i will be in Sedona nov 5,6,7,8. Thinking of Humphreys nov 8. Would that be a full alpine climb? Or could i just hike up there with good boots and poles?

In addition to watching the weather forecast for Flagstaff, check out the San Francisco Peaks web cam. At the moment, the peaks look like they're free of snow. A lot can change in a couple of weeks but for now, they look clear.

The sfpeaks.org camera view is from the south. You can't see Humphreys itself from there...it's behind Agassiz, which is the prominent peak on the skyline in the camera view.

Check out the page on Summitpost.org:

http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/150241/humphreys-peak.html

We climbed Humphreys in October 2005 with some snow on the ground. Had no problems. Start early. We started at 6:00 AM. High winds above the saddle are possible.

Enjoy Sedona. Also a great place to hike.

My son (24 yo) and I (55 yo) hiked Humphreys on October 27th. We encountered about 1-3 inches of snow in the trees and up to 4 inches in places above tree line. All of the path was fine. No need for gaiters when we went. The snow helped us because we followed the footprints of two experienced hikers who started ahead of us. We got a late start (10:00 AM), but we were out by 4:45 PM including 30 minutes on the top. (We brought flashlight just in case we had to hike in dusk.) If you're used to hiking above 12,000, you can probably shave an hour off that time easily.

Couldn't have asked for a better day. Temps in the 60's, no clouds, snow melting and falling from the trees, and barely a breeze at the summit. Fantastic!

As one of the writers noted, conditions can change from day to day. If you get rainfall in Flag, you will probably get snow on Humphreys.

By the way, the sign for Humphreys trailhead isn't as big as one trip report implied. It was only about 12" x 18" and didn't "pop out" at us from the car, but you'll see it if you look for it. (The trailhead is to the left as you approach the bottom ski lodge.)