Sunday, August 24, 2008

Hike The Y

Before we left Utah we wanted to say goodbye to the Utah Valley right. We hiked the "Y" the week before we said farewell to Provo. The "Y" is a concrete block letter Y that is on the mountain next to BYU Campus. Here's what Wikipedia had to say:
At 8520 feet (2597 m), Y Mountain is located directly east of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. The Slide Canyon/Y Mountain Trail leads to a large block Y located 1.2 miles (1.9 km) from a parking area at the mountain's base. The Y was built over a hundred years ago as the insignia for BYU. For years the trail to the Y has been one of the most hiked trails in Utah Valley and provides a beautiful view of Provo, Orem, the rest of the many cities in Utah Valley and Utah Lake (the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi). The trail is also regularly used by hikers, bikers, paragliders and hunters to access the backcountry in the Slide Canyon area.

The large white Y on the side of the mountain has become the nationally recognized insignia for BYU and the reason why BYU is often called "the Y". It is made of concrete and is 380 feet high and 130 feet wide (116 by 40 m). No other college in the United States has a larger symbol, in fact, the Y is even larger than the letters in the "Hollywood sign" in California.

You can see the Y in the background on the Mountain - This is BYU campus.


Here's the Y from far away. The dots on the Y are people.



Here is where the trail begins. I'm quite optimistic at this point.


I am sitting on the Y. I honestly thought I was going to die on my way up here. Ryan almost made me turn around and go back, but as stubborn as I am, I was going to make it, or die trying. At this point, I am quite releived I didn't die.

I'm so tired, I almost fell asleep on the bumpy, rocky hard surface of the Y.



Horray, we made it! The Y is behind us.


This was an easy hike for Ryan. (Ya, you don't have an extra 25+ pounds on ya!)



View from the top! It was worth it. (Even thought I almost died!)

3 comments:

Wilkies said...

I think the Y is harder than it looks. I am so red by the time I make the top so way to go, doing it pregnant!

Michelle said...

I like that hike. It's definitely a good workout but it's quick so it's not bad...but I don't have an extra 25 lbs either. Glad you got to do that before you left.

Wilkies said...

Our youth group is referred to as the "Y" :)
Somer