I hiked this trail on September 15th, 2011. It was by far the most beautiful day I had experienced during my week in Utah. I found the trailhead parking lot and headed up the stairs to the trail. I hiked through a canyon with a little stream running through it. The trail exited the canyon and opened up to this meadow of tallgrass and bushes before ascending the ridge to the top of Mt. Baldy just outside of Orem.

The trail that led to the summit was a quad killer. It was by far the toughest trail I hiked out of the 4 trails I hit in my week here. The trail was a “switchback” that did not switchback. This was a vertical ascent that tested the limits of my physical ability as well as my mental toughness. Thank-you Jesus for trekking poles.

Early in my ascent I made a friend who was curious as to what I was “up” to.  I followed my friend for a few minutes unitl she disappeared into the brush. I later saw her and a friend closer to the top of the mountain.

Although the hike was grueling, the views were by far worth the effort. Although I am a short person, I felt like I was on top of creation.

A little farther up the trail I met another friend. He was not as curious and happy with my presence as my previous companion. He was also right next to the trail and it was unsafe for me to pass as there was a drop-off on my left and a deadly snake to my right. After some rebuking in the name of Jesus and a call to my wife to pray, he reluctantly agreed to go on his way and let me pass. Thank-you Jesus for watching over me.

The previous two nights I had hiked near Sundance, Utah on the east side of Mount Timpanogos or “Timp” as the locals call it. This is a view of the west side of Timp. When I saw the rattlesnake I could have turned around. I probably should have turned around. As I got higher up the mountain the valley below me opened up and the views were spectacular.

The photo above you can see Provo and Orem. The photo to the right is a picture of Utah Lake.

Here is a view of the trail. You can kind of get an idea how difficult it is. The trail is steep and slick. There are a lot of rocks. Which makes footing a surprise at best. I did end up bending the bottom part of one of my trekking poles which snapped off later and I put a hole in my convertible hiking pants on the way down when I slipped and slid down a couple of yards.

It was getting close to 6:30 pm. I thought I was getting closer to the top but found I out I was still had a ways to go. I very reluctantly turned around and headed back down the mountain. I was cautious heading down worried I might run into another snake, but did not see one. My wife Laural asked that I take some pictures of a sunset. Being on the east of Timp the last two nights I could not get a sunset pic, but tonight was the perfect opportunity. It was a good thing I did, the next night it was cloudy and rained and on Saturday I flew home.

While I was in Utah I tried to summit 3 different mountains and failed to reach the summit. Am I cursed because I am a flatlander from Nebraska? There are summits I could have drove to, but that felt like cheating to me. God willing I hope to summit one day, but that day may not come until I reach heaven. I did make it back to my car just after dark, so it is a good thing I headed back down the mountain when I did cause trying to descend that in the dark would have been scary. I was able to snap this pic on the way back.