7 AM on Saturday

This morning I woke up at 6, ready to do my Saturday jog up to Rock Canyon.  However, today I decided to try going to Y mountain and hiking to the Y.  I've hiked the Y after driving to the trail head but this was the first time I've walked to it.  Little did I know when I set out that I would not only hike the Y, I would make it all the way to the top of the mountain on which the Y sits.

It happened like this: right as I pulled into the trail head parking lot I saw a group of three friends from the ward and it looked like they had already been up and were driving home.  It turns out, about halfway up the trail, they caught up with me.  Except they weren't stopping at the Y.  They were going all the way to the top of the mountain.  Sarah, who's the Relief Society president, invited me to come along.  It was probably the not smartest decision but was definitely one of the best decisions ever.  We started at 7 and got back at noon, traveling multiple miles and over 1,000 feet of elevation.  

We got to this outlook just above the Y.  The mountain was covered with jumbled piles of boulders.

The canyon was incredible, especially when the sun came up enough to flood it with light.

I forgot to get a picture of me climbing but this will give you a good idea of our rock climbing.  On the side of the trail was an enormous pile of rocks that you can climb up.  Sarah and I looked at the pile for multiple routes up and finally discovered one that brought us just within sight of the top.  These two climbed up a much riskier way and when coming back down discovered a cave/shaft through the middle of the jumble that Sarah and I used as a shortcut to the top.

You got a really incredible view from the top.  The trickiest part: getting down.

After a long, arduous hike past slate slides and scrub oak we hit high meadows bordered by aspen forest.  The meadow was waist high (when not shoulder high) of wild mint, wild flowers, and grasses.  This meadow continued through the aspen forest.  It was beautiful and completely unexpected, after walking up through semi-desert scrub oak and slate slides.

About 10 minutes from this overlook, I was very seriously considering saying "Come get me after you get to the top."  I I hadn't eaten much breakfast and hadn't realized I had joined a group of hard-core hikers who like steady paces up steep hills with no breaks.  It was tough, no matter how beautiful the surroundings were, and the trail was steep pretty much the entire time.  They were saying, "It's probably only half an hour away, give or take."  I had used up all my energy and figured it was better to save the rest for the way home.

Instead they gave me some encouragement and I realized you can't just leave your group like that.  One, there's a healthy population of mountain lions and two, it's rude, both of the person staying behind and the ones going ahead.  So I set my watch so we could take a breather every so many minutes.  Just 10 minutes later we had reached the top.  The burn and breathlessness was worth it.  The view was incredible.  Just think: just 10 minutes might separate you from something as incredible as this (my camera doesn't do it justice).  Just think if I had stopped to rest...

Just a note though: don't ask "how much longer?" from hikers.  We asked a group coming back from the top and they said, "You're almost there.  It's really close."  It was half an hour later that we actually got there.  I guess distances all depend on your perspective.

It was maybe 11:30 when we reached the top.  You could see all of Provo and all the mountain ranges with the valleys and peaks you can't see from the ground.  We were super high up.  You just can't look down at the near-straight drop off lined with felled trees and brush at your feet.  That was the only scary thing about the trails.  They were all super thin and a lot of the time right on the edge of steep rock-lined slopes.  Except through the forests and meadows, where the path was almost covered with the shoulder high vegetation.  

We went back to the point right below the peak to eat lunch on a flat-topped boulder.  Fortunately the rock was big enough for all of us as on three sides it was pretty much forested mountainside that was barely more sloped than a cliff.  The two boys brought sandwiches, trail mix, fruit snacks, and water.  I was pretty surprised at how much food they pulled out of their back packs.  And I complained about how hard it was to hike just carrying myself!  

The meadow.  The grass is way taller than it looks.  Fortunately I only lightly brushed a stinging nettle once.

The forest was beautiful and lush; mostly just a continuation of the meadow but shaded by aspens and pines.  It always amazes me at how sharp the boundaries between different habitats are.  One moment you are in a cool, moist, shady pine forest, and they you take a step and you are in scrub oak desert, take another step and you are in a high altitude meadow.  I love the diversity.

Not the best picture but guess who I ran into at the top of the mountain?  Elder Torbit, a missionary who served in Temecula when we lived there.  And he remembered our family! (Well, he remembered that Dad was a Marine and that Hannah and Katie were super good at scripture mastery.)  Who would have guessed?  The Mormon world is such an incredibly small world.