I Did It!

At the saddle with Katie, Tim, Gwen, Em, Zane, Timo & Megan

At the summit, in the shack signing our names in the book! 

We saw lots of mountain goats and this one walked right next to me!

This moose was eating on the trail and stopped us for 20 minutes or so. There was a big group of us waiting for him and his family to move. This was about an hour from the end of the trail.


Hiking Mount Timpanogos

     Two years ago I made the goal to hike Timp for my 50th birthday! I had never cared about hiking Timp the whole time I have lived here but my oldest son, Taran said,"Mom you really should hike Timp. I think you would really like it." I do like hiking but Timp never appealed to me until he said I should do it. So I decided I would work towards that goal. Well, a year later I did some hikes like we do in the summer with the goal to do harder hikes over the summer so by August I could hike it. Part way through summer my back started bothering me and walking was painful. I decided I was not going to be ready to hike Timp that year because of my back issue. I started doing yoga every day consistently and running on the elliptical and my back got better. I even was doing a 5 minute plank routine 3-5 days a week. These all helped and when this summer came I felt like my back was stronger. I wasn't totally sure until July I had this major desire to really train/prepare myself to hike it. I looked up tips on the internet and I found some great ideas. I would walk up hill for 3 days a week. I started at 30 minutes and worked up to 1 hour. I would go up and down the hill above my house as many times as I could in the amount of time. Tim came with me most days. the other 3 days I ran on the elliptical I started out at 45 minutes and got up to 2 hours. Endurance is what everyone warned me. They said that I was strong enough and I would be able to make it but that I should be mentally prepared because it is long. We planned to go in August but we had to postpone it until September 1st. It was the best day for all of us and even then Taran and Lisa couldn't come, they were sick.

   The night before the hike we tried to go to bed early. I took some cold medicine because I felt like I was getting a cold. It wore off and made me wired. So I didn't sleep well. Tim did give me a blessing the night before because I was anxious. I felt like everything was going to be fine but I would see that I could rely on Heavenly Father that I could do hard things. We got up at 5 AM and we tried to leave by 5:30 AM but by the time we got to the trailhead after parking far away it was 7 AM when we started. It was the perfect day, it started out a little chilly but with layers we were all fine. It was beautiful. Gwen, our 11 yr old, had a rough time at the beginning. She was back with Tim and I and he was ready to take her to the car. I asked her if she wanted to have a blessing so Tim gave her a blessing right there on the trail. After that she went up with her siblings and was totally fine. We just bring out the worst in her , jk. Tim and I both like taking pictures and taking in the scenery so we lagged behind but they would wait for us when they took a break. We made it to the saddle by noon. That was pretty cool. We ate lunch at the saddle and took pictures. I felt great! We decided to summit. This is where I was challenged. I am afraid of heights. At the saddle I barely looked down because it made me feel like my legs were noodlely. The first part to the summit wasn't bad until we turned the corner. I had to hug the rock and I was crying I was so scared. I asked Tim, "Do you think I can do this?" As I looked up at the crazy summit ahead. It terrified me and he said, honestly,"I don't know." Well, thanks honey for the confidence. I prayed and Heavenly Father reminded me that my friend WendyJo, who was bedridden at the time, would love to have a choice to even hike let alone summit. My mom had given me a green t-shirt to wear because she wanted to come but it was not physically possible for her. The other thought I had is I would regret not doing it. So on I climbed singing the hymn, "I Need Thee Every Hour".  I would think of my friend and my mom, make deep yoga breaths and climb on. People kept saying, "You're almost there!" who were on their way back but we were still a ways off! It became annoying. I told Tim that I wish they would stop saying that! He just laughed. Tim helped me and we made it. I don't remember what time but I was so proud of myself! I still can't believe I made it. The way back was faster. And I told people, "Keep going! You got this!"When we got stopped by the moose that is when the endurance also had to kick in. My legs became like lead because we had to just stand around waiting for it to move. It had a baby so it made it scary we didn't want the bull or mom to charge us. Once we started back it was slow going for me. It was another hour and I had to concentrate on going forward. Tim stayed with me, he's my best guy! 

  I am so thankful to Timo, Megan, Emily, Zane, Gwen and my sister-in-law Katie for coming with us. It was great sharing this goal completion with them. I am so proud of Gwen for doing something challenging like this at her age. She told me that she did it because she loves me. That made my day! I was only a little sore the next day and I only lost one toenail! It's the one I lost on trek too! My shoes are great it's just that this toe is the longer one so it gets all the downhill pressure.

  I grew up afraid of failing and so I didn't try very many things that I couldn't succeed at. Now that I am older I have found greater satisfaction in challenging myself in ways that I can fail and that is okay and it's okay to say maybe right now I can't do it but maybe later. I know my Savior and Heavenly Father were there with me on that mountain inspiring me to keep going. I know that if they can help me climb a freaking mountain they can help me with any problems I face. My husband Tim is my rock always, even of he didn't know I could do it because he knows how afraid of heights I am! I have the best people in my life. I am so grateful for this opportunity and I am trying to think of what I can do next year to learn or challenge myself....