peak in Feb, I had poles, microspikes (better grip than YakTraks), with no problem. Post holing here and there but no major problem, route finding is a big problem, you can check my report by clicking my name.

I also hiked Wheeler Peak in NM yesterday, I haad poles and microspikes, with no problem. Snow is very soft and slushy on the lower elevation but ok with no post-holing higher up. Wheeler Peak and Humphreys are similar both have steep headwall climb, perseverance is key, I flew from NYC so definitely felt the altitude.

Snowshoes would be nice but in my opinion not worth the extra weight and they will slow you down.

Hope this helps...

As far as Humphrey, is it worth it?

There is nothing like a clear, calm day on the Peaks, with fresh snow, and views up to 183 miles. The only place I have ever seen further while still being on earth is Mount Whitney, but I didn't have the summit to myself and I had to work way, way harder to get there. [/quote]

Thanks!
Exactly what I was thinking when I put it on my rough itenerary. It would actually be my first state high point as I find that I am actually more into having the feeling described above than worrying about if it at the top of a list. I have done things sort of similar to Whitney, but with less permit hassles and people.

Another option would be to take the Weatherford trail up to Humphrey's. I'm going to do that one in a couple of days and it will almost certainly have less snow on it, as it's more exposed (as opposed to the trail from Snowbowl, which goes through a lot of forest). We've had a bunch of warm days at this point though, so even that one will be getting better.

This looks to be a much lighter snow year than last year and I did it on June 4th of last year with only boots & gaiters. There was still a lot of snow below treeline, so much that I continually lost the trail but I never postholed or even had much slow going due to the snow. Routefinding on the other hand...

I'm getting inspired to stay away from the interstates and aim high on my way to the Ozarks from CA. The highpoints of AZ, NM, and OK are now on my itenerary with scenic drives and fun stuff for the whole family mixed in. We'll aim for southern UT and southern CO on the way back west.

Lionel wrote:If the main trail has snow on it, the north face of the Weatherford will have a lot more between the 2 saddles.

Not too bad, actually. Don't know enough about weather patterns to say why, but I did it last week and it's passable. Huge piles of consolidated snow but you can stomp right over and it's easy to see where the trail goes. I think the main difference between it and the reg. route is that it's easier to lose the latter in the trees - it's not so obvious sometimes.

Thank you to all of you for your input. I think we are going to give it a go. Wish us luck on our persuit of the top!

Glad you were able to come to a decision. Please, give us some "follow-up" information regarding trail and access conditions upon your return.

Update:

I did a loop of the peak today - up the Weatherford and down the regular route. Though I have been up there a bunch of times and didn't have many issues, the Weatherford could present some challenges in routefinding if you're not familiar with the area. The snowbowl/regular route has been used a lot more in the past week and is in better condition; I would agree with Lionel and others that it is the best way to go at this point. Give the Weatherford another couple weeks to get back into condition.

Andinistaloco wrote:Give the Weatherford another couple weeks to get back into condition.

Seriously, at WHAT POINT did you gain access to the Weatherford Trail ???

I thought the Forest Service had the trail closed off, due to the Schultz Fire. Is the Lockett Meadows CG open yet? I'm seriously losing ALL patience.