The last official summer hike with the Mt. Olympus Presbyterian group…sniffle sniffle. We went out with a bang, though, on a gorgeous hike up American Fork Canyon, on the same trail that takes you to the summit of Mt. Timpanogos.
This hike had some trusted staples—aspens, wildflowers, and a creek. We met several hikers with dogs and I WANT A DOG SO BAD.
Now that we were in the Uintahs, there were plenty of signs warning that this is “bear country.” One hiker we passed had bells jingling on her hiking stick. There was also a lot of horse poop on the trail.
Here is the fun couple, Nancy & Dave, whom you met in my last post:
Aren’t they cute?
I like waterfalls.
We plan to keep hiking together, in a more spontaneous fashion. The season is far from over. I take comfort in that. Today my fellow hikers asked if I ever miss going back to school, the way Heather gets to this week. I did love college, but I don’t miss going back. I like having my 9-5 job and using my evenings for hikes. I don’t have to study or write papers on the weekends. This is a good phase of my life. Also, while we’re discussing good phases of one’s life, I like that I don’t have children.
Throughout the summer, as you well know, Heather and I have been going on hikes with the Mt. Olympus Presbyterian group. We met a great couple there named Nancy and Dave:
As you’ll remember from a previous entry, I started taking piano lessons again and found myself in need of a piano. I visited a piano restorer-tuner-mover-salesman in his shop and tried one out, but I wondered whether I could afford it. The salesman (Tom) said I shouldn’t settle for a used piano of that caliber—he said a person who has been playing for so long ought to have a better piano. We chatted a bit. His son is serving an LDS mission in Detroit, and I told him I’m a UMC missionary (plus I have a missionary classmate also serving in Detroit).
Now, when Nancy heard I was in need of a piano, she said she had one that she only plays twice a year. She would loan it to me if I covered the moving costs. I tried the piano out and was only too happy to accept her offer. Then I called Tom and asked if he could move the piano to my apartment.
So here it is:
Can you believe it??
When all the moving was finished, I helped load the supplies back into Tom’s truck. He asked whether I had met Nancy & Dave through the Methodist church, then asked if Methodist missionaries proselytize. I explained that we do more of the “live and let live” philosophy and focus on poverty/social justice, not on making more Methodists. He asked more about my work at Crossroads, specifically whether we help homeless people (we do).
Tom leaned against his truck and said why he appreciates church, how the sacraments bring us closer to God. He says you can be a good person without going to church, but by going to church we show our respect for God. I said I agree—there can be real meaning found in the rituals…we can get in touch with the sacred, the divine. He joked that he used to tell his friend—who was also a Methodist P.K., like me—to go to church if he wanted to meet a good girl. I agreed with that too, and Tom said it’s important to have shared values that way.
Before he left, he smiled and said, in reference to the piano: “You deserve it. God is blessing you.”
I thanked him warmly. “I’ll play hymns to God on this piano, to express my gratitude!”
I see God’s blessing as so much more than this piano. God blessed me by a nice guy like Tom, who was an honest salesman and just plain kind. (He even said he thought he should give me a bigger discount, on account of my mission program.) God blessed me by three neighbors helping to move the piano into my apartment. (I just stood there.) God blessed me by Dave & Nancy, who were generous enough to loan me their precious piano. (And they had Heather and me over to their house for ice cream before Heather left, and they crushed up peppermints, walnuts, chocolate chips, and raisins for toppings!) God blessed me with a summer with Heather, who introduced me to the hikes, which introduced me to Dave & Nancy and got the ball rolling in the first place. God blessed me with parents who paid for 10 years of piano lessons. God blessed me with people, all different kinds of people, who give of themselves.
So, although I took Heather back to the airport today and said good-bye to our summer together, I said hello to another blessing.
P.S. Here is what my teacher is having me memorize:
Went to Cecret Lake again, with a different group of Mt. Olympus Presbyterians. I want to go on this hike once more before summer’s over—when my brother and his fiancee visit. I figure it’s a pretty easy hike, and during their visit they won’t have much time to adjust to the high altitude, so easier is better. The lake is at 9,220 feet above sea level. Where they’re coming from, they’re less than 1,000 feet above sea level, from what I understand.
We saw some interesting wildlife on this trip. Here's Jamie photographing a giant moose.
Remember how, when we hiked this on July 30, this boulder was in the middle of the lake, and acted as an island?
This is how dry the lake looks now!
