Malan's Peak

 

Today is our last day of Summer vacation.  As we have our last lazy non-scheduled day I thought it was fitting to remember one of our favorite summer adventures.

We hiked Malan's Peak as a family.  Elevation 6,943.  We left at 7:00 am to beat the heat and surprisingly, made it home well before lunch time.  I think my pack of snacks and water almost weighed as much as Dean's pack with sweet Sadie.

Starting out. Beautiful Taylor Canyon.  It's been the backdrop to most of my life.  It kills me we don't have the mountains right up the street anymore.  We almost made it to the first bridge before we stopped for water.

 Grandma Jojo had never been to the top of the peak before.  This is the second mountain we've climbed together.

At the look out.  The halfway point.  The peak looks deceptively close.

Pointing out Grandma's house, their old elementary school and the university.

Ben Lomond Peak in the distance.

Ben on one of his many "short-cuts"

They all beat me to the top.

Sadie almost made it.  After all that "hiking" she was just worn out.

You can see the Gummy Bears Dean used to bribe Alan and Sadie to keep going.

Coming down you use all the muscles you didn't use going up.  Muscles most of us forgot we have. I hadn't been to the top for a few years.  We have a goal to do it again next time we visit.  It will be December by then and the trail might be dusted with snow.  Another chance for us to remember that in the end "it's not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves" -Edmund Hillary