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Month: August 2019

First sub-4:00 Timpanogos, Ouch

First sub-4:00 Timpanogos, Ouch

First Timp of the season – August 21 – and still some stretches of snow to cross on the way up to the main saddle. I was feeling good today and decided to try to push for a sub-4:00 roundtrip. I sprinted the first 1/4 mile after getting spooked by a moose. There were others on the trail that other hikers saw but I didn’t see any others. I did see a fox up in the meadow basin! That was a first. I had the summit all to myself. It was beautiful. I looked at my watch and saw that a sub-4:00 might be possible if I really bombed. I shouldn’t have sat at the summit for so long because it required a painful pace. It wasn’t the most pleasant descent. A dead sprint for the last 1/2 mile down. BUT – I came in just under the wire. A moving time of 3:59:52!

Uintas Lofty Lake Kid Hike

Uintas Lofty Lake Kid Hike

The Mrs. is a school teacher, but not in the district where I kids are students. Her school year starts earlier than the kids’ so I have them for a couple of weeks each August. Two years ago we did our first Uintas hike and we went back up again. The kids did great. They did swim team all summer and I can tell their lungs and muscles built up some endurance. We went up the Lofty Lake Loop – counterclockwise. Gorgeous. They had fun scrambling around on the rocks near the pass that drops down to Lofty Lake – spotting and chasing Pikas.

I looked at my watch and we were just shy of 11,000 feet. I convinced them to scramble up the ridge to hit 11k for their first time. We made it to a large cairn, only to find it was a sub-peak and the actual Lofty Peak was a bit further off. No matter, they were champs and excited to have gone so high. They also got a kick out of all the spiders and big spider webs between the boulders and rocks as we picked our way up and down the ridge.

At Lofty Lake I dove in for a quick dip. So cold!

The way back was fine, despite a little tired whining towards the end. All in all, a great adventure.

Dry Altar, Down Shooter

Dry Altar, Down Shooter

I need to wake up in the morning and runĀ  more often. I hate it. I feel sluggish and my stomach is off if I eat anything (a jelly donut today). But, getting back home at 9 in the morning having already banged out a great run does feel pretty amazing.