The hike to the top of Mount Timpanogos is 8.5 miles long. Then you have to hike back down. This is a non-trivial hiking distance, particularly when you remember that over the distance you gain around 5000 feet of elevation. The round trip averages 8 – 10 hours depending upon your rate of travel. Link’s scout troop intended to split the hike into two days. They planned to hike, camp, then hike the summit. I knew that the trip would be hard for Link. He has had some hiking experience, but day hikes only. We packed him as lightly as we could, but the pack still threatened to tip him over backwards. However, I trust his leaders. They are all good men and I knew they would take care of my boy. I was right. When the wind, rain, and thunder combined to push Link into a nearly panicked state, one of those leaders turned around with him and walked him back down the mountain. Then drove him back home.
Link was so glad to be home. He was glad to dump his huge pack and change out of his wet clothes. He was glad to be safe inside a house with the storm outside. But when I asked, he also admitted that he felt sad that the storm had driven him away from the hike. He felt bad about being the only boy in the troop who gave up. I knew that there were some people planning to make a day trip up the mountain. I asked Link if he wanted to try joining one of these groups. He said that he did. So I got on the phone. In the end, the same wonderful leader who had walked Link down the mountain volunteered to take him back up.
At 5:30 this morning we packed Link off again. This time he did not have to tote a sleeping bag or tent. He only carried water and food. I know he was nervous about going, but he wanted to succeed. The leader and Link did not reach the summit. They chose to turn around at Emerald Lake, which is 3 miles and 1000 feet shy of the summit. This is fine. I’d actually told Link that not reaching the summit is fine and that Emerald Lake might be a good goal. The important thing is that he put on his pack and hiked again after his fearful return. He picked a hard goal and then he reached it even though it was uncomfortable, hard, and occasionally scary.
He arrived home dirty, with aching feet, and triumphant. We let him have a bath and he watched movies for the rest of the afternoon. But my favorite part was when he sat down to tell me about the things he saw while hiking. He told me about the herds of mountain goats, rocks that twisted his ankles, the island in the middle of Emerald Lake, seeing the other groups of hikers as they went past, how one teenage boy carried his pack for awhile, the big grasshoppers which clicked as they flew, and that he was glad he went. I am glad he went too. He had an adventure and he will always remember it.
I really need to make cookies for Link’s scout leader. Reading between the lines of Link’s account, I’m sure the leader earned cookies. It is a start on paying off the debt of gratitude I feel. It takes a very good man to let a boy try again.