The drive brought us almost to the top it seemed, so we had our doubts about how difficult the hike was actually going to be. The tall peak on the left was our destination.
I kept myself busy with a new found hobby of mine on the way up: picking wildflowers. I loved the red clay.
After an hour or so we made it to the ridge. The hike to this point wasn't too challenging. The ridge offered some fantastic views. That's Mt. Timpanogas in the distance. Yes, Mt. Nebo is taller than Timpanogas.
It was a pleasant stroll on the top of the world, until we got to this:
I was sucking wind within 2 minutes, dripping like a wet towel.
We made it to one peak, but had one more to go after that. The last quarter mile was climbing over loose rock along the ridge to the very top. By that time I had to stop every 15 steps for a few seconds to rest my exhausted quads.
At last we made it!
Jumping over 11928 ft (3635.7 m).
Someone had a little too much fun in the glorious sunshine!
Some friendly local folks from Utah county showed up as we were eating lunch at the peak. I kept overhearing them talk about "Spanish." Saying Spanish is this, and Spanish is that. That confused me because they didn't seem to be the type to know a foreign language. But then Blake explained to me that they mean Spanish Fork! That's local talk, that is!
On a scale of 1 to 10 for amateur hikes, I would rate this hike as a 9.5. It stretched me that much! The incredibly steep climb at the high elevation just about did me in. The wildlife and the extensive stretch along the ridge though make this hike far worth the effort. It was definitely a highlight of my summer.
Wow! That's beautiful. Looks like lots of fun. Someday we'll be back in mountain country.
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