"I stood at the top of the mountain"

This was the goal for today. This is the view of Camel Back Mountain....at least that is what the locals call it, from my parents home. For over 25 years we have enjoyed the view from the back porch but neither myself nor my father have ever been up on top. Today it was the day to take my Dad up there. You can actually see the Camel, just right of the arrow. The point just behind the arrow is actually Camel Pass according to the Topo Maps.

I picked my Dad up around 9:00 and headed up the canyon. He's doing pretty good for an 81 year old man, yet the Jeep was a bit of a pain for him to get into. His shoulder has some nasty arthritis and he felt every bump....but no matter what...he wanted to keep going. At one point he told me to hold his shoulder as he moved it and you could feel the bones clicking inside the shoulder. Nasty. Therapy isn't helping so he's going to try something different.

After a rather short drive we started to get a glimpse of Springville, Mapleton and Spanish Fork in the distance. The weather was perfect, and even though the temps hit 100+ today it was still rather cool up on top of the mountain.

After just over an hour of driving and almost 15 miles of pavement and dirt from Dad's house we came to a small turn off. We put the Jeep in 4WD and drove the next quarter mile or so rather slow. This was the first my father had ever really been off-roading in a Jeep. I think he was somewhat surprised. Finally we came out on top of the Camel and we were greeted by this wonderful view. The elevation was just over 7600 feet.

Dad had a hard enough time getting into the Jeep that he stayed in and enjoyed the view from the comfort of the front seat. You can see him waving his hand in the image below.

My teenage childhood home is down there....and that is still where Mom and Dad live. In fact, the first picture of this blog was taken from their backyard after the trip was over.

This is looking back at the hump of the camel. You can see the 4wd road that go from the main road to the point that overlooks Springville.

Little Rock Canyon and Springville in the background. The Three Sisters can be seen below. Taken at just about 8000 Feet.

The road goes - and keeps going. You can see Mount Timpanogos in the middle of the frame. Cascade on the left....and the road cutting through the trees.

Rock Canyon - - from on top. Crazy Rocks.

At one point I turned on my Ipod and switched to the Glenn Miller Band for Dad. While I know some of the songs...while I know some of the lyrics...he knew them all. He was singing along to a bunch of them. The trip was great. Story after story came out of my Dad. Many I have heard before....some that I haven't. The stretch from Camel's Back to Provo Canyon was a little longer then I planned but the drive was great.

After hitting Provo Canyon we drove up to Midway and then I took the road up to Guardman's Pass. Once there, down Big Cottonwood Canyon we went and a quick lunch at Five Guys. I figured if we came this far he needed to have a good hamburger.

Total time driving was almost 7 hours from the time I left home to the time I returned. Total miles were 211. Well worth the time. Dad repeated thanked me for taking him up there. He even made me fill up my tank when we got back to town and had to make sure I let him pay for it. Funny.

I don't think my Dad has a bucket list and I wasn't going to ask.....but in many ways I feel like I helped him cross one of the items on his list off. Hopefully the bucket kicking won't come for a long, long time.