Adam and the Storm

Adam left tonight for a big climb tomorrow. He'll be climbing Mt. Humphreys, the tallest peak in Arizona. It's part of a group of ancient volcanic peaks that make up the San Fransisco Peaks. Humphreys is 12,000 ft tall. But that's nothin. It used to be 14,000 feet tall until it exploded in a volcanic eruption. Just like Mt. St. Helen's (she blew her top and now she's just a crater...).



So it's a pretty serious hike in the summer, but Adam and some other adventurous friends - Adam Dibble and Kevin Pike - have been wanting to hike it in the winter. Now it's getting interesting.

When Adam is excited for a trip, he packs early. As he's been gathering his materials this week, he's been asking me things like, "Aimee, have you seen my ice saw?" To which I predictably and helpfully reply, "I'm pretty sure the last time I used it was when I needed to cut that loaf of crusty bread last Saturday."

Even more interesting is that the weather is calling for a storm to come in tomorrow. Sadly, it will just miss them. But, as Adam was packing up tonight he was reviewing the weather and told me excitedly, "They're predicting 40 mile per hour winds tomorrow morning!"

I said, rather rationally, "Blech! That sounds awful! What if you're on the ridge when it's blowing 40 mph?"

And he got this look in his eyes just like Eli does right before he starts playing his DS and said, "No! That's down below! It will get up to 60 mph winds above the tree line!"

Again, me, rationally, "Won't that just blow you right off the mountain? Like if you open up your jacket, you could just become a human parachute?!"

Adam, gleefully, looking past my shoulder as he pictures an imaginary wind storm on the ridgeline of Mt. Humphreys, "It's going to be AWESOME!!"

You can see the avalanche danger and trail map HERE,
or HERE.