On Top of the World

For some strange reason, I agreed to climb to the top of a mountain yesterday. My legs entire body is hating me for it today. Oh how I love being out of shape. On the plus side, I crossed off something on my bucket list (climb the three highest peaks in Utah: Mt. Timp, Nebo, and King's Peak...so I guess that means I only crossed off a portion of it, but whatev.)

Me, Karrie, Kelly, and Bryce before our grand journey to the top of Timp

My friend from Mill Hollow came up from SUU this weekend and invited me to hike to the summit of Mt. Timpanogos in the middle of the night. I've been dying to escape the confines of the city and my itty bitty apartment, so I agreed. We started at 1:45 am in order to make it to the summit for the sunrise. Somehow I made it (after scrambling up miles of loose rocks, losing sight of the trail for a bit, and getting a major case of altitude sickness) by just the light of a headlamp. It was a miracle.

We made it to the summit!

The sunrise was beautiful, and the view of the city lights at dawn was stunning. The final climb from the ridge to the summit was absolutely brutal, and my legs turned into noodles. I'm pleased to report that I didn't ever fall of the ledge despite some sketchy parts of the trail where a wrong step and you could easily plummet to your death.

There were a gazillion of other crazies at the top who had hiked all night as well. Some people hauled up stoves and food and were making a gourmet breakfast. I tried to make friends with them so they'd share their goodies with me, but to no avail. I had to settle for an old granola bar and fruit snacks. All I could think about was how much I was craving a pork burrito from Cafe Rio...at 7 in the morning. Not normal.

The hike down was much different than coming up. It was quicker, brighter, rockier (or perhaps I didn't notice the rocks on the way up because I was so sick), hotter, and more scenic. The leaves have started to change color, which made me giddy for fall. We stumbled across a tribe of mountain goats, which was neat. And yes, tribe is the correct term for a group of goats. I googled it.Please note the hilarious grin on this mountain goat's face. He looks truly content with life. I think I would be pretty thrilled myself if I got to skip around the mountains all day.

After the hike (we got done at around 11:45 am...ten hours after we started. bah!), my family invited me to kayak the Provo River. Of course I couldn't say no to that. I had my friends drop me off by the river, and I had about an hour to kill before my family got there. I passed out under a tree. I was laying on a mound of rocks with prickly weeds surrounding me and red ants crawling all over me. And that is not an exaggeration. I was so exhausted and delirious that I didn't even care. Floating the river was a hoot, as always, and I loved spending time with my family. They are the funniest people alive.

Last night I went to bed at 6 and slept for 14 1/2 hours, and took a 1 hour nap shortly after I woke up. I would like to sleep for another 24 hours at this very moment. Here's to an exhausting, adventure-filled weekend in the lovely outdoors!