Timpanogos

For Nathan's birthday this year, I thought it would be fun (adventurous) for us to summit Mount Timpanogos (11,749 feet). We woke up early, excited, and a bit anxious. The weather was going to be perfect. It was the start to a great day!! We started hiking about 6 am. The trail was nice and quite.

Watching the sun rise was beautiful. I think Nathan took over a dozen photos of it. We decided it looked just like a Bob Ross paining.

Now this wasn't our first time attempting to summit this mountain. I tried once in college and only made it to Emerald Lake (10,380 ft) Nathan and I tried once when we lived in Aspen Grove, but we were ill prepared. Not enough water, and terrible blisters made us turn around after only 2 hours of hiking. So, we figured "3rd times the charm" spelled success for us this time around!!

I love these waterfalls!!

Last time I saw them, they were just a trickle! As we were walking we kept saying over and over how we couldn't believe how much water there was!! There were so many places that we had to cross streams. I just didn't remember that from the last time I hiked. (But it had been over a decade ago)

We started passing some areas that had seen multiple avalanches over the years. There were lots of gnarly trees like this . . .

And then we started crossing a snow field.

Yes! It were very slippery.

And then we crossed another. And then another.

And then we started thinking . . . well, Utah has had record snow fall this year. I knew we would eventually have to cross some snow. I just thought it would be at the top, like 10,000 feet. I suppose we should have looked at this site before we left. oops. Ice picks, and crampons required?! It's the middle of July!

So, at about 9,500 feet, we admitted we had been defeated yet again.

Mount Timpanogos 3, Ormsbys 0!

But we did have lots of fun, and that's really what it's all about.

Love ya Nathan!! Happy Birthday.