Maps are important

Maps are important to have in your possession and more important to read. I learned this the hard way this weekend. Nicole & I had decided that we wanted to hike Timp. One of us who shall remain nameless (not me...LOL!) had hiked to Timp before and was positive that you hiked past the Timp Caves & then continued on to the top of Timp. So we woke up at 6am (to avoid the heat) and started our hike to Timp Caves. As we reached the additional 2000 ft in elevation to Timp Caves the trail abruptly ended. After consulting with the park ranger we were informed that the trail to the top of Timp started 7 miles further up the canyon and not at Timp caves. Sadly we then hiked back down to the bottom of the caves, drove 7 more miles and then started our ascent to the top of Timp. We began hiking at 9:30am instead of 7:30am. The trail is beautiful and a not too challenging, however it did get rather hot as we were hiking in the middle of the day. Don't worry, I was kept cool by my soaking wet sweaty back. Seriously, it was so gross, good thing I was not trying to impress anyone.

Needless to say, Nicole & I were done hiking about 3 hours before the trail said we were done. It was a long hike down. We ended up hiking 17 miles in one day. However, I do feel pretty cool that I know I have hiked to the tallest peak around these parts (11,000+ feet). As a result I have never had such sore calves in all my life and my toe nail is coming off. So sad.