Mount Timpanogos

Date: 8/16/2007
Distance: 14
Elevation: 4652

Location: Northern Utah
Who Tagged Along: Amy, Papa, Stephanie, Kyle, Dylan, Carolyn, Rachael, Hannah, Ryan

We had a great time hiking Mt. Timp this year. Papa really wanted to give it a another try and the kids tried it for the first time. This was Amy's first time too.

We got an early start, getting up at 4:00 and leaving the house by 5:00. We were at the trail head by 6:15. The cold caught most everyone by surprise, but it didn't take long to get warmed up on the trail.

Everyone looked happy the first mile.

It didn't take long to get up into the wilderness with some beautiful scenery.

Several waterfalls crossed the trails as we climbed the Great Staircase.

It didn't take long for everyone to get hot with the sun out. We found ourselves stopping frequently for water and rest.

There were some gorgeous views along the trail.

We all finally made it to the top plateau were we had our first glimpse of the saddle and the summit. We also saw over a dozen mountain goats off in the distance. I have no idea how they climbed up there.

One of the funniest things was Ryan asking if we knew why his nipples hurt. Amy and I knew right away thanks to Mark Thompson who says that nipples can get soar during marathons (and obviously long hikes) due to a wet shirt rubbing them. I helped him out with some of my glide stick which is used to prevent blisters.

Steph, Kyle and Ryan turned around at this point and headed back down. Ryan said is was due to his knee (on which his ACL was repaired last year), we made fun of him saying it was his nipples but in truth he volunteered to stick with Steph and Kyle. Kyle was having a hard time with the heights. The rest of us pressed on for the summit.

We were really sad that most of the wildflowers had come and gone. We did find a few patches that were holding out for us. The wildflowers on the plateau are beautiful when they are in full bloom.

We plugged along and headed towards the saddle.

We finally reached the saddle. Everyone was happy and I was tempted to go to the top, but we weren't sure who else wanted/could make it. And besides, we needed to detour to Emerald Lake to refill our water bottles.

View of Utah valley from the saddle

View the other direction towards the wilderness side

Amy and I split off from the group and headed towards Emerald Lake. This is a small lake (visible on the left side) at the base of this "Glacier" . I was surprised to see how much of the snow had melted this year. Usually, people slide down this glacier after reaching the summit. Not much sliding this year.

This is a shelter near the lake on the Aspen Grove trail. Amy and I filtered the lake water to refill everyone's bottles.

After refilling the bottles, we meet up with everyone else and started the trek back. On the way down, we got really close to a couple of moose. I forgot to snap a picture. Dylan and Ryan's nipples also provided the comic relief as we plugged on towards the bottom.

I think everyone was really tired when we got back, but we all had a ton of fun and were happy we did it.

I was especially proud of papa. I hope I can climb this mountain at the age of 68. I was also really impressed with my nieces and nephews. They did a great job and made it look easy.

Next time we want to get to the top.