Humphreys Peak
— — the top of Arizona, above the last of the firs.
Not only on a wall.
“The highest summit in Arizona stands above Flagstaff, on the rim of an old stratovolcano whose crater opens to the southeast. The trail leaves the Arizona Snowbowl parking lot and climbs through aspens, then spruce and corkbark fir, then the bristlecone pines that mark the last trees. Above timberline the route follows a saddle of broken volcanic rock to the summit at 12,633 feet. Thirteen of the peaks are sacred to the Hopi, Navajo, and several other tribes — a fact the mountain wears quietly. — from the studio
Humphreys Peak, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Humphreys Peak is the highest point in the state of Arizona at 12,633 feet, the northernmost summit on the rim of the San Francisco Peaks above Flagstaff in Coconino County. The peaks are the eroded remnants of a Pleistocene stratovolcano whose original cone collapsed inward; the resulting crater opens to the southeast and contains the Inner Basin. The mountain sits in the Kachina Peaks Wilderness within Coconino National Forest. It holds religious significance for the Hopi, Navajo, Havasupai, Hualapai, Yavapai-Apache, and several other tribes, who know it under their own names.
The route climbs from about 9,300 feet at the Arizona Snowbowl trailhead to 12,633 feet at the summit, a gain of roughly 3,300 feet over 4.8 miles one way. The trail passes through three life zones: aspen and Engelmann spruce, then bristlecone pine near 11,000 feet, then alpine tundra above timberline at about 11,400 feet. The alpine zone is the only true alpine tundra in Arizona and is home to the federally threatened San Francisco Peaks ragwort. Afternoon thunderstorms are routine from July through early September, and snow can fall on the summit in any month.
The standard ascent leaves from the Arizona Snowbowl ski area off Snowbowl Road, about 14 miles north of downtown Flagstaff. The hike is roughly 9.6 miles round trip with about 3,300 feet of gain, and most parties take six to nine hours. Dogs are allowed on leash but turn back many at altitude. The summit is exposed and the standard guidance is to be off the ridge by noon during monsoon season. There is no entrance fee for the wilderness itself, though the Snowbowl operates lifts and amenities in summer for a separate fee.