Hiking Spanish Fork Peak

I stole all the following pictures from my brother in law's, Chad, facebook page. Thanks, Chad! I hiked Timp twice last year; once on the steep (Aspen) trail from which I made it to the saddle, and once from the not as steep (Timpanokee) side from which I summitted. Timp is definitely a challenging hike, but I think Spanish Fork Peak (SPFP) is even more challenging because it is steeper and there are very FEW switchbacks. We, my sister in law Ivy and her husband Chad, made it to the lake despite the difficulty SPFP presented us with all along the trail. Enjoy our journey in pictures with a little bit of commentary:

From the beginning: the parking lot at Whiting Campground in Mapleton Canyon.

The contenders...

Skyler and Forrest from whom we got separated before we even made it to the trailhead. However, my boys had a good day mountain biking, although they had to wait for seven hours (with no keys or entertainment) for us to return. Thanks for being so patient, guys!

Me, myself, and I. The three of us had a great time.

Drake, my trusty steed.

Ivy, my beautiful, courageous, and persistent sister in law. This was her longest hike ever, and she did AWESOME! I am so proud of her. Her big toenail is presently coming off as a result of this hike. Poor Ivy!

Chad, Ivy's husband. Such a good guy and a great (though quiet) listener and hiker. We all know that I do enough talking for those who don't talk so much. Thanks for listening, Chad!

The destination: Spanish Fork Peak (not shown). We did not attain it, but we did make it to the lake which is shown, again out of order, below. These pictures are misleading as they are near the end of our hike and of the few relatively flat places. 90% of the hike was very very steep.

Yay! We made it to the lake!

The trailhead marker. Five lowly miles which felt like twenty five. I am not kidding.

Overgrowth: this is what a lot of the trail looked like. Either this, or rocks, or both.
Can you even see the trail? Crazy.

But look at that green and beautiful mountain top! So worth the trouble.

More vistas.

Into the woods...

Almost there, Ives!

Ivy and I by the lake which we duly dubbed Salamander Lake. There were tons of them!

Undeterred by the salamanders, Drake happily cooled off and possibly drank up some of the babies.

The view from a vista above. Awesome, no?

For me, hiking is always a spiritual experience, and this outing was no exception. Ivy really struggled on the way up, and with good reason because it was SO steep and strenuous. At one point she was more than ready to give up and turn back, but the three of us had prayer together, and she made a complete turn around afterward, even though the descent ended up being harder on her body than the ascent. I am so impressed with her courage and stamina and this hike as a whole is one of my favorite experiences. Ivy and Chad are incredibly strong people and we had an amazing time together. I loved every minute of this experience. I testify that God and Jesus Christ are real, that they love us, and they hear and answer our prayers, even in our most desperate and loneliest times.