I got in just after sunset, set up camp, and immediately started taking star pictures. Unfortunately, the moon was nearly full so the stars weren't as excellent as I'd hoped for. Still, not bad for my first tries at trails!
The next morning it was up early to break camp and drive the hour or so to Mt. Humphreys trail head. It was quite chilly and I felt right at home! The first quarter mile wound across a frosted meadow before heading into the forest and the switchbacks. I was a little surprised to see the trail covered with snow and ice.
At first, the climb was no big deal. It reminded me a lot of Resurrection Pass actually, just a bit steeper. The ice made things sketchy in some places. The stretch from the treeline to the saddle, however, was physically the toughest part. The scraggly trees were covered in ice balls and every minute or so another tree would drop a bunch, sending them skittering down the slop and sending my avalanche-terrified heart pounding.
Finally, after three hours I reached the saddle. The views were most excellent. Since the trail was so bad, though, most of the other folks decided to head back down instead of continuing to the summit. I pushed on alone. Honestly, it was pretty nerve wracking to not know if there was anyone in front or behind me, what with my hiking by myself on such slippery and sketchy terrain. A broken leg with no one around could easily prove fatal. About thirty minutes later though, I gained a high point and saw that there were, in fact, people on both sides of me which made me feel better.
Getting from the saddle to the summit was not as physically draining as the final switchbacks were, but it was a mental challenge. There are at least three false summits and even if you know this as I did, it was still really hard to keep going after each "summit" proved to not be. Finding the trail was also almost impossible at times!
Eventually, though, I made it! I was on top of Arizona, with amazing views in all directions! It took four hours and fifteen minutes, longer than I had planned. I spent about 30 minutes on the summit before beginning what I figured would be a grueling descent, what with the snow, ice, and my knee problems.
In actuality, I made the decent in about three hours. I fell twice coming around a switchback, but the area wasn't dangerous and the falls weren't too bad. My knee wasn't even bothering me! Of course, marveling about that fact apparently jinxed me, because about a mile from the trail head my OTHER knee started hurting really bad! I limped along on it for a few minutes before wising up and switching my brace from one knee to the other, and was able to finish out the trail without further difficulty.
No comments:
Post a Comment