Mount Timpanogos

A month or so ago my BIL decided that we needed to go on a family adventure and hike Mount Timpanogos. At first I wasn't sure if I would be able to do it, especially since it required staying up all night, but I didn't want to miss out on all the fun. And there certainly was a lot of it! So last Friday we set out for quite an adventurous journey up the mountain. We all met at my parent's house for some carbo-loading. Four of us contributed a pasta dish and three of us had the same idea...a red and white sauce mix. What are the odds? All of the dishes were delish.

We had to get a picture of Cassie in her awesome get-up. Loved the high socks and rolled up pants. Unfortunately, I accidentally deleted the picture with her eyes open.

After several hours spent in the house, "attempting" to get some rest before our midnight hike, the twelve of us piled into the cars to head up to American Fork Canyon for the 14 mile roundtrip hike.

Already tired before we even left. It might be a long night...

Here we are at the trailhead. We were so excited!

I loved the "night vision" option on my headlamp. Those are Gina's fingers, not mine. Peace out.

These two took care of each other. So cute.

Since we started the hike at 12:30ish (we wanted to make it to the summit to see the sunrise), we really have no pictures on the way up; it was pretty dark. Supposedly 90% of the moon should have been shining down on us, but there was far too much cloud cover. Most of us had headlamps, though, and those who didn’t had flashlights, so we were good to go.

About a mile and half into the hike, the fun really started! We were walking along and had to stop because those ahead of us had stopped. Then I hear Terry saying, very seriously, At first I wasn’t sure if he was serious, but he definitely was. Misti’s friend, Brandon, was in the lead and as he turned a corner he saw a huge animal, much bigger than a deer, and was certain it was a bear. We all backed up and didn’t know what to do. We stepped off the trail a few feet and some people were trying to figure out what to do. Me, I was ready to call it a night and head back down! I was scared! Ty and Ben decided to grab some huge sticks/branches and hold them up to “look bigger.”
After a few minutes, we decided to keep going and for the next mile or so we made lots of noise clapping, singing, and yelling. Not long after that we stopped again. This time Terry saw a skunk, backside facing him, and he wasn’t about ready to get sprayed. We waited to go until it ran off. Turns out, it was a porcupine, but that isn’t necessarily a much better option.

After that we had a pretty long break with no animal sightings or the like. We just enjoyed the nice hike, weather and company. Well, if you remember, we had a pretty long winter, rainy spring, and late start to the summer. Needless to say, as we started to get higher, we started to hit some snow. At first it was just a short walk across some snow on areas that didn’t seem too steep or dangerous. But the higher we got, the longer and icier the snow we had to cross was and it got pretty scary. We eventually hit one that seemed to never end. Pace was near the front of the group and he slid down the hill a little ways on his butt. I thought he had done it on purpose and I didn’t find it funny at all. Cassie was having a hard time getting across the snow, as well. She says she couldn't tell her mind to tell her feet to keep moving. I tell you, that snow/ice was scary! As I was working my way across I asked Koy “So, what do I do if I fall?” A few seconds/minutes later (I really have no idea) I find myself feet first, stomach down, sliding down the hill. I think I was screaming as I was trying to claw my fingers into the snow to stop myself. Ben jumped down to stop me (what if he couldn’t stop himself?) and help me make my way back up and across the snow. When I finally made it across I threw myself in Jeremy’s arms, bawling. I don’t remember ever being so scared in my entire life. I honestly thought I was going to die. And I felt bad for getting mad at Pace for "pretending" to fall. I was extra worried about even doing this hike in the first place, and that fall didn’t help any. I had moments the next few days where I lost it a little just remembering it, but I made it out fine and with no cuts and bruises, either. Well, after taking a few minutes to calm myself down, we kept going. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the last of the snow to cross, but it was definitely the worst. The guys in the group made certain to make Cassie and me feel and be safe as we crossed it. Thank you so much guys! We finally made it to the basin, with about only a mile and half left and you can actually see the summit. Well, we got to that point, looked at snow covered trail, and decided that for this trip, at least, this was as far as we would get. So we grabbed sleeping bags, coats and jackets, and each other for warmth while we waited for the sun to rise.

I have no words. And it was a BEAUTIFUL sunrise, even if we weren't on the summit. Terry was the only one to catch a little shut-eye up top. He wasn't sleeping anymore at this point but was nice enough to humor me. If we had finished, we would be on the top of this. See all that snow? I think not. All the men, minus Terry who was sleeping. The girls. The whole group, minus me. Snow Melt. Some guys had set up tents just to the left of it. We talked to them on the way down and they complained about losing sleep because of the people hiking in the middle of the night. Well, that's what you get for setting up camp on the trail! The infamous snow. This is the area where the drama happened. Unfortunately, it could not be avoided on the way down. Koy was working hard to get some good footholds for us and Terry put some rocks down as steps halfway across. I absolutely hate being wimpy, but I was happy to have some extra help crossing that snow. Yep, it was pretty steep. Apparently I fell about 20-25 feet down that. I think this picture is so cool because you can't see the trail we are walking on. It looks far more dangerous than it was. Cassie and I with our handy walking sticks. They helped us to feel a little safer crossing the snow.

It was so cool on the way down because we could see all the gorgeous scenery we missed on the way up.

And the whole group at the end of our 10 hour adventure. I am pretty sure most, if not all, of us had been awake for 24+ straight hours. I think they look really good considering. I am mainly just happy to be alive.

I really can't wait to hike it again and get to the summit... I think we'll just make sure the snow is melted! Minus my moment of terror, it really was an incredibly fun night and we have some good times to share with each other for the rest of our lives. Thanks to my wonderful family for a great time and all of your concern!