Timpanogos Terror

To celebrate my 34th birthday, Kevin's mom said for my present she would watch the kids so Kevin and I could hike Mt. Timpanogos.  I have been wanting to hike Timp for years, and somehow it had never made it high enough on our list.  It almost didn't make it this year again, when I realized it was the same weekend as our ward BBQ and a Stake Young Women's activity, and was worried that they were understaffed for these activities and I should be there to help.  Thankfully, I voiced these concerns to my wonderful hiking, adventure seeking friend Jamie Delfin.   Her friendship and insight is one of God's greatest blessings in my life.  She honestly lacks any martyrdom tendencies and the ego that goes along with saving other people.  Not that she isn't giving, she is just balanced and I have seen how it blesses her and her family.  I am so grateful for her in my life.  Anyway, she reminded me that their are lots of people there to help that had not planned babysitters and invited friends to hiking birthday celebration.

So yesterday morning, September 7th, we all met at the trailhead at 8 am to start our ascent up Mt. Timpanogos, which is the second highest peak in the Wasatch Mountain Range.  Our party included me, Kevin, Jamie Delfin, Lehi Delfin, and Chandra (crap Chandra what is your last name now?!).  We were all so giddy to see each other.  This was the first time I had seen Chandra since her imfamous trip to Europe trip where she pretty much impromptu married her Peruvian boyfriend (whom she just met in April)  in Sweden.  Who does that?!!   Chandra, does that's who.   They actually met in Salt Lake City, and both are travelors,  met up in Europe, and then destiny took it's course.    Needless to say, we were all so excited to be together and all kept talking at once and topic tangenting all over the place because there was so much to catch  up on and so many ideas we wanted to discuss.   

I have only hiked Mt. Timp once and that was when we hit the trail head at 4 am so we could see the sun rise at the peak.  So it was very dark and I couldn't see the landscape too well.  And then on the way down I was so tired, I barely remember the landscape coming down, so basically it was all new to me.  Timpanooke trail to the peak is beautiful.  It is a mix of grey Granite cut mountain, with Quaking Aspens that lead into pine and then into open tundra.  The air was fresh and the views of the valley were breathtaking.   Our pace wasn't too quick but steady, and we reached the saddle after about 6 hours of climbing.  I was pleasantly surprised that the trail never really got too steep before then.

We all ate snacks as we sat on the saddle and while we looked at the Provo valley and Chandra pointed out the big fluffy clouds in the distance.  I noticed they were beautiful and looked like they might have rain, but were moving slow and very far off.  None of us thought much of it and there was no debate on danger in the clouds, because really there were no menacing signs.  Chandra hung out on the saddle while the four of us scrambled to the peak.  This took an hour of rock scrambling, and is a bit scary when you realize the heights at which you climb.   On the scramble we met a triathlete mother who just had twins three months ago (inspiring for me),  a mother and daughter who were dressed in tanks and shorts and a bit nervous about the climb, but pushing through, and an older couple with hiking sticks and full hiking gears (again inspiring for me  :)  .)

We celebrated the peak by writing in the log book, taking lots of pictures, and enjoying the view.  From start to finish it was about an hour until we were at the saddle again.  We noticed the clouds on the Provo side of the mountain were a little closer but not much, and then for first time I noticed the clouds on the Heber Valley side of the mountain that were heading North.  These looked heavy and were moving much more quickly.  Still no sign of lightening and we aren't made of sugar, so a little rain wouldn't hurt us.  We descended at a good clip and after about 45 minutes the rain started to drop.  No big deal.  Sure it was a little cold, and a bit slippery, but nothing that we hadn't experienced before and our spirits were high.  We made jokes about how happy we were for body fat,  and strong thick calves to get us down the mountain (this is a group joke, but I'll spare you the details here.) 

That was when the wind picked up and it began to hail.   The hail started out kind of small and not too painful.  A little prick every few seconds, and sure it was cold, but again, nothing we couldn't handle. But then the clouds began to dump all they had in buckets and buckets of icy sharp, freezing pellets of hail which reached us at high amazing high speeds of velocity.   It was like the clouds were made of millions of ice BB guns and they were hammering the mountain in all their fury.  They pummeled our bare arms and legs with a vengeance.  The pain was searing and bitterly cold, made all the worse knowing we had at least 3 hours of hiking ahead of us.

This picture is about 5 minutes before the heavens unleashed their fiery

Now we are experienced hikers but none of us (but Kevin) had thought to bring a jacket or wind protection.  So we all started scampering trying to find shelter.  There were some low plants by the trails, but their bare twiggy branches offered little cover and trying to crawl under them did nothing to stop the icy pellets from piercing your arms, legs, neck, back, and head.  

