Mount Timpanogos

We did it! Now we don't ever have to say that we lived in Utah for all this time and never made it to the top of Mount Timpanogos. We had two options for which trail to take: the Aspen Grove Trail from Provo Canyon and the Timpooneke Trail in American Fork Canyon (the same canyon that the trail to the cave is in). We decided to tak the Timpooneke trail because it was closer, not as steep, and we heard it was prettier even though it was a little longer. I had been working 12 hour days that week, so we slept in clear until 5:00 A.M. We got to the trailhead at about 7:00. It was a beautiful morning, and we were thoroughly enjoying our "little" hike. About an hour and a half into our hike, we passed a girl coming down (yeah, some people hike up in the middle of the night so they can see the sunrise, but we can see that from our house, so we decided to be more practical).
"How far away is the bottom?" she asked. "Please tell me it's like 3 minutes away."
We told her the truth and asked her how long it took her to get to the top. She said the trail goes forever and ever, and that we would never get there. We kept hiking anyway.

The trail had an interesting mix of almost jungle-like foliage in some places; forest trees in others; forlorn, rock wastelands; and slippery, get-ready-to-fall-and-die snow crossings.

The views, however, were very nice. This view is probably about half way up, and that peak is where we were headed. Off to the left of the peak is a glacier (probably not a real glacier, just a year-round snowfield, but everyone calls it a glacier) that we will tell you about in a minute.

Thankfully, after five and a half hours (including stopping times), we made it to the top. The top consists of a shack with a lightning rod (in case you're there at an extremely bad time, in which you should probably be crying long and hard), and about 70 to 100 square feet of standing room on either side of the shack. Not all of that area is a good place to be, but you could probably get away with it. On the side you see from the following picture there is a 15 foot drop-off to a 2 foot shelf, followed by another drop-off to which I dared not get close enough to take a visual measurement. The other side was much better (it's hard to inflect sarcasm into a narrative this short). It consisted of a 10 foot drop-off to the trail that we took to get up, followed by one of those forlorn, rock wastelands at about a 150 percent slope (for every 10 feet out it drops about 15-my guess). That's okay though, because there were plenty of boulders large enough to break your fall (and your body).

All sarcasm aside, it was absolutely gorgeous up there. It was pretty hazy, but we could see all of Utah County down to Nephi on the South. Up into Salt Lake County we could see the Jordan River Temple and could just make out the Great Salt Lake to the North. On the back side (which is the view in the picture above) we could clearly see Heber, and the lake you can see at the top left of the picture is Deer Creek Reservoir. It was really amazing and breathtaking (although the altitude helped with that breathtaking part).

We didn't follow the same trail down right away, but headed past the top to that "glacier" I pointed out in the earlier picture. After one adventure where our trail just ended at a cliff, we backtracked and found the right trail over. The couple we invited to go with us brought 4 plastic garbage bags, which we wore like diapers, to slide down the glacier. Nate had done it before, so he went first, followed by Christie, then Michelle, and me. It started out quite steep, but got a little better after the initial scare. This video is of Christie, but it went pretty much the same for all of us (except my screams were a little bit lower in pitch).

Guess what, there was a lake...and we found it! It's called Emerald Lake, and we were told the water was very near freezing. It was clear and pristine. The picture doesn't quite do it justice with all of the different colors involved.

On the way down we took the time to notice some more amazing areas and get some pictures. This one made us think of the fairies in Fablehaven. We figured it would be a good place for a shrine to the fairy queen, except we didn't turn to dandelion puffs as soon as we set foot near it. It was so cool with the sun coming through the trees and the cool water spilling over the rocks.

Now here comes the lesson for us all. We live in turbulent times. The ozone layer is thinner than ever, and UV radiation is coming through in record proportions. For a person as incandescent as I am, SPF 50 is the minimum for a hike like this. We totally forgot about sunscreen, and this whole time I've thought I was so white that the sun couldn't have any effect. I thought, if anything, the sun would get a Brian burn from the reflection coming off my arms. It wasn't until later that night that I realized the folly of my ways. You can't see it here, but I actually peeled two layers off of my neck. My arms have been itching and peeling for the last week, and my legs are just starting to peel. The good news is that I now have a pretty good farmer tan underneath all that burn. Michelle has a darker complexion than I do, so she didn't get it near as bad.

Anyway, this hike is not for the faint hearted, or for little children. We had been on a couple of hikes to prepare, but it was still pretty hard for us. It wasn't as hard as I've heard people say, but it was definitely a rough hike. The views definitely make it worth it if your a hiking type of person. We definitely wouldn't go more than once in a summer, but we might consider going again at some future date. We'll just make sure we apply thick layers of the strongest sunscreen we can get our hands on.

