Mt. Humphreys

Hi All,
Janice, Pico and I hiked up to the top of Mt. Humphreys last Saturday. My Humphreys is the tallest point in AZ. It is about a 9.5 mile round trip hike. It is the first time I have hiked in AZ and felt like I was in CO.

This is a picture taken above the tree line. We had to follow the ridge line up to the point.



Here are some pictures of the trail.







Here are some views on the way up and way down.





Here is the summit shot.



As you can see from Janice's clothes, the weather was rather windy and cold.



Then clouds started coming in. We were up there for about a half hour and it was a very cool mix of sun and clouds.



These two videos speak for themselves.





Peace Out,
Geoff

Having Some Fun

Hi All,
It has been awhile since the last post. When I have the opportunity to get on line I spend a lot of time looking for work and/ or filling out applications. What fun. I did get a job offer today at the juvenile detention center in Kingman. Polygraph and a psych eval and I have a job. Happy about it but will continue to look even after I get it. Unless they find me crazy or something.

For those of you who don't know I turned 42 in July. Janice and I went up to the Hualapias and did some climbing. It was a steep hike up for about an hour to the first climb on the east horn.



This is Janice following on her first multi-pitch trad climb.



Summit picture on the east horn.



We then headed to a cool looking crack I had seen a couple of weeks earlier and gave it a try.



Janice and I also had the opportunity to go on a Big Horn Sheep workshop put on by AZ Game and Fish. Here are a bunch of the sheep we saw. We only have picture of ewes because our pictures of the rams did not come out very well.













They are amazing animals. They can drink 4 1/2 gallons of water in two minutes. If you watch them come down to drink you can see their stomachs expand as they drink.

We also a little hiking. This was a little canyon that goes up to a hot spring. The little water fall is actually hot. Not scalding but hot.



This is a small man made cave near Hoover Dam. Before they built the dam they drilled in different areas to find the best place to build it. As they drilled this one it started filling with water. Very hot water. Apparently there are a lot of hot springs in this area. Janice and I walked to the end of the cave, about 100 yards. We walked in water that is very hot. Not scalding, but very hot. The moment you walk in your breath is taken away. It is like an intense steam bath.







When we came out of the cave, into the 115 degree heat outside, the temperature was cool to us. We were saying 115 degrees isn't so bad.

Here is the eye sore called the Hoover Dam. For those who don't know it makes the Mead Reservoir. (Lake Mead)
Above the dam is another eye sore. The new bridge that will connect Las Vegas to northern AZ. An amazing feat of engineering but ugly and unnecessary.



Last weekend Janice, Pico and I hiked to the top of Cherum Peak. The second highest peak in the Cerbats Mountains (6936 ft) and also directly our house. The hike up had some beautiful vegetation.



Here is a remnant of an old fire, with Cherum peak behind.



These next few are from the top of Cherum.
This first one is a giant mine off the back side of the mountain. As the crow flies this is only about 10 miles from our house. My stomach turned when I saw this. They removed a top of a mountain to make this mess.



This was on top when we got there. I thought it was cool.



The summit shot.



This is a water catchment. When it rains the water runs down the platform into a tough and into the tanks. Then the tanks feed the tough in the ground. This creates an artificial water source for wild life. Sometimes it is done because cattle are using the natural springs and ranchers (not all of them) get mad if wildlife takes "their" water from the cows.





We are headed to Flagstaff this weekend to climb Mt. Humphreys.

We will share some pictures soon.

Peace and Love,
Geoff