For many people, the end of August may mean summer is winding down and school is getting ready to start again. For us, it seems to mean we should cram in every mountain activity we haven't done yet this summer. Lucky us!!
Last Sunday (Aug 19th) we hiked Mt. Timpanogos, which is a beautiful mountain overlooking the Heber Valley, just south of Park City. The base of the mountain is near the Sundance Resort. We set off from the car about 7:45am, all prepared with our new GPS to help us map out the way (not that the trail wasn't easy enough to follow!). The hike was beautiful along a series of waterfalls. We couldn't tell exactly where the summit was for most of the hike, but when it came into view, we knew we had a long way to go! After we rested near Emerald Lake, we crossed a boulder field and made it to the shoulder of the ridge where we could see over into the Provo valley and to Utah Lake.
The wind picked up on the saddle once we were exposed to the West side, and Joe nearly lost his favorite hat as we posed for this picture. In the picuture of the two of us, the peak to the right is the top! The last stretch of the hike was extremely windy, and we had to be very careful as the trail was mostly a rock scramble up a steep incline. 
At the peak, there was a little shelter where we had lunch. Although I've never been afraid of heights, I couldn't manage sitting on the rock legde overlooking Emerald Lake because the drop-off was too steep! It was so windy that our fingers were frozen! We envied those who remembered to pack hats and gloves!
After a 20 minute rest and lunch stop, we headed back down. The wind again subsided after we got to the other side of the mountain beyond the saddle. It was a beautiful afternoon hike down. We even saw a mountain goat pearched on a cliff keeping guard over the mountain -- can you see it in the picuture? We got back to the car about 4:00pm, and the whole trip was about 14 miles. We were exhausted, but it felt great! It will be fun to look at Mt. Timpanogos a little differently now.
Stay tuned for our next end-of-summer adventure...
4 comments:
I can't believe the activity of the two of you. I think the Energizer Bunny was modeled after you guys!
Awesome!! Us Mississipians are jealous! There you two are climbing moutains while we are here relishing in the latest polls that show our state as having the highest rate of obesity in the country -- at least we're #1 in something!! But seriously, GREAT pictures and great post!
You two are the blogmeisters with text and pictures. Fabulous! Sorry I missed your 1st anniversary. Can you believe it? You two pack more into one year than most people do in 10 years. Keep those blogs coming.
PS I need your address and Tom ad Tracey's in MS. I checked the White Pages.com and they only have Joe on Sidewinder Ct. I figure that was pre-Kelly. My email is priscron@aol.com. Thanks
Did Andy Walbridge get married this weekend? I saw the marriage license in the Gazette.
WOW .... and our end of the summer adventure was watching the Sturgis Toy Run!! We are thinking of going to the St. Joe County Fair this year too. You guys have ALL the fun!!!
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