So, I just lost everything I had done. Anyway, I have several more pictures, but these are all I am able to post. The first picture, I believe, is one I took of myself while sitting on a shelf overlooking the beautiful valley below. I am not sure if you are able to see Heber City in the photo, but I could see it from where I was sitting. There is also a picture there of an old lodge. I think they call it a refuge lodge or something like that. It is sitting at the base of Timpanogos' Peak. There is also a picture there of a small avalanche coming down the face of Timpanogos. It wasn't large at all, nor was it dangerous. We purposely maintained a safe distance from the walls in case anything like that might happen. I might add parenthetically, directing my comments to mother: nothing we did was dangerous. We took all necessary precautions and we followed someone else's tracks the whole way. They were wearing snow shoes so they were able to make it up the face and we were not so we would sink to our waists. There is also a picture of me with some mountains in the background. This is just after we decided to turn back.
I must also say that the TImpanogos Wilderness area is absolutely gorgeous. It is teeming with life. Even on the snow field. As we hiked in the snow, all up past the lodge and to only two hundred yards from the ridgeline, there were hundreds of bugs in the snow. There were large ladybugs, flying ant type bugs, moths. It was weird. We were above the timberline. There was no vegetation anywhere near. What were those little bugs doing? I was a little bothered by their presence. Several times I would urge in an audible tone, "Come on little guys; I don't think you are supposed to be here. You will never find food in this snow. I think you should return from where you came." But my admonition fell on deaf ears. They perished there in that barren tundra, their lifeless, congealed corpses littering the snow. How cruel mother nature can be at times. How stupid bugs are always.
We also saw a cute little marmot being devoured by a raven, and later the bones of another unfortunate marmot soul.
So, we turned back and pretty much skiied with our shoes the rest of the way back. It was the most fun. It took about 6 hours of hiking to get to our last point at which we failed and only two to get back to base. I hope you all enjoy the pictures.