FKT: Brannon Forrester - Mount Humphreys (CA) - 2022-10-17

Route variation
up & down from North Lake CG
Multi-sport
No
Gender category
Male
Style
Unsupported
Start date
Finish date
Total time
4h 11m 32s
GPS track(s)
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First off, this is such an awesome route!  Having done the East Ridge of Humphrey's, I was taken aback by the sustained immensity of the peak, and was unaware of smaller, more doable routes on this beautiful mountain.

Starting at dawn in 30 degree weather, I had several layers on, and kept them all the way to the beginning of the ascent gully.  It warmed up a bit; I only had a t-shirt and windbreaker on for the summit, and once off the mountain finished in my t-shirt in the sun.

I checked with Robert Schwartz about his experience on the peak, and studied the route description and photos on the summit post link provided in the FKT description.  These all helped quite a bit, but I still managed to get slightly off route on the ascent! 

First off, the left hand approach gully is very prominent, and the ramps to the left of the 2 chockstones were very doable short sections of 3rd class.  The rest of the 2nd class gully went fairly quickly, and could go even faster to someone who was acclimatized!

From the notch it is possible to primarily stay in the shallow gully to gain the 3rd class summit ridgeline.  This is easy 4th higher up, 3rd lower down.  The 4th included quite a bit of stemming.  I did this on the way down, following the rap stations as Robert had suggested, but on the way up I cut out to the right hand arete partway up, and ended up pulling some exposed 5th class moves, including a 5.6 move to regain the crest!  It was pretty exciting in running shoes, but also doable.   But I would recommend staying in the gully.  It just requires a little zig-zagging, rather than a direct line.

The descent and downclimbs went smoothly, and dropping into the main gully is very clear, as it is so broad and prominent.

I took splits for the main sections of the run; to me these were the runnable trail to Paiute Pass, the (very fun) cross-country to the peak, and then the peak ascent itself.

My splits were:

Paiute Pass up: 57:11

Cross-country up: 31:23

Peak ascent: 51:58

Total ascent from Trailhead: 2:20:32

Peak descent: 35:07

Cross-country down: 27:45

Paiute Pass down: 45:54

Total descent from summit: 1:48:46

 

Highly recommend this route!