Trails Before Dawn

This was a killer climb, and very rocky. 966 ft. in the first mile alone.  4,082 ft. overall elevation gain. The front of the mountain looks a little dry, especially during the current drought.  But by mile four, we were running through luscious green trees, and bushes with red berries and yellow flowers.  I was joined by Matt Seeley and Garritt Page. Garritt is the brother of Lalena Page, a former college teammate of mine. Matt and Garritt were mountain goats on the uphill. Pics below are out of order, but you can see exactly where they were taken on Strava . Coordinates to the trailhead: 40.039171596858544, -111.63391146714346

Aaron Jensen wanted to summit Nebo, Loafer and Timp to celebrate his 41st birthday.  I joined him for the first. Eleven people joined the run. We met at Peteetneet in Payson at 4:30 AM and drove to the parking lot just past Mona Road.  The short jaunt from the parking to the trailhead added a little extra distance. It was a beautiful morning. Kyle, Aaron J, Mike, Sean, Jesse, Aaron, Tyler, Zack, Melanie Aaron, Aaron, Melanie, Tyler, Zach, Sean, Kyle, Jesse, Isaiah At the top! Highest peak in Utah County - 11,936 ft according to this watch This was an attempt to put Sean on my shoulder like he did with me two years ago on this run.  (See the third picture on this post .) Heading down. Nebo in the background. We saw two herds of mountain goats.  Aaton picked up some wool to keep his neck warm.