Timpanogos Labor Day Hike

For those of you familiar with the area you know first hand what Timpanogos Mountain is; for those that aren't familiar, Mount Timpanogos is an omnious presence overlooking the Utah valley. Quite possibly my favorite site in Utah, and although several plans have been made in the past to hike it, they never came to fruition... until now.

Early morning (2:15am) on Labor Day Brandon, Katie and I (Millie couldn't come... too prego) started up the Timpanooke trail head - final destination, the summit of Mount Timpanogos. Several people have hiked it before (including Katie and Millie) but for Brandon and I this would be a first. It was obviously dark at two in the morning but the moon was full (basically) and the cloud cover was sporadic. I decided to hike all natural (not naked - just without an artificial light source).

The first few miles I kept back with Brandon and Katie but, no offense to them, I just hike at a MUCH faster pace and theirs just wasn't cutting it for me so I took off alone - almost alone. Before we headed out, Brandon and Katie thought it would be fun to take pictures with their life size cutout of Aragorn, from Lord of The Rings, at the top of the mountain. I volunteered to carry him up. Not only was he good companionship but he also made for an interesting topic of discussion with the groups of other people I passed on the way up (and there were quite a few of them).

It was a peaceful hike up.

At the "saddle" (the first ridge of the top of the mountain that leads up to the summit) the wind was horrendous. Groups of people were huddled in masses on the calm side of the ridge trying to keep warm. I decided to brave the wind and steep trail in the dark and press on to the summit.

I reached the peak a quarter after five that morning and although it was about 70 degrees at the trail head when we started out, it was now about 30 degrees with a freezing wind at the summit. Fortunately there is a small (maybe 15'x15') metal shack at the very peak. I got inside and found three other hikers in sleeping bags. One of them said they arrived at about midnight and were just waiting for the sunrise. I staked out the last corner of the shack and huddled up in my skimpy blanket (that Millie thankfully encouraged me to bring) waiting for the sun. Shortly after I laid down I noticed I was getting wet... very wet. Smart me forgot to lock my Camelback nozzle and using it as a pillow forced the water right out and all down my side. I thought it was cold before then - wet + wind + freezing temps = EXTRA freezing skinny little Jacob.

A few minutes later the crowds started to pour in. It seems that those waiting at the saddle saw me press on and thought I must have known what I was doing and decided to follow suit. It didn't take long for that little shack to fill up and everyone was more than willing to get cozy with one another to keep warm. Nothing says happy Labor Day like spooning between two total strangers (both male) in the wee hours of morning on a freezing mountain top. About an hour later it was discovered that the east side of the mountain was calm and relatively warm compare to the mountain peak and the shanty which sat thereon. Most everyone found refuge on the east cliff face and about half an hour later Brandon and Katie showed up.

The sun (officially) came up a little after 7am and with it brought its welcoming warmth. Not much of it, but what it brought was very welcome. The sun was greeted with revelry by a (most likely) BYU student who brought his trumpet up with him. It was actually pretty cool/inspiring and I wish I would have caught it on video.

After getting our pictures taken with Aragorn we said our goodbyes to him (yep, left him up there for generations to come) and headed down the mountain. just down from the saddle was a heard of mountain goats. The hike down was BEAUTIFUL! The pictures don't do the area justice.

It took me three hours to get up and four hours to get down. We took our time and stayed back with Brandon and Katie for the majority of the hike. I look forward to doing this hike again - probably won't be til next year so Milli can come too.