Conquering the View

I could still feel the after effects when I climbed my stairs this morning; the after effects of hiking 14 miles, with a 4000 ft. increase in elevation, over 10 long, painful, and awe inspiring hours last Saturday. Remember this post, where I posted a picture of the view out my window and announced that I had a goal to finally hike to the top of Mount Timpanogos, the mountain I can see beckoning me everyday when I look out my front window? After living here for over 11 years and seeing that mountain everyday, I wanted to conquer that view once and for all. So…I climbed…and climbed…and climbed. I’ve never before been up so high in the sky (11,200 feet above sea level to be exact) and it was quiet the experience. I can see now, maybe just a little bit, the obsession that some people have with ‘conquering the view.’

Mike has been begging me for years to make this climb with him. He’s always claimed that the first five miles of this particular hike are filled with some of the most beautiful mountain scenery ever to be witnessed. Turns out he was 100% correct. Gorgeous! I couldn’t get over it. Hiking the first three miles, especially this year when Utah has had more than it usual share of precipitation, was almost like hiking through a tropical rain forest. Green, green, green, with mossy waterfalls, rocky trails covered in icy cold trickling streams and lush vegetation overhead.

We invited anyone who wanted to come with us, but in the end it was just Mike and I and my Uncle Brad, the most die hard hiker I know. There was no way Uncle Brad wasn’t showing up for this hike. He has hiked mountains on almost every continent on this planet and he still claims that Mount Timpanogos is one of the best hikes in the world. “A world class hike,” he calls it, and he would know.

Uncle Brad was the perfect companion to have on the hike with us. First of all, he brought me a pair of hiking poles which, I kid you not, saved my life on this hike many a time. (I’ve got to get me a pair of those things) And…he was SO patient with me. Uncle Brad is an incredible hiker. He’s hiked some of the highest mountains in the world. I know this hike was probably the slowest of his entire life, having me to deal with, but he was patient, kind and encouraging every step of the way. Thanks so much Uncle Brad. We made some great memories and I learned some very useful tips for future hikes, like how to safely cross a snow field for instance (three points of contact at all times). I hope you’re coming with us next year. In fact, I’m not doing it if you’re not coming!

Although I was in pain most of the hike (I learned the hard way that being in shape isn’t just about stamina, my hip flexors may never recover), but the scenery along the way simply took my breath away. God took plenty of care when he decorated the east side of Mount Timpanogos. Wowza!

Pictures never quite do scenery justice, but you’ll get a small idea of how beautiful it was…

Check out those mountain vistas behind us

The peak you can see behind Uncle Brad is the highest point of Mount Timpanogos

To our good fortune, the wild flowers were late blooming this year. Usually you see all this color in early July, but this year the flowers waited for us. We hiked through mountain side after mountain side of color. You should have smelled the Lupine. Delicious.

We had to trek through several snow fields. There was an unusual amount of snow up there for August. I really had the wrong shoes for snow hiking (got to get me some hiking boots too), thank goodness for Uncle Brad’s hiking poles and for the fact that we got to do this on the way down…

…sliding down the snow fields was my favorite part of the hike. Never mind that I had a soaking wet behind afterward. It was worth it!

Of course the view from the top was awesome, as was the euphoric feeling of having reached our destination. You could see for miles and miles all around. Again, I can see how people become addicted to the feeling of summiting a mountain and gazing upon all the splendor at the top. I found myself feeling a little jealous of the mountain goats that were grazing near the summit. They get to see this view when ever they want. Luckies!

This goat gave Mike the stink eye…or maybe he was just posing for the camera. I can’t tell.

 

I found me a nice place at the top to rest my weary muscles and enjoy the view. I was a little worried that if I sat down too long it might be a bit difficult to get up again. I was right. But get back up I did, because if you go up…you have to go back down. Surprisingly there was no helicopter service at the top to take us to the bottom. What’s that about?

Mike took this picture of me on the decent. See those pursed lips? That’s pain. Ouchy. When I do this again next year I vow that I will be in better hiking shape. As great as this hike was I’m sure it would be much better minus the pain. (I’m hoping the experience will be a bit like child birth…over time you forget how painful it was and are willing to do it all over again to experience the reward at the end).

After 8 hours of hiking and after drinking several Camelbacks of water in an effort to stay well hydrated, it was inevitable that a bathroom stop would be necessary. Luckily there is a toilet along the trail…or maybe that’s not so luckily…look at this thing…

Yes mom, I actually used it. I was desperate. I was exceedingly grateful for the privacy those sturdy walls provided…hah! Good thing I had Mike to provide look out.

The beautiful scenery, seeing a bird’s-eye view of our valley, the overwhelming sense of satisfaction from having accomplished a difficult goal, all that was nice…but like always, for me it’s all about the people and my favorite part of this adventure was hanging out all day with Uncle Brad and of course, my wonderful husband, whom I love. Thanks for hiking with me babe. Seriously, you can get me to do almost anything!

And last but not least…

…the retiring of my walking/hiking shoes. Those shoes have seen many, many, many miles of…everything. It seemed fitting that their last hurrah was a 14 mile hike up a gorgeous mountain. Unfortunately, when I got up this morning to go for a walk (I finally felt recovered enough to do so) I went to put on my old trusty shoes and remembered that they had met their demise in the trash bin. Looks like I’ll be making a trip to the sporting goods store tomorrow.

And just in case you were wondering…no, I could not walk for days after the hike. Not. at. all. But hey, now when I step out my front door and look up at that mountain in front of me, I can proudly say that I ‘conquered the view.’