When driving through Northern Utah County looking east is a wall of mountains known as Mount Timpanogos. The ridge is huge and intimidating to look at so of course I thought “I want to hike that ridge”.
American fork canyon gives access from the North West, Provo canyon gives access from the South and there are a few dirt roads that come in from the East, all though they are only open part of the year. Provo canyon and American fork have a connecting road called the alpine loop; this is a scenic by way and has many hiking trails off of it. The most popular trail is timpooneke trail; this trailhead allows a hiker many choices. The Great Western trail which will lead you through some of the most beautiful country you will ever see, also many canyons and ridges have trails through the area, and the most popular is to hike the summit. The other summit trail is Aspen Grove; it is just above Sundance ski resort in Provo canyon, is where I began this experience.
I started at 5:00am so it was dark for the first hour. Right off the bat as I walked up the trail I jumped a moose, kind of scary in the dark because it could kill me, luckily it just ran down the hill. Just after light as I reached 10,000 ft I saw some fresh poop and tracks in the dirt. I always get excited when I find animal sign it is so fun to know they are near. It was not to long after I heard some rock fall above me, looked up and saw a mom and her kid scaling the cliffs above me. They move on steep terrine so easily; I just stopped and watched them for a bit then picked up the pace in hopes of seeing them again or even more I hurried up the switchbacks and entered a basin and scanned the area of wildlife. As I walked up the trail it wasn’t long until I saw a goat then another and then more, it was a small herd resting in a small grove of trees. They didn’t seem too concerned that I was there as they rested there and grazed slowly.
I had a goal that day of hiking all the peaks in the Timpanogos circ and the ridge from South to North so I cut my watching short to continue on my way. Once again as I crested another rise I spotted some more mountain goats ahead of me and sped up to catch them. This is when the experience went from good to great, I caught up with the herd and realized that there where more than 40 goats and I was in the middle of them. They were every where around me and didn’t care that I was there. I sat down on a rock and just watched them play and interact, some being less than 20 feet from me.
I have a hard time distinguishing mature males and females and even this close the only difference was in the width between there horns so after a while of trying to tell the difference and resigned to watching the kids play. That was fun; they are just these balls of white fluff with legs, as my wife would say “Oh so cute”. They would run up the hillside as fast as they could jumping and chasing each other around, and from a dead stop jump 3 feet off the ground, turn in mid air land and try to ram there friend. The agility and power they possess is astounding. It is great to see a creature that has adapted so well to its surroundings even at a young age. I watched for about a half hour before I got a little cool and thought I had better move on.
I Climbed up the trail to the upper section of the Timpanogos Basin where the shelter is located, also the glacier, and Emerald Lake. Looking to the left the prominent peak is Roberts Horn to the right is the glacier and straight ahead a massive cliff with the peak on top. To reach the peak a trail follows the base of the cliffs North East and climbs to a saddle and back to the South West along the top of the cliffs to the top. My plan was to go up the glacier and to the Southern peak on the mountain, right after I summit Roberts Horn. There wasn’t a defined trail just the path of least resistance to the top. Roberts Horn is only 10,993 feet almost 800 feet lower than Timp but gives a great view of the basin and a beautiful scene looking down the valleys below. The weather was a bit unsettled and it looked as though a thunder storm was blowing in. This made me a bit nervous because if I got soaked I would have to go down. Fortunately it missed me and all I saw was a temperature drop and a few sprinkles.
I didn’t know what to expect climbing the glacier I had never been on it so late in the year. It was very hard but not slick and was cupped over the entire thing which gave it the look of a lake when a breeze blows over the top. It was easy hiking to the top except for some mud as I left the glacier and crested the ridge. The slope to the South peak was treacherous; a cliff on my left and a scree field on the right. I had to be so carful; at times the rock would start sliding and small land slides would pull me down the mountain until I could move out of it. When I reached the top the ridge kept going but I decided that since this was the highest point south I would start the ridge traverse here.
I did my best to run the ridge but had to use the trail to get around a few cliffs. The summit of Timpanogos was the next peak. By now the clouds cleared and a cold wind was blowing. I huddled in the shack on the top and ate some food for 10 minuets before I went on.
On the ridge there were 6 points I considered peaks because there was 200 feet, or more, of climb from their “key saddle” to the top. I followed the ridge as best I could from one peak to the other. As I hiked I kept seeing one or two Mountain Goats perched on cliffs that seemed to have no real access. It wasn’t until I was nearing the northern most peak on Timp that I started seeing dozens more. I never got too close to them because I was on the ridge and they where sitting in the shade on ledges below me. I would love to take a day or two and just try to follow a herd of goats to see how they get to some of these places, may be I would find it is not even possible for me to go where they can go.
After all of this I had an 8 mile hike back to my car and with me I took a lot lf great experiences and memories. It took 8 hours to complete; I saw 76 mountain goats and have no evidence because I forgot my camera.
