FKT time again! Flagstaff weather this week is gorgeous, in between bouts of winter, so I clearly needed to make a run for the mountains while I still could. I was happy to discover a version of Humphrey's Peak FKTs that involved starting at Heritage Square in downtown Flagstaff, running to the top of the mountain, then coming back down. 40+ miles and ~6000 feet - only one hill!
I had seen the whole route at one time or another, as part of the Flagstaff Loop, running over the pass on the AZT, scouting the in-town section, and most helpfully on a backpack trip with John this past summer. I hadn't seen one part of the Schultz Pass trail in several years (and never in the uphill direction) but put a few stars on my Google Map and figured I could figure it out.
I stashed a gallon of water near Schultz Tank the day before, making it a self-supported attempt. While I was there I checked out the pond - yes, still some water in it, but it looked quite shallow and muddy, so I opted against treating it (unsupported option) and stashed the water instead.
John dropped me off before he went to work and I got a couple photos at the start. One with me:
And one with the location, but in the dark I didn't manage to get both me and the location in the same picture (I need to figure out a better way to do this when John isn't there to help):
I used a flashlight on the bike path, glad I had seen this part recently and didn't need to figure out the street crossings and the route around the pond. I was slightly surprised to see a few other runners out, but Flagstaff has so many active outdoorsy people that I shouldn't have been.
I love this sculpture along the bike path:
Early dawn light with a view of the peaks that I'm heading toward:
Yep, just over there! The pointy one on the left is Agassiz, and Fremont is on the right - Humphrey's Peak *might* be in the middle, but it's in the background and I'm never sure if it's visible or not:
At the trailhead for the start up toward Schultz Pass (do you suppose they'll ever put in a bathroom here? Would be nice):
Loving the path that winds up through the Ponderosa pines:
Hmm, the one intersection I wasn't sure of. I pulled out the phone to check - stay to the left, got it:
Making a note behind me to stay to the left on the return as well (also a nice look at the fun singletrack trail along here):
The "Secret Trail" from the top parking lot, angling out to the road:
Sunshine, yay!
I found my water jug and spent a few minutes filling the Camelbak bladder and Spiz baggie, tucking away the lights, and getting out the iPod and trekking poles. Someday I'll find a vest that fits me and also can carry as much as my little red pack (which is slowly wearing out).
Just as I was gathering my stuff together, I saw a woman hiking up the trail so I jumped up and got moving. No need to make someone step aside to let me pass if I can help it.
I headed on up the Weatherford Trail, ready for some long switchbacks up the side of the hill. A less-than-stellar selfie at the wilderness boundary sign:
Aspens! So pretty, even without their leaves:
Oh yeah, I forgot how many rocks there are on this part of the trail. And down trees. Eventually I reached the first saddle:
I like the traverse along the north side of Fremont Peak, all shady and a good trail without much up/down.
Back in June we had climbed through some snow drifts, but those were long gone. Just a scattering from a recent bit of precipitation:
A brief break at the saddle on the west side of Fremont, then it was time to tackle the big switchback above treeline that you can see from various directions. Hello over there, Humphrey's:
I like the view down into the bowl and imagine this might have once been a giant volcano, with lots of little cones all over the place:
An occasional glimpse back toward town, not easy to see though:
I passed a hiker on the switchbacks and he commented on my running speed. I told him I wasn't exactly running, per se, but he seemed impressed anyway.
Another view to the north:
I love the rock formations up here, especially when I can frame Humphreys in between them:
And one more side of the mountain to take a picture of, this one in the direction of the Snow Bowl:
Now the trail leading up toward the summit - lots of rocks (big and small) and some nice trail signs along the way:
I tried to push the pace just a little, until my legs complained, then backed off until they didn't. The altitude didn't bother me, so the summer/fall of hiking and climbing seemed to do some good.
After a couple small false summits (which are good to know about, glad we were here recently), I turned the corner to see the last section that eventually leads to the top:
The final short climb - there are a couple ways to go (and when it's windy that can help you decide), but it turns out that straight up works well:
Yay, back at the top of Arizona! Also really happy that there's hardly any wind for once. Made it to the top in 6:30. I wonder if I can get back down in less than 5.5 hours? And holy cow, Ted ran this whole up-and-back in 7:44!
Signing the log book:
Checking out the view - time to go back the same way:
On the way back across the rocky part, I met and chatted with the woman from the start of Weatherford Trail, also the guy I had passed on the way up the long switchbacks. They also had a long day of climbing from Schultz Tank to the summit and back.
The fun traverse below Agassiz Peak - I enjoyed running this part and the big switchback down to the next saddle:
Tree tunnel - no snow today:
Starting down the other side of Doyle Saddle - I've never noticed this down in the trees before. Just continuing my trend of seeing old crashed vehicles while running FKT's.
The lighting on the aspens was really nice in the afternoon:
The switchbacks were still rocky. I was glad to be using trekking poles. I'm not sure I descended much faster than I climbed up this part.
Finally back to runnable trail, yes! And then back to the water jug. I sat a few minutes, removed my tights, moved things around, eventually got myself moving again. Only ~9 more miles and all the hard parts behind me.
Starting back down the Schultz Pass trail:
I was glad to be listening to podcasts to pass the time, not minding all the little ups and downs and how long this trail can seem sometimes.
Oh right, I should take a picture once in a while. Back on the bike path and getting closer to town!
It got dark right before I arrived at the end - I didn't quite break 12 hours, but that's OK. John was waiting for me, Hi Honey!!
Hey look, it's HER:
That was fun!
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