Today I ran to the shack on the summit of Mt. Timpanogos at 11,749 ft. The weather, companionship, and scenery were awesome. The wildflowers and other mountain flora were beautiful. I saw mountain goats, raccoons, and squirrels. I even got to witness a fairly vicious but brief dog fight dangerously near the edge on the saddle, between Larry's dog Ozzie and another dog.
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I rode up with Larry and Jolene Marshall and Kris Chandler. I ended up running with Collin Gibbons and Mark and Michael Nelson. We met up again with the others at the saddle on our way down. We were also surprised to see Lyle Brereton and Deniece Tracy at the shack at the top.
We left at about 4:45am, got to the Timpooneke trailhead about 5:15am (5:30am after parking on Timpooneke road and walking back to the trailhead because the parking lot was already full), and started up at about 5:45am. There were a lot of people on the trail today, but getting around them was not bad. Most hikers are very considerate. Many of them praised us for our efforts, we even drew applause from one young woman; one man said something to the effect that there are good places to run, this wasn't one of them, and we wasn't going to carry us out if we got hurt. I didn't say much back to him for fear of falling and getting hurt right in front of him.
We made it to the saddle in just over 2 hours, and to the summit in 2:35. Our descent took us 1:57, for a round trip of 4:32. This includes two fairly extended stops at the saddle, one on the way up to enjoy the view and make a few phone calls, and the other on the way back down to talk with the rest of our group and take some more pictures. It does not include the time we spent on the summit refueling, making phone calls, and taking pictures.
This was my 3rd trip up Timp, and 2nd time running it. Before the run I asked myself a few times if I was crazy. I remembered that last time I survived it and was really glad I had done it. I trusted my memory so I tried it again this time. Once again I have no regrets. It wasn't easy. My legs really burned as we neared the summit, and breathing is not easy at nearly 12,000 ft. It was dangerous. I had a few near ankle turns and a couple of slips on loose rock, but I only ended up with a small scratch on my leg (along with a lot of dirt). I wish everyone could experience what I did today. What a great experience!