To the Summit of Timpanogos

On Labor Day Scott and I decided to hike to the top of mount Timpanogos. We didn't end up starting the hike until after ten and had to park a long ways away because there were lots of people. It was a beautiful day and we were lucky to have a breeze so it wasn't too hot. We packed LOTS of water and plenty of food because this hike is an all day thing. We were cruising up the mountain and felt pretty good about our pace. The views up there are amazing and its so cool to see so many different things. About 3 hours into the hike I really started to feel tired and I felt like I had pulled a muscle in my leg. I got out my Ipod to try to distract me from the pain. We still were cruising along. Its funny to pass people and they tell you how long you have left to go...usually that was disappointing because it was WAY longer than we had planned =) but we were determined to make it to the very top peak of timp. The canyon opens up when your about a 2 miles or so from the top and its a beautiful meadow full of wild flowers of every color. There was still a ways to go and we were really feeling the hurt at this point but we kept going. We were moving a little slower since we had been walking uphill for 3 hours already and still more to go. At the "saddle" just a mile below the summit, you can see all of Utah Valley and it was spectacular. We both were really hungry so decided to eat once we got to the top The last part of the hike is actually the steepest and the hardest and by then we both felt like we could barely lift our feet up to move forward. But after 4 and 1/2 hours we did it. We made it to the summit. Its an amazing sence of accomplishment to really go the whole way. We ate up there and found someone who luckily had Ibuprofen because Scott had a really bad head ache that hurt everytime we stopped walking to look at the view, and my legs were killing me. (thank goodness for Ibprofen) The top was actually really windy and freezing cold so we shortly decided to head back down joking about how now that were going down, we know why we passed people earlier in the day that were actually smiling...they are going DOWN. On the way we passed about 150 mountain goats and got some fun photos. 3 and 1/2 hours later we reached the bottom and were really feeling the pain in our legs and feet. Our truck was still a ways away and Scott insisted that I sit down and he would walk to get it. We were both totally exhausted and the truck was almost another mile away. He went all by himself, blister popping on the way, and drove back to get me. He really is the best! We went out to dinner that night to celebrate our 8 hour accomplishment. We will do this hike again next year...this time knowing that when people say it takes 4 and 1/2 hours to get to the top...it really does! All around, it was a great experience and I would choose to do it with no one else but Scott. It was so fun to do that together and feel so great that we accomplished it together.