The Hike

People in Utah are always talking about hiking Mount Timpanogos. They use very conflicting words to describe it like painful beautiful, steep, peaceful, bruised, and triumphant. I've always wanted to see for myself what kind of place gets that kind of description and so yesterday a group of friends and I began our climb. As we began I was ready for the steep, painful trails, and I will admit I was quite nervous. However, we climbed steadily up long switchbacks that gradually inclined. It gave me a chance to see beautiful trees, flowers, moose, deer, and goats. Once we got to the saddle part of the mountain, we ate lunch, and then began the climb to the summit. Now I will admit this was quite steep, and my friend icily turned to me about halfway up and said, "Is this steep enough for you?" I will admit I had been going on about how the first part hadn't been steep. Luckily, you could see the shack at the top and you knew you would only be hiking this steep trail for a little while. Once we got to the top, it was beautiful. You could see the whole valley. At the top we signed our names in a book at the little shack and felt a glowing sense of accomplishment. Little did I know that the real journey was just about to begin. I will admit right now I am a little unsteady on my feet. When I was in high school I was getting ready to hike in the Grand Canyon and my mother told me she was a little bit nervous letting me go, because I was a little clumsy. I objected and told my mom I would be fine, then I proceeded out the front door with my pack on and tripped down the front steps, scraping both knees. It is true, sometimes my feet have issues, but I know this so I'm a pretty slow descender. However, I was not prepared at all for this trip down. It had been a dry, hot year so there was no glacier, a fact that I'll admit brought me hope. However, the first part of the descent was sandy and steep and there was nowhere for my feet to be steadily placed, so I skidded down as best I could grabbing every flower, weed and bush, hoping that none of them were poison ivy. Finally, I was down and then we began our journey across the land of the rocks. Big rocks, medium sized rocks and small rocks covered the ground for as far as the eye could see. My ankles were twisting and turning. After a long, unending journey my friend asked me to take a picture of her to prove that we were in the land of the rocks. As I turned to take her camera my foot got caught in a rock. I was trying to be a good friend and save her expensive camera, so instead of catching myself with my hands, I held the camera up with my hands and landed with a hard thud on my shoulder. That was fall number one. Along the rest of the way down I continued my slow and steady pace. I felt bad for holding people up, so I turned to my friend behind me and asked if she wanted to go in front of me. She laughed and then said,"There is no way I'm having you behind me going down a mountain." and then she said, "I actually like having you in front of me. I just watch where you walk and then I don't walk there." Doesn't that just fill you with confidence. Fall number two came about halfway down the trail that I renamed "The Trail of Death." I caught my foot on a rock and bam I was down. However, I wasn't out, I was just a little banged up. Unfortunately, there was a fall number three, and that just about did me in. We had just over a mile left to hike. I was pretty tired, but I was enjoying the beautiful scenery. Note to everyone: Don't enjoy the beautiful scenery too much while hiking down steep switchbacks. Anyway, my foot caught on a tree root and as my other foot tried to find solid ground it hit a rock, which threw me off balance and turned me toward the edge of the mountain. Needless to say the edge of a mountain isn't a very good place to be, especially when you are falling. Luckily, my brain went into survival mode and said, "Grab something." So after me initial fall, roll, then slide down the side of the mountain my hands grasped a bush and I stayed put. My friend up ahead had heard the commotion and yelled to see if I was alright. Personally, at that moment I didn't feel alright. I wanted to just sit and cry and say, " I just fell down the mountain, no I am not alright." However, that is when my stubborn, little, tough mode perked up and I yelled, "I'm fine, really I'm fine. Let me just get up and I'll be ready to go." A minute later two nice ladies came by, and I watched as their eyes grew wide staring at the girl who was covered from head to toe in back sand. They gave me wet wipes and I cleaned up the best I could. Needless to say I took no more pictures after this and I chatted much less then normal. Mainly, I kept my eyes and thoughts on the trail. However, I am happy to report I did make it down the mountain in one piece. And as I sit writing this with an ice pack on one leg and a heating pad on my back I'm already thinking what I will do different for next year, because once you've seen the top of Mt. Timpanogos you'll definitely be coming back.