Most of the early parts of the hike was in forests up on the slopes of the now extinct volcano, which is also the home to Arizona's only ski resort: Snowbowl. There wa s much damage to the trees in what looked like the effect of a strong storm, but could also be the long term effect of pollution and acid rain making it hard on the trees.
At about 11500 ft the nature opened up at can be seen above and it was possible to see some of the ski slopes and connected ski lifts of the region.
This also marked the first possibility to see and hike on the ridge of the volcano. Meaning the general inclination was lower on the final parts, but that still took a long while with adjusting to the thinner air and scrambling across boulders here and there.
After some heavy rains in the morning while approaching Flagstaff, AZ the sky was now clearing up, which was a blessing since it made thunder storms much less likely. Below you can see the Assisi peak to which one of the chairlifts go very close to, however, visiting that peak is not possible due to the sensitive alpine nature and the fact that no hiking is allowed outside the trails.
The final mugshot at he peak don't quite show how hard the elevation was getting to me, but the rest was very welcome, and the knowledge that the decent is normally much easier did help tremendously!
Stats:
State: Arizona
High point: Humphreys Peak
Elevation:12 633 ft (3 851 m)
Date: July 11, 2011
Total elevation to date: 122 034 ft (37 196 m)
Access: Hike, class1 6h
Difficulty rating (of 10): 5
Potential Difficulties: weather, although a desert state, rain and thunderstorms are common on the high plains near Flagstaf.
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