February 1, 2003
We were in a winter heat wave. With the temperatures pushing toward 60 degrees, I had to go out and do a quick hike. I had been battling a mile cold all week, but felt good enough to give it a try.
I again hiked up Lake Mountain, behind our house. I was determined this time to go all the way to the radio towers at the top. I started at 5,100 feet elevation. The road was pretty muddy in spots but there was still slushy snow in Israel Canyon. Small streams of water was flowing in the road and occasionally could be heard down in the bottom of the stream bed. With the mild temperatures, this was a T-shirt, shorts hike, until the top which was very windy. The occasional muddy footing slowed the pace down, but it was still a good workout to the top.
The top was incredible. Paul, Ed, and I came near the top a month earlier and should have taken the extra fifteen minutes to go to the top for the view. I could see all of Utah County from up there. It was an incredible view, with a totally different perspective looking down from the west. I was amazed how large the Alpine/Cedar Hill/Highland are looked…packed with houses. The top was at 7,700 feet elevation, so the hike was a 2,600 foot climb, pretty steep. The run down was fast, and the eight-mile adventure took about two hours.