At the top of my blog is a picture of a mountain covered with snow. It's called Mt. Timpanogos and it is very much a part of our everyday landscape. I look out my windows and there it is in all it's glory. It's a beautiful mountain.
I've had a goal to climb this mountain for a long time but this summer it finally became more concrete. I'm not getting any younger so this was the year! My husband and I did a lot of practice climbs--not for him because he's already in great shape--but for me.
For Mother's Day, I got a pair of good hiking boots and socks. Then a week later Scott and I hiked Squaw Peak. It was quite muddy and my hiking boots had great traction. Over the summer I frequently hiked the Y on Saturday mornings and kept up my running. We did several family hikes. The second Saturday in September we hiked almost to Emerald Lake, about a nine-mile hike. It was all good practice for me.
Finally we decided to do it on the last Saturday in September. It was just Scott and I. We got up at 5am and left our house shortly after 5:30. We arrived at the Timpooneke Trailhead a little after 6am and the parking lot was already full, so Scott dropped me off and drove down the road to park. A few people parked illegally and we noticed they got parking tickets. They really should expand the parking for that trailhead.
We started hiking at 6:30am. It was dark but soon got light. The first part of the hike was beautiful as the sun slowly came up and we could see the fall colors. We made good time and were covering about 2 miles an hour. The weather was great, not too hot or cold.
About halfway up, the mountain got a lot more barren and wasn't quite as beautiful. We reached the saddle at about 10:30am, about a mile from the summit, and suddenly the wind came up. We dropped off most of our stuff at the saddle and took off right away for the summit. The last mile to the summit was the very hardest for me. It was cold and windy and the elevation gain combined with the elevation of 11,000 feet was challenging. It felt like my heart rate was at its max.
Finally we made it! It was a relief. We took a few pictures but didn't stay long (because the weather was so cold and windy) and headed back down. We rested at the saddle for a little bit and then took off.
The last part of the hike was also quite challenging for me. The bottoms of my feet were so sore. At one point, we stopped, I took off my shoes and socks and Scott massaged my feet--that helped for a little while. The hike is about 14.8 miles roundtrip and it occurred to me that I have never walked that far in one day in my life. Maybe if I walked that much regularly my feet would toughen up.
The hero of the hike was Scott. I so appreciate him supporting my goal. He carried most of our water and our food and was unfailingly positive. When we got home, I laid on the couch and he fixed me some lemonade and made dinner for us. Our older children babysat the younger ones and everyone was fine while we were gone.
So I'm done! I'm not sure if I'm ever going to do the whole hike again--the shorter hikes are easier and more enjoyable and don't require so much time away from my family. But maybe someday...
I've had a goal to climb this mountain for a long time but this summer it finally became more concrete. I'm not getting any younger so this was the year! My husband and I did a lot of practice climbs--not for him because he's already in great shape--but for me.
For Mother's Day, I got a pair of good hiking boots and socks. Then a week later Scott and I hiked Squaw Peak. It was quite muddy and my hiking boots had great traction. Over the summer I frequently hiked the Y on Saturday mornings and kept up my running. We did several family hikes. The second Saturday in September we hiked almost to Emerald Lake, about a nine-mile hike. It was all good practice for me.
Finally we decided to do it on the last Saturday in September. It was just Scott and I. We got up at 5am and left our house shortly after 5:30. We arrived at the Timpooneke Trailhead a little after 6am and the parking lot was already full, so Scott dropped me off and drove down the road to park. A few people parked illegally and we noticed they got parking tickets. They really should expand the parking for that trailhead.
We started hiking at 6:30am. It was dark but soon got light. The first part of the hike was beautiful as the sun slowly came up and we could see the fall colors. We made good time and were covering about 2 miles an hour. The weather was great, not too hot or cold.
About halfway up, the mountain got a lot more barren and wasn't quite as beautiful. We reached the saddle at about 10:30am, about a mile from the summit, and suddenly the wind came up. We dropped off most of our stuff at the saddle and took off right away for the summit. The last mile to the summit was the very hardest for me. It was cold and windy and the elevation gain combined with the elevation of 11,000 feet was challenging. It felt like my heart rate was at its max.
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| You can see it's windy from the way my hair is flying. |
Finally we made it! It was a relief. We took a few pictures but didn't stay long (because the weather was so cold and windy) and headed back down. We rested at the saddle for a little bit and then took off.
The last part of the hike was also quite challenging for me. The bottoms of my feet were so sore. At one point, we stopped, I took off my shoes and socks and Scott massaged my feet--that helped for a little while. The hike is about 14.8 miles roundtrip and it occurred to me that I have never walked that far in one day in my life. Maybe if I walked that much regularly my feet would toughen up.
The hero of the hike was Scott. I so appreciate him supporting my goal. He carried most of our water and our food and was unfailingly positive. When we got home, I laid on the couch and he fixed me some lemonade and made dinner for us. Our older children babysat the younger ones and everyone was fine while we were gone.
So I'm done! I'm not sure if I'm ever going to do the whole hike again--the shorter hikes are easier and more enjoyable and don't require so much time away from my family. But maybe someday...
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