I was going to hike the Lake Blanche trail and continue up to peak 11033 on the Cottonwood ridge and then do some fishing on the way out with my friend Todd, but he had to back out last minute. Since I had already taken the day off from work, I was determined to go hiking somewhere. I decided to hike North Timpanogos.

I determined the safest route for me to hike it alone would be to take the Timpanokee trail up to the saddle and then head north along the ridge, drop down to the north saddle, and then summit North Timpanogos from the south side.

I got to the trailhead and started hiking at 7:10 am. Right at the trailhead there were two ladies that stopped me and asked me to take their picture. We got talking and I found out it was their first time to hike Timpanogos. I told them not to worry and that the trail was a good one. They thanked me for taking the pictures and then said they would probably see me on the way down.

I set a good steady pace and hiked all the way to the saddle in 2:18. I took a break there to refuel and began talking to some guy who had spent the night at the saddle. He said it rained and snowed and was really cold.

On the north side of the saddle there were three mountain goats chillin'. There is a trail heading north from the saddle. That is the trail I needed to take and it passed a few yards away from the mountain goats. It wasn't part of my plan to get butted off the mountain by a mountain goat so I approached them cautiously. I got about twenty feet away and they stood up. They knew I wanted to take a photo so they lined up and smiled.


Mountain goats posing for a photo.

I continued walking past them taking photos and I lost my balance and just about fell backwards down the mountain. Snap! I put the camera away and continued north.


Mountain goats watching me as I almost fell off the trail while trying to take photos and hike at the same time.

The trail north from the saddle started out as a distinct clear trail. I passed below un-named 11288 on the west side of the ridge. Then the trail faded out. So I just followed the ridge over a few bumps to Bomber Peak 11347. I knew the ridge between the two saddles was long because I hiked the ridge with Craig a couple years ago. But I forgot just how long it is.


View south from Bomber Peak.


View north from Bomber Peak.

Soon I was at the end of the ridge before it drops down to the saddle. This is the place, two years ago, where Craig and I decided to turn around and head for the main summit. This time I was determined to make the trek to North Timp.


View of North Timp 11441 from the end of the ridge before it starts dropping to the saddle, just past Bomber Peak.

I could see a faded trail heading up to North Peak but there wasn't much of a trail heading down to the saddle so I made my way winding down through the rocks. Down, down, down. I made it to the saddle approximately 1 hour after reaching the first saddle. Elapsed time 3:20. I looked back. Ugh. I didn't want to hike back up that on the way back. I followed the faint trail up. The trail stays pretty close to the ridge. Before I knew it I was standing on North Timp. Elapsed time 3:40.


View of ridge from saddle to just north of Bomber Peak.

Wow! The views from North Timp are incredible. Dropping down to the saddle and then climbing up to North Timp was definitely steeper and more difficult than it looks from the valley floor. I signed the register, ate some food, and took some pictures. Since I was by myself I had to use the timer on the camera to get some peakjumping photos. It took me about fifteen attempts to get my timing right.


Peakjumping on North Timp 11441. (self-portrait)

North of North Timp 11441 there is another peak. It is listed on topo maps as 11383 but for whatever reason was not included on my list of Wasatch 11ers. So I left everything on North Timp except for my camera and headed down to 11383 to get a peakjumping photo there.


View of North Timp 11383 from North Timp 11441.


Peakjumping on North Timp 11383. (self-portrait)


I really like this photo because it shows most of the main peaks on Timp.
From closest to farthest: North Timp 11441, Bomber Peak 11347, Un-named 11288, Main Timp 11750, South Timp 11722


Peakjumping on South East bump on North Timp 11441. (self-portrait)

On the way down from North Timp my IT band once again started hurting. I made it back to the main saddle with an elapsed time of 6:00. I started down the trail and soon caught up with the two ladies from the trailhead. One of them made it to the Timp summit. The other one made it to within a quarter mile and got dizzy and decided to call it quits.

Finally on the flats in the Timp basin my IT band decided it was ok with me hiking for the next couple hours and I was able to pick up my pace a little. I eventually made it back to the trailhead with a total time of 8:20.

