Tip of Timp

It's only taken me two months. We hiked Mount Timpanogos, all 11,749 feet of it. A neighbor invited us and took his GPS unit. It seemed like we had been hiking for ages, and he'd pipe up, "We're a quarter of a mile up!" I hated that GPS unit.

When we reached the saddle, I threw my arms up in the air at the amazing view and yelled, "AWESOME!!!" to which my sweet hubby said, "This isn't the top." Rats. Shortly after, I turned around to see two men carrying a prototype rescue stretcher. Atop sat an 11 year old girl named Emma who had been wheelchair bound for several years. I shouted "Welcome to the top!" and started clapping. Soon, everyone up there was clapping and cheering. She started crying, and there were very few dry eyes after that.

Near the bottom, we saw 2 rangers; a burly fella with a rifle, and a skinny chap with a tranquilizer gun. An enormous moose had just charged people off the trail, sending one woman to the hospital with a shoulder injury, and pushing another into the raspberry bushes along the trail. Although being charged by a moose isn't on my to-do list, I hoped the skinny chap would win.

By the end, I felt every inch of that 16 mile trip. As I sat on my inviting sofa, gazing up at the rocky peak, the beauty and grandeur of the mount had new meaning for me, and I thought to myself, "BOOYAH!"