Breathtaking Hike

On Friday Reid and I hiked Mount Timpanogos. We left at sunrise (7:30 AM) and made it back to our car at sunset (7:30 PM). This was not an easy hike, the trail to the top is just under 7 1/2 miles with about a 4,500 foot elevation gain. Below I wanted to capture some memories from the trip, which I thought would be amusing for others to read as well.

I woke Reid up at about 6:30 AM. I neglected to tell him beforehand that we would be hiking Timpanogos so he was a little grumpy and confused when I woke him so early on his day off school. I thought it would be best to surprise him as I didn't want him staying up late worrying about the hike. However, I was able to win him over with some strawberry jam on toast, scrambled eggs, and the promise of Pokemon cards if he could make it to the top.

Reid did a great job on the hike. It wasn't easy by any means! After coaxing him up the mountain, I think I have enough motivational material to write a best selling self-help book. My kids love the cartoon Scooby-Doo and the way to motivate Scooby-Doo is through a healthy supply of Scooby Snacks. For Reid it is an ample supply of fruit snacks. I make sure to bring lots of fruit snacks on any hike I go on with the kids! Reid ate not only the food I brought for him but a lot of the food I brought for myself as well. I think he finished the hike having eaten 3 apples, 2 PB and J sandwiches, 6 packages of fruit snacks, and a pretty big bag of chocolate almonds. Lucky for me, he doesn't care for beef jerky.

Reid got a little scared near the top of the mountain. At the saddle of Timpanogos the trail becomes pretty steep and windy. We held hands from the saddle to the top. My proudest moment came at the top of the mountain. Reid was looking off of the summit of Mount Timpanogos with his face into the wind and said "Dad, this is breathtaking!" I thought to myself, "Wow, despite all the complaining my seven year old gets it! He gets it! It is breathtaking! I didn't know he knew that word, breathtaking is a pretty big word for a 7 year-old!" I felt a tear starting to well up, but then Reid explained further, "With this wind blowing in my face, I can't breath! The wind is taking my breath away!" I had to agree, the wind on the summit is breathtaking.

What a great day we had. On the way back we saw a herd of mountain sheep and from the same spot a herd of mule deer. It was amazing! The fall colors were in full glory with yellow aspens and orange and red maples. I think it was a day Reid and I will remember for a long time.

Killer Hike

Last week, we finally welcomed our little baby boy (Logan) into the family. Due to the birth, the other kids have been cooped up for the week, so I decided to take them hiking to Timpanogos Cave National Monument down American Fork Canyon.

The caves are super cool, but the hike is about 1.5 miles straight up a mountain. I somehow convinced all my kids to come--Lynlee (8), Reid (6), Sadie (5), and Tessa (3). A sign along the trail caught Lynlee's eye, it said "Danger, falling rocks!" She started to cry--"I don't want to get crushed by falling rocks!" Sadie and Tessa soon joined in. Using my expert daddy skills, I calmed them all down and we continued up the mountain.

A few minutes later we came to the next sign, which read "Extreme Danger, falling rocks! Do not stop on red lines!" Lynlee started wailing at this point and, to make matters worse, every time we came to a red line we all got yelled at to hurry up and get off the line. However, this did increase our pace up the mountain.

The next sign along the trail read "Danger, rattlesnake habitat! Stay on the trail!" Lynlee lost it again, "Daddy! Daddy! I don't want to get bit by a rattlesnake! It could kill me!" I defused this one by saying if you stay on the trail you will be fine. I also promised her she wouldn't see any rattlesnakes (a promise I'd later regret).

The next sign showed a stick man slipping and falling off a cliff. You can guess the reaction to that one. But we were almost to the cave and surely we had seen all the signs by this time. But of course there had to be one more sign educating hikers about the fact that they are hiking in an active earth quake zone. I had to laugh, my poor little girls were an emotional wreak by the time we reached the top.

The caves were awesome and the kids had a lot of fun. However, on the way down we saw two rattlesnakes just off the trail. So much for my earlier promise! Reid thought they were cool and I managed to grab him before he could do something stupid like poke them with a stick. However, the girls started to cry again. "Dad, you promised we wouldn't see any rattlesnakes! You lied to us! Why would you take us on such a dangerous hike! We could have all been killed! And the Oscar goes to …"

Reid and I thought it was a fun hike, but I think it will be awhile before I convince the girls to go on a hike with me again!

Here are some pictures from the hike: