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| Backpack | 12.00 Miles |
3,000 AEG |
| | Backpack | 12.00 Miles | 12 Hrs | | 1.00 mph |
| 3,000 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | The Summer of Hiking --- all over the place! A last minute decision to spend the night below the summit of Mount Timpanogos was made as I was driving in to UT and saw it looming in the distance, remembered the fun I had up there in my younger days, and wanted something to break the monotony of an 8 hour trip across NV. I literally unpacked the car, got the wife and kids situated with their cousins, backed a backpack, and was off. A late start at 4:30pm but I knew the trail and wasn't concerned. The Aspen Grove trail to the summit is a well graded sequence of switchbacks up a very steep piece of ravine. The waterfalls and wildflowers were turned up to maximum. An earlier thunderstorm had left the air warm and humid. The magic increased when I arrived at the sequence of meadows below the glacial fed Emerald Lake to find an entire herd of wild goats munching on the verge surrounding the trail. Numerous backpackers had set up their tents to face this idyllic scene. I made a bivy near the edge of a ledge overlooking a lower sequence of lakes, the cirque that forms the base of the summit, and the Uinta range in the distance. Distant thunderstorms entertained me during a quick dinner, interrupted only by a momma and her kid who chose to walk right through my little camp. With rain seeming imminent, I made hasty clean-up, got the pack covered, jumped in to my bivy and battened down the hatches. Brief but intense bouts of rain and wind interrupted my sleep a couple of times during the night -- the pleasure of a bivy is found in the hike up the mountain, the curse, when you have to hole yourself up against rainy weather, making sure the top flap always extends over the bottom flap lest your whole bivy fill with water! This inconvenience notwithstanding, the cool air and raging wind were a welcome change from the heat that accompanied us in our recent trip to Yosemite. Over 100 degrees there! Here, it probably got down to the 50s and I snuggled up and fell asleep to the sounds of rain hitting the bivy directly above my ear, and the wind ripping at the fabric. And for all the bivy naysayers out there, I awoke dry and happy with the sunrise and headed back down the mountain in order to get to the airport in time to retrieve my mother-in-law  |
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Wildflowers Observation Extreme
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Route Editor
Route Scout
(does this now constitute an ad?) The falls had a good flow despite the drought and the views were Yosemite --- I mean seriously, that's enough said there. Took the high road back up on the John Muir Trail for a nice look up to Nevada Falls. Carried the now sleeping three year old between my back and backpack in an improvised carrier I now realize she's a bit too big for at 30+ pounds.
. The annoyance of makeshift chopsticks, and the thought of repeating it again the next night put the thought into my head to simply hike all the way out the next day. I got an early start, got my fill of the amazing ruins in Rogers Canyon, and made it up to Reavis before noon. A nice cool breeze and nap in the hammock just below the ranch house made for a great start to the afternoon. The hike out was pleasant and poignant. My grandmother, who I started backpacking with as a young child, had been on the cusp of transitioning and I awoke from my nap to the feeling that I would return from this trip to a world without her. Indeed, she had passed earlier that morning. But my wife and daughters happily met me for some Mexican food after receiving a surprise text sent from the side of the mountain. In all a great trip that I will repeat again come fall.
