The trail started-out nice and mellow, with the beautiful yellow brittlebush flowers blanketing the landscape, and then we hit the slippery lava flow by the waterfall. From there, it was basically a scramble, and despite the fatigue breaks, it was amazing how quickly we gained elevation. The final rock wall climb near the top was a rewarding end to the ascent, with a nice leisurely stroll out into Flat Iron. The view was beautiful, and the sound of the birds jetting by really cool!

Coming back down was almost as challenging as heading up, since you have to constantly hit the breaks and do some butt-scooting to get down. That slick lava flow by the waterfall was a LOT of butt-scootin’, heading down! lol

Once past that, then it was a long relaxing stroll back to the parking lot.

I’d be willing to say that this was probably the toughest of the climbs I’ve done in AZ. I used to think Bear Mountain was rough (all those false summits), and Humphreys was more of an altitude factor.

Good climb, though!