Hiking North Timpanogos 2022

I finally did it. After last year’s failed attempt I thought I’d take the direct route. The saddle was 6.4 miles which took me 2 hours and 40 minutes. I took a brief water break and thought, “I’m going to have this done in 6 hours!”. Well, the next 1.86 miles took another 2 hours and 10 minutes. 2 hours after that and I was finally back at the saddle, followed by another 2 hours to get down.

Hike stats: 4,920 feet of elevation gain. Round-trip: 16.8 miles. Total hike time: 8 hours, 54 minutes.

Let me break this down:

Time to hike the first 6.4 miles, gain 3,700 feet: 2 hours, 40 minutes
Time to hike the last 1.9 miles, gain 380 feet: 2 hours, 10 minutes

The ridge is unfriendly once you’re past Bomber Peak. No real trail. No dangers either, but it’s not an easy walk. In the final push to the North Timpanogos summit, you lose over 600 feet of elevation which you have to make up again in .3 miles, making most of the final pitch over 45° in some spots.

I’m glad I did it, but I don’t think I’ll be doing it again soon. I felt good, no pain during or after the hike, but I put out a lot of wattage on this one and really felt it the next day. I was fully recovered after about 2 days, much better than previous years.

Please enjoy some photos.

3 Mile Stump (this is a name for the stump I just came up with)

View of Timpanogos Basin below Mount Timpanogos. South Timpanogos on left

Timpanogos Saddle, looking south to Mount Timpanogos

U.S. General Land Office Survey Marker, 1914

Bomber Peak, some bomber debris visible in the rock field below

Another well-preserved survey marker, 1914

A look down Pika Cirque and Woolly Hole, North Timpanogos left

The ridgeline is slow going because a) no trail, b) rocky, c) interference from mountain goats

Enjoy some mountain goats:

They don’t seem very concerned that I’m there, or that if they slip on mostly vertical slopes they would die.

Goats. Maybe I should have been more frightened of them.

View of Big Baldy (left), Battle Creek, Chris Flat, and Grove Creek

Uncertain if USPS services this box anymore

The northern end of Timpanogos ridge (not the highest point, but hard to get to)

Some of the views from the peak.

In this clip I’m returning from the northern edge of the mountain (as far as I felt comfortable checking out) to see if I could find a route down from this end. I didn’t investigate thoroughly, but I suspect if there is a route it would be somewhat technical.

Intimidating cliff, but there’s an easy way around it

Shortcut into Timpanogos Basin. Not recommended.

Nature makes better rock gardens than my neighbor

Trail to Emerald Lake visible through the gap

The snowfield above Emerald Lake looking pretty thin this year

Some unknown structure. Would love to know the history of this.

Last modified on 2022-08-18