What can I say about Humphrey's?

This trail is awesome – the foliage and pines combined with the fresh, brisk fall air made me feel like I could go on forever!

So, there was a wind advisory this weekend for Flagstaff – and this was the last weekend I had free to finish my last 2 summits. I hiked with my buddy Chris this weekend – all other hikes I have done solo. He is an awesome hiking partner. We took off from the parking lot around 7am to some wind and brisk temps. Once we entered the tree line, we quickly noticed that it provided some respite from the wind.

As a kid growing up in Vermont, my absolute favorite time of year is the fall. The colors, the temps, the smells – I absolutely loved all of it, and every year at this time I miss it dearly!

The hike was wonderful, the company was awesome…but we started getting a little bit worried as we made our way above the tree line and truly feeling the force of the winds. Everyone we saw coming down warned us of the “gnarly” winds and reported that they made it about 300 yards from the top. We kept pushing on, but agreed to be safe – this was not a day either one of wanted to call for a rescue!

As we approached the final trail sign before the summit, I felt like the winds were sending a warning – the snow that was left over from last weekend was whipped up and felt like little razor blades through my pants and any part of my face that was uncovered! It was one the craziest things I have ever experienced, and the windiest conditions I have ever encountered. We decided to wait it out for a few minutes (right after the wind literally knocked me on my butt!), but in keeping our eyes on the clouds coming in, saw that a white out was approaching. It was at that point where we decided to turn around and head back below the tree line.

I surely hope that this counts as a summit achieved!

This is such a great hike and I cannot wait to get back to Flagstaff to completely check this one off the list!