Climbing Timpanogos

 shortly after sunrise

Yesterday Tony and I hiked Mt. Timpanogos.  When we moved to Utah we talked about how much we wanted to do this one day.  Tony hiked it with his friends from the MBA program last year after graduation.  He loved it and convinced me that this was our year to do it. 

 1st saddle 

We got to the trailhead at 4:40AM and hiked to the first saddle in the dark.  The sun just started to rise once we were in this area and I'm so glad we hadn't left any earlier.  This area was beautiful!  I'm glad we were able to see it.  

 mountain goats

 Still a long way to go! We're going to the peak behind us.

 
7 miles up and 7 miles down.  The hardest part about the hike (for me) was the sliding rock areas.  Those were a pain to get through and made for really sore feet on the way down.  The way up wasn't as steep or as difficult as you would think.  Looking at the mountain now I can't believe we climbed to the very top peak!

 Almost to the summit

We did the hike mid-week and so we had the trail to ourselves a lot of the way.  We were worried we wouldn't have great views due to the recent fires and smoke but we had perfect weather and views.  

summit shack

We had lunch at the top, signed the summit guestbook and hung out overlooking the entire valley.  The view was incredible!  

 View from the summit

 The last hour was definitely the hardest part.  We felt great up until that last hour.  Even though the trail was the easiest at that point, my legs felt like jello, very sore jello. 

This ended up being the highlight of my summer.  I loved the hours to talk to with Tony in the quiet and in such beautiful surroundings.  I'm so grateful for him, our friendship and the way we complement each other.  I'm thinking we may make this an annual tradition! 

 A huge thanks to my parents who watched our boys so we could make this trip!