(L to R: Sarah, Jamie, Heather) After our hike, Jamie provided dinner for Heather and me--vegetarian chili with shredded cheddar cheese & seasoned popcorn (for texture, like when you sprinkle oyster crackers on top), cornbread with honey butter...and we had pumpkin spice cookies with cinnamon frosting on top. Jamie is awesome. Plus it was the perfect "autumn" kind of dinner after we froze our tushies off on this hike--it was probably 58 degrees.
More wildlife--two little critters that kind of look like squirrels.
One last example of wildlife, or as my family likes to call it, dinner. This deer is eating a flower called a paintbrush.
Here's what the waterfall looked like on July 30.
And here's the "waterfall" today. I don't like that. Such a vast change in only 10 days' time. I don't know the explanation, but whatever it is, I don't like it.
I’ll close with three pictures of Heather’s that I really like:
Look how clear the reflection is.
I just hope these wildflowers stay in bloom for Charles and Liz’s visit!
Along the Bowman Trail in Millcreek Canyon, with my hiking buddies from Mt. Olympus Presbyterian Church. A creek follows most of the trail.
Our leader says these are "monks' hoods" flowers. This stalk is taller than I am.
The wind whipped the aspens around in an ominous way. A huge dust storm rolled in this afternoon (or maybe the news anchor said it was smoke from a forest fire out west?). I watched the sun disappear behind a cloud of dust like it was a solar eclipse. It was pretty spellbinding.
I have so much to look forward to. Everyone raves about the hikes in autumn—with all the aspen leaves turning gold—and I’ve already seen fall’s multicolored landscape of the mountain slopes, even from my vantage point off any hiking trails. Then they rave about snowshoeing in the winter, which I would love to try. I am sure everything will be peaceful and still, still, still…. I can’t wait for those seasons…but of course I don’t want summer to end either.
While we are on the subject of hobbies, and how to expand one’s hobbies…if I had more money, I would buy:
a piano, now that I’ve resumed lessons after a five-year hiatus (I’m approaching my 16th year of playing the piano!)
camping gear, including a tent and sleeping bag…although for now I’m content to borrow from others who have the equipment (I want to backpack for the first time next month—I won’t tell you where in case you are a murderer who’s stalking me)
snoewhoes (that was my attempt to type “snowshoes”)
a doggie to accompany me on these hikes (I love dogs, I love hikes, and dogs love hikes)
a.) a bigger place for the doggie to live in
b.) dog food and other such necessities
c.) someone to take the dog for walks while I am at work all day
d.) someone to keep the dog when I’m away for weekend conferences…okay, this is getting out of hand
the safety & emissions inspection for my car, and the renewal of its registration :-p
I guess I’ll stick with #5 for now.
Today’s hike was nice. I could’ve taken it at a faster pace, but our group decided to stick together. My fitness level has definitely improved in the past few months. (To be fair, I still had sweat trickling down and tickling my back.) I felt a little sad as I hiked, though, because there are a couple really close friends of mine who I wish were hiking these trails with me.
People just don’t get it. They need to move to Utah. Stupid people.
Yesterday I went on a hike with the Mt. Olympus Presbyterian hiking group and my missionary friend Jamie, whom you met in my March 21 post. We hiked in Big Cottonwood Canyon, from Broads Fork to the stream crossing. The trail wasn’t as beautiful as recent ones this church group has done (especially Catherine’s Pass, Cecret Lake, and anything else involving wildflowers). But it was worth it just to reach the stream crossing, with the bridge and rushing waterfall.
I took this shot while lying on a boulder in the middle of the waterfall/creek.
Jamie found the water rather frigid.
Bird.
Jamie took this shot of me with Dave, who helps lead these hikes and has been a good friend. In this moment he's talking about some of the foliage along the creekbed, including a pretty fern and some rare miniature yellow columbine.
Another shot with Jamie's sweet camera and photography skills. This is looking down (west) Big Cottonwood Canyon, toward civilization again.
I was scoping out this place for a good campsite, should I eventually go backpacking. See the blackened fire pit behind me? But anyway, it was too close to the trail.
By the way, I got my hair cut. Here’s a close-up:
After the hike we chatted up some cute rock climbing guys (I had to ask them for backpacking tips, okay? they taught me about a “WAG bag,” for packing out your poop), then went to Dave and his wife Mike’s house for a potluck with a dozen people. Mike made mint chocolate chip ice cream pie with a graham cracker crust. It was a lovely afternoon with lovely people.
