Hiking Timp--A Birthday Milestone

One more reason I love September...it's my birthday!  This year was a big milestone so I indulged.  Leaving work behind, I spent the entire day doing what I love with the man I love best. Thanks to some great babysitting from NomiAnn, Jason and I spent the day hiking Mount Timpanogos.  I tried to hike Timp twice as a twenty something but never made it to the top.  I'm glad to report that at the ripe old age of forty, I summited.


We left the house before dawn, making it to the Aspen Grove trailhead just as the sun started to light up the mountain.

Here's my man, glowing in the morning light.  (Sure love this guy.)


Pretty waterfall, but still a long way to the top.

My favorite moment from the hike was when we rounded the corner, only to discover that our path was blocked by two large mountain goats.

And when I say blocked, I mean it quite literally.  The big guy lying down was perched right on the trail.

Here's where it got a bit nerve-wracking.  Despite our making lots of noise, after about five minutes it became quite apparent that one of the goats had no intention of going anywhere.  With no viable option to go around, we finally had to scoot right past, hoping the goats were not aggressive.  Weighing at least twice as much as we do, I'm sure the big guy could have butted us off the mountain if he wanted.

Fortunately, he seemed quite unfazed by our presence.

Gazing back at us from the other side.  Thanks for the birthday surprise, old man.

I've never hiked a foot away from a mountain goat before.  All I could think of was the line from the Incredibles where Agnes says, "It's so fluffy, I'm gonna die!" I felt grateful Annika wasn't with us because I'm pretty certain she would have run right up to it to give it a hug before trying to ride it home.

Another good long haul and we made it the hut beside Emerald Lake.  Emerald Lake itself wasn't much more than a puddle, given the low water levels, but the hut was kind of cool.

We worked our way across an enormous rock field, then tackled the steep ascent up to the saddle.

While Mt. Timpanogos has a reputation for being crowded, we didn't meet a single person until we  reached the saddle.  This panoramic picture of me eating my sweet tango apple cracks me up.  You can call me Eve.

Keep on hiking!

At last, we made it to the tip top.  Can I just say, Timp is quite a hike?  With nearly 5000 feet of elevation gain, it took us until exactly noon to summit.

My forty year-old sweaty selfie.

You know what pairs well with Peanut Butter?

Jelly!  (A fellow hiker pointed out that we were dressed  alike.)

Even on a less busy day, we certainly were not the first to make it to the top.  Check out 76 year-old Ben Woolsey from Orem.  This was summit number 1024!  Jason and I decided that was pretty cool, but would require way too much time to ever want to follow suit.  Life needs balance.

More mountain goats on the way back.

Plus, we found a woolly bear caterpillar in Annika's honor.

Another photo of First Falls, taken on the way back down.  While summiting Timp with the family is out of the question (Jason's Garmin logged 17.5 miles), I'm excited to bring everyone back this far.

Eager to see my mom and the kids, we ran the last couple miles of the trail, but still stopped at Dairy Keen in Heber to split a celebratory peach pie shake.  Once home, it felt great to finally take off our shoes and shower.

Pie Pizzeria for dinner.  My favorite!

NomiAnn had taken the kids shopping for some pretty sparklies at Claire's.  We chuckled because she hadn't recognized this emoji in rainbow form.  You're the cutest, Mom!  Thanks for taking such great care of our bunch.

Present opening time!  I felt so spoiled and so loved.  Among other treats, Jason gave me forty sour patch kids.  Just perfect for this sweet tooth.

Thanks to everyone for treating me like a princess.

Sharing these past four decades with you all has brought me more than a lifetime of joy.  I'm so excited to share decades more.