Thursday, September 18, 2008

On Top of the World...

I don't think words could ever fully express the sense of awe and wonder I feel when standing above everything. This last weekend I had the chance to hike Mt. Timpanogos for the third time in the last four summers. We got to the trailhead at about 1am Saturday morning and hiked through the night-darkened mountains for a little over 5 hours. The sky was clear, providing ample opportunity to watch the moon and stars as they revolved through the endless heavens. When we reached the saddle shortly after 6am, dawn was just starting to break.

It was 37 degrees when we started hiking at 1am, 66 degrees when we got back to the trailhead, and infinitely colder sitting on the saddle. (Calculated averages indicate that for every 1000 feet up you go, you drop 3 degrees - that doesn't include is just being dark and cold. On the Timpanooke Trail you climb about 4500 feet, starting at about 7500 feet... Estimated temperature as  we approached the saddle was - at best - the low 20s... and completely exhilarating!) We found a rocky ledge, slightly more sheltered from the biting wind, and huddled under blankets as we struggled to eat, take pictures, and keep warm all at the same time. (Much harder than it sounds.) This is a picture of me, Josh, and Carol on our cliffs-edge... (I should note that Josh rarely takes normal pictures... :0)
As is always the case, when the sun crowned over the eastern horizon, the sight was breath-taking. Pictures unfortunately don't do it much justice...but you get the general idea.
This is the western view off the mountain, including basically all of Utah County.
Someone will have to explain to me why this is the case at a more reasonable hour (Josh tried), but for some reason that is still a mystery to me, when the sun comes up the wind blows harder, making it even colder than it had been. We finished eating, spent a few minutes unsuccessfully looking for my suicidal knee brace (it jumped out of Josh's backpack and flew over the rocky ledge), and began our descent. Right before the first switchback, we came upon this grassy knoll with some local "inhabitants" grazing. Above the knoll rose another cliff of rocky scree that was covered with more of the wild mountain goats - all totaling about 25 head. I'd only seen one in isolation before, so you can imagine this was pretty cool. (Though, I admit, probably a lot cooler at 7am after 24 hours without sleep than it probably should have been...I was ridiculously excited!)

Our descent into the valley continued, over this beautiful meadow. This was the latest in the year I've ever done this hike, and normally this alpine meadow is loaded with wild flowers.
This is the horn, sloping down to the saddle on the far right, and the only real snow we saw on the whole hike. (We were lucky. The first time I did this hike we crossed 2 avalanche fields and an ice bridge...)
Valley from the west looking down.
Valley from the east looking up.
Waterfall from runoff. The trail actually crosses over this waterfall about 5 times.
This hike is always amazing - a test of endurance that pays off with so much majesty! I always swear that I'll never do it again...but I keep going back. It's worth it every time!


1 comment:

  1. That looks like an amazing trip. You're lucky to have good friends to do such awesome stuff with. I wish we had such beautiful stuff around here.

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