September 2017 Mountains to Climb

With the wake of Jeff's death and other emotional trauma behind me, my mind and spirit have given me another shove down my Alive path. With autumn around the corner, I knew that I'd be losing opportunities to do certain things outside. Mt. Timpanogos is just an hour south of me, and hadn't yet been conquered. At 11, 752 ft high, it was my Everest. I decided on a Wednesday to do it on Saturday. I do hikes with just me and Nalu all the time, on quick 2-4 milers that are easy and safe. But this was different. I was scared. But I'm so glad I did it alone. Nature has always been a way for me to tap into spiritual aspects of life, and I needed this alone time after the August I'd endured.
I started at 4:30am to avoid the midday heat at the top. It took me roughly 6 hours to get there, but was so worth it. The sun started to rise as I hit a small meadow, and crept over the mountain on one side of the meadow, while I crept up the mountain on the other side. The views were breathtaking. I reached the top, Nalu at my side, and was all smiles. It wasn't easy, but I'd done it.

Top of Mt. Timpanogos

The next weekend I had plans to meet my friend Melissa in Denver, CO. Just because. Rocky Mountain National Park, Hanging Lake, Doc Holliday's gravesite, Aspen, Vail, Seven Falls, Garden of the Gods, and the Broadmoor were all explored. We made the most of a quick weekend, and it was a blast.

Me and Melissa

Seven Falls

A little place called Assssppeeen

Rocky Mountain National Park

Garden of the Gods

Doc Holliday's gravestone

Hanging Lake, Glenwood

Yesterday afternoon I found out another friend had passed away. Almost one month to the day of Jeff's passing. Trey was in a wheelchair all his life with brittle bone disease, and had taken a fall over the weekend that he couldn't recover from. He was one of the best. His wit and cunning and hilarious outlook on life was contagious. My brother, who didn't know Trey, often asked me to read some of Trey's facebook updates to him, because they always made him laugh. He will be missed.

Good ol' Trey

Mountain At My Gates by Foals