Westley, Mindy and I started hiking Mount Timpanogos (in the dark) at 5:00 a.m. from the Aspen Grove trailhead. Westley and I summited at about 12:40 p.m. (Mindy hiked up to the saddle--just 800 feet below the summit--but didn't make a summit attempt.) We made it back to the car at 5:00 p.m. for a trip total of 12 hours, 16 miles, 4,850 vertical feet, with a 11,750-foot maximum elevation.
I was glad we started the hike about an hour and a half before sunrise. The air was cool and crisp, which, I think contributed to us making great time on the first part of the trail. The darkness also helps you keep focused on hiking--putting one foot in front of the other. I also enjoyed seeing other people's headlamps as they made there way up the trail above us. Finally, watching the sun rise about an hour after we started hiking was awesome.
Except for one steep section just before the saddle, it is one of the best-designed trails I've ever hiked. You climb 4,850 vertical feet almost without ever breaking a sweat or getting winded. Of course, that means there are tons of switchbacks, and so the trail is long (8 miles one-way).
You climb the nearly vertical headwall of Primrose Cirque to a beautiful hanging valley via dozens of switchbacks. From the saddle, you climb up a steep cliff (with several thousand feet of empty space below you) through a slot loaded with switchbacks. On the summit ridge, switchbacks mitigate the dangers of scrambling straight up the steep scree. Without these switchbacks, several sections of this route would involve some rock climbing or, at least, steep scrambling with exposure.
One thing the switchbacks don't help, however, is the intense vertical relief of the terrain below you. For example, in the slot section switchbacks right after the saddle, there are thousands of feet of empty space below you that's only 10-20 feet horizontally away from the ground upon with you're standing. Basically, you're ridiculously high up and you're walking on ridiculously steep terrain that wouldn't be possible if it weren't for the switchbacks.
I almost turned around at one point after the saddle because I wasn't sure I could overcome my fear of the (mild) exposure ahead. But I overcame my fear and just kept going, which was good because the summit views were awesome. The hike back down to the saddle was actually much easier on my psyche. I felt completely comfortable on the way down, which helped eliminate the anxiety I felt while hiking up from the saddle. In fact, I had told Westley on the way up that I would never again hike above the saddle, but on the way down I reversed that declaration. I would definitely hike to Mount Timpanogos' summit again.
More coming soon, including additional commentary on the following...
- Hundreds of people on the trail
- Idiots among most of those hundreds of people
- Idiotic/dangerous behavior (people pushing boulders off of cliffs with people below, people touching off rockfalls by not stepping carefully, people throwing rocks off cliffs with people below, people sliding down the steep Timp "glacier," people taking a steep route down said "glacier" that ends in Emerald Lake instead of taking the less steep route that ends on dry land, and much, much more)
- I've never seen more unprepared people on a trail in my life--significantly overweight people, people wearing sneakers, people wearing sandals, lost people, people carrying (in their hand) only one bottle of water, people wearing street clothes, and more
- The steep section up to the saddle
- Fear on the hike from the saddle to the summit
- Overcoming that fear and summiting
- The long, painful hike back down