We were scampering down the mountain trying to find cover and of course I am praying in my heart the whole time.  My mind was thinking of the people we had met on the peak and who were up higher behind us on the mountain in the storm.  I thought of the mother and daughter in tanks and shorts, and the older couple who at least had clothing, but were older and skinny.  I thought with gratitude that my kids were safe and warm with their Grandma at her home, and I prayed they would not be too worried. 

At one point I had scampered a little off the path looking for some shelter and found I was alone and I began to pray in earnest.  I felt utterly helpless.  There was nothing I could think of to end the suffering. I thought, "Lord, I know you calmed the storm on the seas and I know you can calm this storm.  I have faith in your son Jesus Christ, could you please stop this hail and bone chilling wind?"  I immediately had the thought enter my mind, "This storm is not going to stop.  You need to RUN."  I knew it was true and I yelled to my fellow hikers who were crouched above me on the trail and told them we needed to get out of here and run.  And off we went running down the muddy trail.

It was so painful.  I could feel the welts already forming on my arms and legs.  The wind was awful and the rain and snow was already forming on the ground and filling the trail path.  The path became a rushing stream filled with snow, and ice filled water.  Rocks in the path became small standing waves and still we ran.  The water level reached our calves. That was when the lightening began.  We would see a flash and then quickly followed by a loud boom.  There was nothing taller than us in those fields and we cowered as we ran.  The lightening got closer and became blinding lights and deafening "BOOM"s.  I kept thinking about my 6 foot four husband running in front of me and the lack of trees.  But in hindsight the lightening increased our pace.  After every flash and boom, I know I picked up the pace even more. 

I knew my spirits were dropping and so I did the only thing I knew that I could do.  I began praising God and Jesus out loud for every step that got me closer to being off the mountain.  I'm sure I sounded like a baptist revival to Kevin with my "Thank you God, Thank you Jesus, Thank you God, Thank you Jesus." I sounded somewhat silly to myself but I kept thanking Them.  Then I looked for anything to be grateful for.  I could smell a slight scent of pine probably carried down from the wind from below us.  I thought of how none of us had fallen and how Kevin was doing amazingly well with his bad knee.  I thought of how we were runners Again, I thought of my kids, safe and warm with their Grandma. 

Then I thought of the friends I was with and felt a huge pouring of gratitude fill my whole soul.  I could not think of a better group of friends to have to go through this with.  There was no whining, no yelling at each other, just concern and a determination to do what needed to be done.  I was grateful that we all were out door enthusiasts who had strong bodies and experience in the wild.  

We ran in the hail for about an hour until  blessedly the hail turned rain, and the lightening began to cease.  We continued down and began to see the destruction.  There were trees that had fallen across the trail and it looked like one tree might have been struck by lightening, but it was hard to tell if that had been recent.  We reached the parking lot and realized we had run down the mountain in 2 hours.  My heart sank as I saw the other cars in the parking lot and knew how many groups were on the mountain.  We debated about going back, but what could we do?  We were bruised, soaked to the bone, and our limbs were swollen.  The debate ended quickly when I saw the park service was there with radios and rescuers going up the mountain.

With the heater on we began our drive down the mountain only to be stopped by the park service.  There were mudslides down the mountain on the Alpine side and we would have to turn and go down through Provo canyon instead.  This added 45 minutes to our drive, but we were so happy to be warm and heading to our kids.  We reached the valley and saw it was a flooded mess.  Homes in Alpine had been evacuated and the community was filling sand bags to keep the houses from being harmed.

Later I was in a hot shower, and a relieved Grandma Beth was making us soup.  As I was in the shower I thought about why God didn't stop the hail on us.  I know in my heart he doesn't stop the storm all the time, but I also am a believer in miracles and I know enough stories of Jesus Christ to know He can do something like that when it is his will.  And I wasn't asking for the whole storm to stop, just the razor sharp hail that was exfoliating every inch of me and my friends.   But then I thought about how I had willed my body to run in the hail even when it just wanted to lay down and curse.    I was stronger than I had given myself credit and this was one more experience where i exercised my mind over my body and now I was even stronger than before.  

So now I am sitting in my warm kitchen, in fuzzy pajamas having just eaten warm pancakes and having a visit with family.  I'm stiff as a board and have the sniffles, but I am so grateful and ready for a new day and feel good about myself and life in general.  I'm already looking forward to the next adventure.