Heather and I hiked to Cecret Lake in Little Cottonwood Canyon yesterday. This hike was simple, short, and scenic. It may be my favorite of the summer.
After spending a glorious summer with me, Heather flies back east two weeks from tomorrow. I am already sad. I guess I like to plan ahead.
This waterfall may be extra-swollen because all of the June rain Heather brought with her. Most creekbeds we pass on these hikes are dried up.
Heather and I once traveled to Chicago with our high school choir for a competition, and we admired how green the lake was. Cecret Lake also had a lovely green hue...not quite as mint-chocolate-chip-y as Lake Michigan, but still pretty. And speaking of pretty, so far I have mentioned Heather in every picture caption. Hope I don't break the streak.
We found these awesome creatures that looked like salamanders/dragons. They had legs, but a tail like an eel. They had gills and a spiky collar. They had little fin-wings. Heather.
I think one of my fellow hikers taught me that you're supposed to have three "points of contact" at all times. You should never be hanging on to something with just your two arms, or just one arm and one leg. You should always be connected via three out of your four limbs...and maybe your tushie counts too. How am I doing?
Heather chose to get to the boulder barefooted. Our fellow hiker said the salamanders feast on human flesh. That wasn't very nice. He also said he would catch one and put it in Heather's shoe.
Sisters.
Three points of contact, that's good, that's good...but where'd my other leg go?
We did it. We hiked Mt. Olympus. Started at 5:45 a.m., took enough breaks so we didn’t die, got to the top about three hours later, spent 45 minutes lunching on the summit, and finished the day after a total of eight hours. Picked the perfect day, too. Not. Sunny and 101 degrees at least! Thank goodness we started while it was still cool.
I felt exhilarated after this hike. I’m so glad we succeeded. I had a few moments of near-panic when I looked down and saw how high up we were…or when I looked up and saw all the “scrambling” ahead…but nothing too petrifying. No twisted ankles. No sunburn (SPF 50, reapplied several times). No peeing outdoors. Went through over like 2.5 liters of water. Ate a peanut-butter-honey-cinnamon-wheat-bread sandwich on the top of the mountain. (Other snacks—granola, a sliced orange, and chocolate chips!)
Would I do it again? Not likely. Was it worth it? Absolutely.
I went with a fun group of three buddies—Jake, Brock, and Bryce. They kept me entertained and we all looked out for each other, making sure we took enough breaks and drank enough water. They praised me for keeping a good pace, and thanked me for forcing their weary butts out of bed so early, so we could beat the heat. I will cherish the memories we made together and our sense of triumph over the mountain.
A video I took while sitting on top of the world:
An excerpt from the summit notebook:
Note the moon in the background.
A sleepy city wakes up. The glowing orange gash in the Oquirrh Mountain range is the copper mine.
The city is more awake now. The shadow is Mt. Olympus'. I thought it was pretty neat to see the silhouette of what we were attempting to climb, and how far it stretched.
Meet hiking buddy 1 of 3: Jake.
A little overlook to the other mountains of the Wasatch range...our last photo op before the big summit push.
The summit of Mt. Olympus! Gee I sure am high up.
Hiking buddy 2 of 3: Brock. I didn't like him sitting on the edge of that rock. It was practically a cliff.
Whenever people ventured too close to an edge I hid my face in fear. I couldn't take it.
I preferred to hunker down into a cave of sorts, protected by many rocks surrounding me. Here I am making a little nest for myself.
The view behind me is what graced my eyes as I relaxed and ate my sandwich. Can you believe those mountains have snow on their caps, and it's July 18?
looking west toward the Great Salt Lake and Antelope Island
Hiking buddy 3 of 3: Bryce. How suave does he look in this picture?
The slope of the mountain, at this kind of angle, was encouraging. But how else do you expect to gain 4,200 feet in elevation over the course of only 3 miles?
Once again the hiking poles come to the rescue. I NEVER would have been able to accomplish today's hike without them.
Tried to capture how red my face was from the heat and exertion. But so worth it.
One last image—our group together. Before we went on this hike, I dreamt that I did the hike with my brothers. That would have been cool, but these guys were a pretty good substitute:
Yesterday Heather and I went with the Mt. Olympus Presbyterian hiking group up Little Cottonwood Canyon to Catherine’s Pass via Albion Basin. I figured it would be easy-peasy—between 2-3 miles round trip, with less than 800 feet elevation gain. Somehow it still tired us out…maybe because we leave right from work, after a full day. Pictures are at the end of this post.
