BACK TO TIMP!
The perfect end to a great summer.
After much ado, the date for the now annual hike to the top of Timp was set for August 30, 2014, the Saturday after Matt and I got back from Seattle. Me, Matt and Mallerie, met up with Jon, Will, Kate, Shafer, Cade, and Ashley in the wee hours and were on the Timpooneke trail by 6:30 am.
Above: Can you spot me? Below: Fresh faced and ready to go!
There is always a moment of panic starting that hike and realizing how far there is to go. Especially since I had failed to grab the hiking poles out of the dark trunk that morning. My motto became, "Put one foot in front of the other." I ate too much sugar the day before and hadn't gotten enough sleep that week and boy did I feel it! My legs felt like 10 ton bricks. Frequent but brief stops seemed the only way to keep going.
One of the saving graces was that I was in such good company. Who can think of burning legs and heavy lungs when you are laughing? I also kept snacking.
I spotted a mountain goat way off in the distance below us. I pointed it out and we all gathered to try and peer at it. Some hikers were coming down the trail and so we pointed it out to them. They said, "There are a whole bunch up at the top." So we had that to look forward to. We also saw three moose. Moosen?
It was nice to not be hiking in snow this year. Nonetheless, I brought lots of warm clothes, which I got a bit of flack for, until we reached the saddle and the icy air blasted against us.
One foot in front of the other.
We MADE IT.
I was pretty comfortable temperature wise as we trudged up to the shack. Because Mallerie and Kate hadn't bundled well, I felt a bit guilty actually.
Being at the top is exhilarating. It doesn't take as long as it looks like it would from the saddle.
*If we would have tried to coordinate with my Aunt Linda a time we could all go hike Timp, it never would have happened. It worked out best just to run into each other! Cade spotted them first. He said, "Whoa whoa whoa, big surprise around the bend up here!" We were so curious as to WHO?? Linda and Sam were almost to the shack while we were coming down. She is a trooper. I also ran into our Senior Class President who I had just seen at the reunion, and a member of our Orem ward. Matt said, "you saw all those people just between the saddle and the shack?"
Matt was long gone by the time we got back to to the saddle where we settled for lunch. This picture was taken before Ashley knew the mountain goats were going to kick rocks on her head as she tried to pass underneath.
Shafer taught us all about adding to the Carin's along the way to mark the non existent path along the rock section.
At the end of the hike was a fantastic waterfall. I started taking off my pack for a nice rest, everyone said, "Nope! We are pressing on!" We did. Boy, by the time I got to the bottom of that mountain I was hurting. We finished at 6:30 pm. Wow. That hike is INTENSE.
Don't let their Scottie dog faces fool you. They are mean little suckers.
As they started kicking rocks, Cade yelled down the mountain, "Heads!!!" He also would hike ahead of us and hide so that as we rounded the bend we heard, "Roooooaaaar." I loved it.
We were halfway down the mountain before Mallerie and Kate took those head pieces off. They said, "I can hear so much better!" They also quit getting sympathetic looks from passing hikers.
I literally feel like I am stealing from Picasso by using these pictures that Cade took. They are so beautiful aren't they?
This time we took the Aspen trail on the way down. More beautiful scenery to take in and we got to see Emerald Lake.
