Every year, during August, on a Friday night with a full/mostly full moon, some people in our neighborhood organize a hike up Mount Timpanogos. We start the hike at 1:00 a.m. and head up the Aspen Grove trail. For people who are very active, it's a very nice hike and they reach the summit in around 3.5 hours. Last year was my first year attempting this adventure. Hiking in the dark is pretty interesting, and, once I saw what I had hiked up when the sun came up, I was glad I didn't see it on the way up. Last year, our little group stayed together and I struggled to keep up with their pace. About 80% of the way to the summit, there is a shelter next to a lake. I stayed there and waited until the rest of the group made it to the summit and returned. Dwayne and Dexter both went with me last year.
Dwayne stayed with me at the shelter (he's been to the summit before) and Dexter went to the summit.
The whole experience was pretty crazy. The group that went to the summit decided to come back down by sliding down a glacier. I watched someone slice open their arm doing that 30 minutes before our group tried. Fortunately a group of brothers (the Henrys) had some rope and other equipment that allowed our group to descend safely.
The Henry brothers then used their water filter to get us all more water for the hike down. On the way down, most of the group was impatient and started running back down. I could hardly walk anymore, so I was quickly left behind. Along the way, there was a snow bank over part of the trail. In the heat, the snow was starting to melt and when I tried to cross it, I slipped and was about to fall off the trail (and the mountain). The Henry brothers came to the rescue again. They happened to be right behind me and helped me get back up and on the trail.
Later on, after a few more miles of hiking down alone, Dwayne called me on the radio. He had gone off the trail, slipped into a stream, and was now hanging on for dear life since he was about to go off the end of a waterfall. He was having a tough time describing where he was, so it took awhile before I figured out which waterfall he was on. One of the Henry brothers was again in the right place at the right time and located Dwayne and rescued him. Once everyone was safe again, the rest of the group hurried down the trail and headed home. I was in agony and could barely will myself to move my legs. It was another hour before I reached the parking lot.
This year, I rode with the rest of the group so they couldn't leave me behind. Dexter is staffing a Scout camp, so he missed the hike. Dwayne and I headed back up the mountain at 1:00 am Friday Night/Saturday morning. The group eventually split into several different groups. Dwayne made it to the shelter first (as usual). I travelled alone, taking 5 hours to reach the shelter since I stopped a lot along the way. It's an incredible hike and I was glad I did it. As far as I could tell, I was the only overweight person out there trying this. Once I reached the shelter, I rested for an hour. Half the group was just reaching the summit. A few had stayed at the shelter and there were two who had already gone back down. I decided to start back down since I knew I would be slow again. Two of the boys in our group decided to hike down with me and they helped me keep a pretty reasonable pace. The hike down is beatiful, but painful. The scenery is spectacular, but going down the trail is hard on the knees and your toes are constantly being jammed into the front of your shoes. My feet hurt pretty bad, and I really slowed down near the end. Dwayne passed me up just before reaching the parking lot. I hiked down in 3 hours, he did it in 1.5 hours. So now I'm soaking my feet, catching up on sleep, and trying to get stuff done around the house without walking much.
Until next year.... (I promise I will be in better shape next year)