Last Call

Well, it's planned. This Thursday for Pioneer day we are going to hike Timp. They decided here at work that we all have to make up for the holidays (which makes them seem less worth it), so we have worked two 50 hour weeks and now three 12 hour days. The good news is that I get Thursday and Friday off. Anywho, that means Thursday we will hike Timp, and Friday through Sunday we will recover. It's really a pretty good deal. We just want to make sure that everyone has a chance to take us up on the offer to hike up there. We're planning on leaving Salt Lake at about 6:00 AM, taking lots of food and lots of breaks. Anyway, feel free to call if you want to come and we'll let you in on all the details. Hopefully we'll have a monster post to follow the hike. I'm not going to make any promises about when that will be because then I'll have to apologize for not posting when I said I would, but do keep an eye out for it.

In God Is Our Trust

I’ve always thought it was a little bit odd to sing the national anthem in church. What do you do? Of course everyone stands up, but should you salute the flag? And, it’s such a long song.
Well, I’ve had a change of heart. We sang the national anthem as our choir number this month. Our bishop loves to have us sing on fast Sundays for reasons that could take up a whole post of its own to describe (yes, crazy people are involved). Since fast Sunday this month was so close to Independence Day, we sang the Star Spangled Banner, and I have a new love for the song. If any of you get the chance, open up your hymnal to # 340 and just take a gander at the lyrics. They are beautiful and inspired, especially because they were written even before Joseph Smith had his first vision. My only complaint about the song is that by the time you get to the best and most powerful part of the song, unless you’re really looking for it, you’ve already let your mind wander way off the topic.
This song has really made me think over the last few weeks about what it really means to be an American citizen. In Uruguay people are required by law to vote for the president, and then they aren’t allowed to complain about him very much. Here, most of us don’t take the time or trouble ourselves with driving all the way over to the local elementary school or rec center to say whom we want to lead us, and yet we always fell like we have the right to complain to high heaven about how terrible the government is. If we don’t like how our government is running, we should do something about it. You don’t have to run for office, but we should at least take the time to understand the issues and cast informed votes. Now, I’m afraid I’ve been just as guilty as anyone about not understanding whom or what I’m voting for, but I’ve made the decision to be better about it.
This is a great nation where we have the power to become what we want to be. Isn’t that a great feeling? If I want something, I just need to go get it. That doesn’t mean it will be easy all the time, and it shouldn’t mean everything will be easy, but at least we have the right to pursue our dreams.
I started reading Just and Holy Principles, in which I have been able to see an LDS perspective on the United States, and especially on the Constitution. If any of you attended BYU and were forced to take the “terror” of a class called American Heritage, you probably read at least a little from this book. Many of us have heard of Joseph Smith’s statement that the Constitution would one day hang by a thread (See p. xiii of the introduction to J&HP). This is what John Taylor had to say about it:

When the people shall have torn in shreds the Constitution of the United States the Elders of Israel will be found holding it up to the nations of the earth and proclaiming liberty and equal rights to all men. (Journal of Discourses 21:8)

This statement should give us hope if we are righteous. There are many true principles in the Constitution. It may not be perfect, but it was definitely inspired by the Lord. All the prophets (including Joseph Smith during the persecutions of the early saints) have supported the principles of the Constitution. Even after everything men do goes wrong, we can stand behind the principles at the base of this country’s foundation. Let’s make sure we are righteous enough to be the ones to uphold these principles even when everyone else has decided to go another way. Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because there weren’t even 10 righteous people there. We should share the gospel so there are that many more Elders of Israel to hold up the Constitution. We don’t have to be worried about what will happen to us if we are doing all that we can to serve the Lord and uphold righteous principles.

Oh, thus be it ever, when free men shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war’s desolation
Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the heav’n-rescued land
Praise the Pow’r that hath made and preserved us a nation
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust!”
And the star spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Lastly I would like to thank everyone who makes my liberties secure. I have a great respect for the soldiers who are fighting abroad and their willingness to sacrifice all to preserve freedom. They are true heroes. Also, I think there are other groups of heroes in our society. One group that gets the short end of the stick is police officers. Someone tried to rob a jewelry store here in West Valley last week, and when he shot at the cops, they returned fire and killed him. Now people are complaining that Policemen are killing too many people. When we get a ticket for driving (usually way…) too fast, we are angry at the cop. I just want to say to police officers, and especially to Andy, that I have a very high respect for you and what you do. I’m proud to tell people that my brother is a hero. Thanks for putting yourself at risk to secure my freedoms and to protect me.
Let’s do more and be better. Let’s make our lives what we want them to be, and help others on their way to reaching their dreams. I can’t really think of a good way to end this post, so let’s just do all that is within our power to ensure that the truth contained in the founding of our nation continues on.