Josh, Rease, Rhen and I had an ambitious goal to hike Mt. Timpanogas this year. I've never hiked it in all my years of living in Utah and we all wanted to say that we'd done it. So we've been training for it this summer and finally the day arrived. We stayed at the cabin the night before so that we could get up early and get on the trail while it was still dark. We figured it would be good to get some miles behind us before the sun came up and it got too hot. Turns out, it was a really smart thing to do - and an idea that many other people had as well! When we got to the trailhead at 3:30 am there were already lots of headlamps along the trail ahead and above us. We set out in the dark with our headlamps and map showing us the way. It was actually really fun to hike in the dark and we felt like we were making lots of good progress. The girls did great - only a couple times that we had to sit down and really talk through how we were actually going to make it all the way to the top and what kind of effort that would take. They waffled back and forth between good and bad attitudes (with a few tears here and there) but finally decided that they were going to do it no matter what. Onward and upward.
As the sun was coming up we realized how gorgeous our surroundings were and took some time to enjoy the wild flowers and the incredible view. It has been so smoky in Utah the last few weeks, so it made for a hazy sky and a bright red sun.
I have to admit, this hike was long and hard. By the time we got through the rock field and up to the saddle where we could look out over the valley, we were all pooped. It was another mild and half up to the top and I wasn't sure how we could make it up. But we took a good break and then gathered our energy to traverse the side of the mountain and up to the summit. It was rocky with lots of climbing up big boulders and some really steep switchbacks. It was for sure the hardest and most tiring part. When we were just a few feet away from the shack at the top, my eyes filled with tears because we had actually made it! I was so proud of the girls and their will power to make it through something that was really hard for them and to just keep going. We were all so happy to be up there and realize that we had done something amazing! It was nice to take a rest before we knew we had to head back down the way we had come. But we did enjoy the rest!
In some ways, the way down was just as hard as the way up. It turned out to be a pretty hot day and the trail was in the sun the whole way down. We trudged on and on and couldn't believe that we had come so far just that morning. The trail seemed to never end! We tried really hard to keep up the good attitudes and fight away the tears. And we did it. We were tired, hot, dirty and by the end, pretty grumpy. But we did make it back to our car exactly 12 hours after we had started early that morning.
We all felt a real sense of accomplishment as we got in the car and headed for home. It was a tough thing physically and mentally that we had just done and we were so happy and proud to say we made it to the top!
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