Monday, December 21, 2009

On Top of the World

My Mom, Mike B., Kara, and I had been talking about hiking the Wellsville's for several years. I have hiked the Wellsville Mountains once before but I was in high school. We decided to make it happen this last summer but kept putting it off and rescheduling, partly because of my surgery. We finally did it on Saturday August 29th.
We left my mom's at 5:00 am so we could do most of our hiking in the morning when it would be cooler. When we got to the base of the Wellsville's the sun was just starting to rise and it was beautiful.
We did a little stretching before starting our journey.

Here's the gang minus Kara before we started our ascent. Ramsey, Me, Mom, Mike B., and Mary.

The trail was so pretty.

The first few of the valley about a 1/4 of the way up.

Getting closer to the top.

Here we are at the first ridge at the top. The last time I hiked the Wellsville's this was as far as we went. The view was incredible from this point but I'm glad we kept going. We had to stop and take several pictures by this cool rock.
My Mom and a good family friend Mary.

A look over Cache Valley from the very top. It was fun to find our house and pick out other landmarks.
The view into Box Elder County

Ramsey and Mike carried this log for quite a distance so that we would have a place to sit at the top. Ramsey looks real tough:)

We enjoyed a light lunch at the top and sat around for awhile enjoying the view. It was tough to leave.
Kara and I kept singing the famous Carpenters song: "We're on top of the world looking down on creation..." It was so breathtaking up there and completely worth the tough hike.
Luckily the sky was fairly overcast so it wasn't too hot. The hike down was the worst part! The clouds broke by that point so it was really hot. I always hate going down! It definitely is the hardest part for me. My big toe was bruised for several months and my toe nail fell off a couple weeks ago because of it, disgusting I know, but it was worth it. This hike definitely is not for the faint in heart but if I can do it just about anyone can. I highly recommend doing it at least once in your lifetime. I look forward to hiking the Wellsville's again in another 5-10 years or so. Any takers?

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