My Gratitude Hike

[Guest guest]

This past Saturday I did what I affectionately called my Gratitude Hike. The

past 7 months I have been blessed with added strength, energy and mobility.

Because of this I decided to go on this hike to express my gratitude for all my

blessings. I wanted to share this

experience with my friends at .

My hike took me to the second highest peak in the Wasatch Range, which is at

11,750 feet in elevation, called the Timpanogos Peak (boy was the air thin).

The trail I took was called the Timpanogeke Trail and it was 7.5 miles to the

peak with an elevation increase of 4,450

feet (making the round-trip distance of the hike 15 miles). Along the trail I

came within 50 feet of two moose on the way up. I also saw several hawks, pot

guts and squirrels.

I stopped to pet a group of bumble bees who were gathering pollen on a patch of

wild flowers (if you have never petted a bumble bee you have got to try it –

they are extremely docile and will usually let you pet them or they will just

fly away, it takes a lot to get a

bumble bee to sting). On the way back down I had to literally walk through a

heard of mountain goats. I guess they are getting ready for winter because they

were already sporting thick, beautiful, bright-white coats.

Near the top of the mountain is a glacier lake called Emerald Lake because of

its color - very beautiful. From the peak you can look in one direction and see

the Provo Valley and see Utah Lake, another direction and see the south end of

the Salt Lake Valley, another

direction and see parts of Park City and another direction you can see the Heber

Valley and Strawberry Reservoir. Oh what a grand view.

The entire hike I kept my thoughts on things that I was grateful for. I ended

the hike with a lot of insights about myself and life. Life truly is

wonderful.

Matt