The following is the text from an article posted online by Arizona StarNet.

Humphreys Peak - Mountaineers Seek Higher Ground

By Doug Kreutz
The Arizona Daily Star
9 October 1997

I slid on my behind - slid pretty darned fast - down a steep snow slope on a 14,000-foot mountain called Castle Peak.

Hours earlier, I had climbed the snowfield and a long, narrow ridge to reach the summit of the peak, a citadel of stone towers and turrets in the heart of the Colorado Rockies.

Sliding down the snow in a controlled descent, using my ice ax as brake and rudder, was the perfect, exhilarating end to a day on the heights.

My journey to Castle Peak last month was part of an ongoing therapy I've come to think of as ``altitude adjustment.''

The need for this therapy - which calls for getting naturally, literally high - is prompted by Southern Arizona's topography.

While our area has an abundance of splendid mountains ranging in altitude from 3,000 to about 10,000 feet, it lacks the high Alpine peaks that sing to the souls of avid mountaineers.

Fortunately for the altitude addicts among us, immediate relief awaits just a day's drive away in Colorado. There, 54 summits jut more than 14,000 feet into the sky, and scores of others are well over 13,000 feet high.

Elsewhere in the West, peaks such as Mount Whitney in California and Mount Rainier in Washington offer thin-air hikes and glacier climbs for those willing to drive or fly greater distances.

Many Arizona hikers, content to enjoy their modest ``home'' ranges most months of the year, make an annual summer or fall pilgrimage to the big mountains.

What follows, for those in need of a little altitude adjustment, is a brief guide to some of the finest, highest destinations in the West.

If you're inexperienced at hiking or climbing at elevations above 10,000 feet, you might want to warm up on a mountain in Northern Arizona.

Humphreys Peak, the 12,633-foot high point of the state, can be ascended on an excellent hiking trail departing from the Arizona Snowbowl ski area near Flagstaff.

The trek to the top requires little more than moderate stamina and a comfortable pair of hiking boots. But it's important to be sure you have no medical conditions that might be affected by the altitude, and to be aware that summer thunderstorms and autumn snowstorms pose potential threats on any high mountain.

High altitude hikers also should watch for symptoms of so-called mountain sickness - including severe headaches and nausea - and should be prepared to retreat in the event of illness.

If Humphreys whets your appetite for height, you could consider an excursion to Mount Elbert in central Colorado.

Elbert, Colorado's highest peak at 14,433 feet, is also one of the easiest ``fourteeners'' - or peaks rising higher than 14,000 feet. A 4 1/2-mile (one-way) trail leads from a high valley to the summit.

Other Colorado summits, including 14,265-foot Castle Peak near Aspen and spectacular Mount Sneffels, a 14,150-foot mountain near Telluride, pose more of a challenge for climbers. Although no technical climbing is necessary to ascend these peaks by their easiest routes, you're likely to encounter snow slopes most months of the year. And traversing some of the ridges calls for good balance and confidence on steep, rugged terrain.

At the more difficult end of the scale is Longs Peak, which is the highest point in Rocky Mountain National Park northwest of Denver at 14,255 feet.

Climbing Longs, even by its easiest route, calls for crossing ledges and ascending long, fairly steep passages of rock where a fall could be fatal. The sheer east face of the peak offers an array of routes for technical climbers.

Arizonans bound for Colorado's highest mountains often pack a guide book called ``Colorado's Fourteeners - From Hikes to Climbs,'' by veteran mountaineer and author Gerry Roach.

Hikers should make every effort to stay on trails and established scrambling routes on the fourteeners, some of which are facing erosion and vegetation damage from repeated assaults by those of us obsessed with ``peak bagging.''

Another sought-after summit within a long day's drive of Tucson is California's Mount Whitney, the highest summit in the contiguous 48 states at 14,495 feet. (The highest mountain in the United States is Alaska's 20,320-foot Mount McKinley, also known as Denali.)

Hikers can follow a long, steep, switchbacking trail to the summit of Whitney. Those seeking a more rigorous ascent can try the moderate Mountaineer's Route or one of the difficult technical climbs on the mountain's east face.

Incidentally, one of the most unselfish things you could do as a mountain lover would be to forgo climbing Mount Whitney. Because of its status as the highest summit in the Lower 48 and because of its accessibility, it is besieged with hikers and climbers year in and year out. Not only does such heavy use damage the environment, but it also destroys the atmosphere of wilderness that attracts many of us to the mountains.

For those more interested in snow climbing than trail walking, Mount Shasta in Northern California poses a modest challenge on routes such as the John Muir/Avalanche Gulch Route.

This fairly straightforward route up the 14,162-foot volcanic peak requires an ice ax and crampons (metal spikes for the boots) and the ability to use them effectively. But nowhere along the way does the climbing become desperately steep. And for those with new-age tendencies, Shasta is known as a ``power center'' and the vortex of all sorts of mystical goings-on.

The Grand Teton, a handsome 13,766-foot peak in northwestern Wyoming, offers an assortment of roped climbing routes, ranging from moderate to difficult. Guide services at the base of the mountain offer training and guided ascents.

Climbers who expect their high mountains to be massive in appearance, guarded by fearsome glaciers and cloaked with a year-round blanket of snow might want to have a go at Washington's 14,410-foot Mount Rainier.

Rainier - with its unpredictable weather, dangerous crevasses and icy slopes - is no place for beginners. Knowledge of roped glacier travel and crevasse-rescue techniques is essential. Unless you're a skilled mountaineer with rock-solid confidence in your climbing partners, it's advisable to enroll in a mountaineering school at the base of Rainier and try for the summit in the company of qualified guides.

For some of us, even the high peaks of the American West aren't strong enough medicine for the altitude affliction.

Happily, mountains such as Orizaba, an 18,700-foot volcano in Mexico, provide thousands of additional vertical feet of altitudinal pleasure for those who can afford an out-of-country trip.

The Christmas-New Year's season is an excellent time to climb Orizaba. Weather on the snow-capped mountain usually is settled at that time of year, and there's a festive holiday atmosphere in the small villages near the base of the peak.

If Orizaba leaves you lusting for even higher ground, there's Alaska's McKinley and, for those with plenty of free time and money on hand, such faraway ranges as the Andes and Himalayas.

Onward.