Tomorrow I’m hiking with three buddies up the actual Mt. Olympus (not the church bearing its name). We’re meeting at the trailhead at 5:30 a.m. I’m nervous. I even dreamt about it last night. Why am I worried?
I’m afraid of heights and I could fall off the summit and plunge to my death.
There are rattlesnakes on the trail. They might bite me and then I would die.
I might have to pee during the 6-8-hour hike, and there aren’t very many hidden nooks in which to do that.
This time we gain 4,200 feet in elevation, over only 3.1 miles one-way. And here I thought yesterday was tiring. Tomorrow is going to kill me.
I don’t want to break my ankle and have to be helicopter-lifted off the mountain. Plus medical bills are really expensive. Plus it would be hard to drive my stick-shift car with only one working foot, huh.
It is supposed to be 98 degrees and sunny tomorrow.
I don’t want to fail. I don’t want to give up.
I’ll take pictures of my demise and let you know how it goes. My boss said, “What am I going to tell your dad?” (Meaning, when I die.) He said, “I know he’s gonna call me.” I didn’t know what to say. Heather asked if I’d write my will tonight. My other coworker was like, “It’s not that bad.” We’ll see. I just have to keep up with my older brothers, who recently hiked several mountains in New Hampshire, including a mountain that has some of the stormiest summit weather in the U.S.—something like the highest recorded wind speed, I dunno. See David’s blog here and Charles’ blog here.
Anyway, photos from yesterday:
Heather was twirling around singing, "The hills are alive with the sound of music."
Lake Catherine, I think.
We spontaneously drove to Devonshire Drive to watch the sunset. Pictures never do it justice:
I know I’m going to have trouble sleeping tonight. In many ways I’m excited about the hike…but I’m also nervous.
Heather and I went on another hike with the Mt. Olympus Presbyterian hiking group Thursday, on Mill B North Fork Trail to Overlook about five miles up Big Cottonwood Canyon. That wasn’t enough to satiate our appetite for the outdoors. The following day, we drove to the Stansbury Mountains (North Willow Canyon) to camp out for a night and hike the next day.
Here are pictures from Thursday:
The following are pictures from our camping adventure:
I am multitasking. Behind me is Copper, a dog I'm taking care of for the weekend. You may remember meeting him in my 5-4-09 post. His owners got me the shirt I'm wearing from the last time they were out of town.
We were delighted when Heather discovered a big ol' dead branch to use for firewood. Here she is emerging from the dark forest, amidst the swirling smoke, sporting the branch like antlers. She now has the nickname "Moose."
…the moon and stars to govern the night;
His love endures forever. —Psalm 136:9
We used a timer for this picture. It was a great shot. Then we let the fire die down, so we could lay out and look at the stars. I thought about God and the future. And how far away the stars are. Regina Spektor sings, “Beneath the stars came fallin’ on our heads / But they’re just old light, they’re just old light….” We vowed not to go to bed until we each saw a shooting star. We succeeded, plus we saw satellites.
I got a pretty good night’s sleep. I was surprised. This weekend was one of the highlights of my summer, if not my life. I’m so glad we were fortunate enough to find a vacant campsite with a rushing creek nearby. We could have been right next to the road, or deprived of the rushing water. It also could have remained cloudy and ruined our stargazing. Thankfully our site was perfect. We journaled and did devotions and ate three s’mores apiece.
I leave you with one final image from our camp-out:
Today after work Heather and I had a hilarious, scary, adventurous hike. It was probably—simultaneously—our least favorite hike and our favorite hike. I would write about it all, but I don’t know that it would be as funny to anyone else. All I remember was when I almost peed myself laughing because I was paralyzed with fear on a hazardous cliff edge, and Heather was behind me impersonating a panicked Flick from A Christmas Story: “Stuck? Stuck??”
Here:
I was proud to say I only had a couple minutes of being petrified, and the rest of the time I was fine. This despite my awful fear of heights. Heather couldn’t understand why I wasn’t more scared. I guess I just figured if I fell down the crevice, I’d grab onto some plants along the way. I also felt that, with my trusty hiking boots, I could do no wrong. Heather, on the other hand, was quoting Scripture to herself in an effort to calm down: “He will not let your foot slip…he who watches over you will not slumber” (Psalm 121:3).
Here are pictures…but they only give half the story:
It’s a cave!
He will not let your foot slip, he will not let your foot slip….
