One of our new favorites!

Somehow Steve and I have gotten really out of shape! Our friends Alan and Kara mentioned that they had been hiking the Y a few times a week for exercise, so we decided that we would tag along. One of our goals as a couple was to be in good enough shape to do a much harder hike by the end of the summer. We hiked with Alan and Kara a few times, Dave and Logan, and then when Steve's sister Jamie and her husband Andy came out to visit they also came along. We like to start right around 7:30pm so that we will be at the Y for the sunset. Needless to say, we have some really amazing photos of Utah Valley that I thought I'd share.

When Jamie and Andy hiked with us.

One of my favorites!

I mentioned before that one of mine and Steve's goals was to be in good enough shape to do a much bigger hike, but this is not just any hike! We wanted to hike to the summit of Mt. Timponogos, the 2nd highest peak in the Wasatch Front. This is approx a 16 mile hike round trip, and the best time to make this trek is at night. Our good friends Alan and Kara, who I've posted about before, came along and made this journey with us. We started at about 2:30am from the trail head that is just above Sundance. After about 4 hours of hiking, we made it to the Saddle.

Just as the sun was rising.

Just being ourselves.

One of the most breath-taking views I have ever seen.

After watching the sun rise and resting for a while, we continued on to the summit. About another hour later we were there! In one direction we could see all of Utah Valley including he Great Salt Lake, and in the other direction we could see all of Heber Valley. It was amazing!

At the summit!

There is a glacier on the back side of Timp that you can sometimes slide down, saving a lot of walking down some really rough terrain. We thought that we would give it a shot, and we were pleased to find out that it was a perfect time for us to safely slide down. It was soft enough that we were in complete control, and it was a blast!

At the top of the glacier.

We slid down from the very top!

Since we hiked up in the dark, coming back down was fun because we were able to see just how beautiful the trail was. At a few points during the hike you walk through meadows of wild flowers that are absolutely gorgeous! And I lost count of how many waterfalls we passed. As hard as this hike was, it was absolutely worth it!

One of the meadows.

Look how happy we are to be hiking down and not up!

This picture does not do this waterfall justice! It is the one that is near the beginning of the trail, and we are planning on hiking to it again within the next few weeks and I will try to get some better pictures. Steve grew up in Hawaii and we both agreed that this waterfall looked like it could be in Hawaii. It was covered in beautiful green moss and was breath taking! It was an adventure that we will never forget!

PS-It took us about 9.5 hours round trip!