Deseret Peak has always been a goal of mine, but with my focus on the Wasatch 11ers it hasn't been a priority. My co-worker Matt Stanard talked me into it. We planned on hiking it in August but due to circumstances beyond our control we had to postpone it (which was probably a good thing because there have been forest fires on the back side of Deseret Peak and a sign at the trailhead said the most recent fire was on August 9th).

Anyway we got up early and left Herriman at about 5:45am and headed up Butterfield Canyon (We thought this route would save us some time vs. going up to I-80 and around). Winding up the canyon in the dark we passed an unusually large number of vehicles coming down the canyon. Soon we were heading down Middle Canyon into Tooele. Then we cut over to Grantsville and headed south to South Willow. We followed the directions we pulled off the internet from SummitPost.org. It mentioned that the road leading up to the trailhead was closed and that you would have to hike a couple extra miles just to get to the trailhead. I saw that it was posted back in June so I figured that they would have opened it by now. Sure enough we get there and find out that the road leading up to the trailhead is indeed closed and we will have to hike a couple additional miles just to get to the trailhead.


View of Deseret Peak from Pockets Fork - Dry Lake Fork Trail

We started hiking around 7:10am. After 2.5 miles, 1000ft elevation, according to Matt's GPS, and 50 minutes we made it to the trailhead. The condition of the road from where it was closed to the trailhead was not bad at all so I am not sure why it is still closed. We headed up the trail to the fork. We decided to take the left fork and hike up the South Willow Creek trail. I was surprised at how nice this trail is. I even mentioned to Matt that this would be a very runnable trail. A few minutes later we started hearing lots of noises and hollering and looking farther up the trail we could see lots of people coming down the trail - running. In all there were about 70 runners that passed us. After talking to a couple of them we found out that they were from the Stansbury and Grantsville High School Cross Country teams and they had started up the mountain at 4am. Several of them told us it was really cold at the top.

Matt was slowing down and needed more frequent breaks as we got higher. We were getting close to the saddle so I decided to cruise on ahead and wait for Matt there. Even though you can't see the peak from the saddle the view at the saddle was incredible. It was a perfect hiking day. The temperature was just right.

After a break at the saddle we continued. I estimated that at the saddle we had hiked 3/4ths of the total elevation so we probably only had about 1200ft elevation to go and about a mile or so. Matt's pace had slowed considerably. Each time I looked back he was a lot farther back than I expected. As I rounded the next ridge I could see the end in sight so I stepped it up and pushed to the peak. 4:20 elapsed time for 6.5 miles or so.

There was one other guy on the peak and three other people that had arrived at the same time I did. One of the guys offered me a piece of chocolate. That was cool. Chocolate already tastes good, but it tastes way better after a long hike. I sat there at the top taking in the peace and quiet and incredible views. Then another guy showed up at the peak. I asked if he had seen Matt. He said he had passed him way back there. A few minutes later I could see Matt down on the trail slowly making his way to the peak. I remember when I first started bagging peaks years ago doing the same thing, wondering if I had enough to make it to the top, resting every 10 steps, hearing my heartbeat as if it were blasting over the loudspeaker.

Well Matt made it! 5:15. By the time he made it everyone else had left the peak so it was just me and Matt. Matt took a well deserved 1/2 hour break.


Steve and Matt on Deseret Peak


And of course the token peakjumping photo

At the top we had to decide if we would go back down the same route or if we were going to go down the other route and complete the loop. One of the guys I met at the top came up the Pockets Fork - Dry Lake Fork trail and he said it was a good trail so we decided to take that route down.

He was right. The Pockets Fork - Dry Lake Fork trail is a pretty good trail. Only we weren't expecting to have to hike so much 'up' on the way down. The trail drops down pretty fast to reach the first saddle. The views of Deseret Peak from this trail are much better than on the South Willow Creek trail. Then there are ups and downs along the ridge past the second saddle and then finally to some more up right before the third saddle. Then the trail finally drops down, down, down.

There were several places along this trail that have been recently invaded by forest fires, and at one point we were walking right through burnt trees.

Matt was moving pretty slow probably due to a combination of altitude, dehydration, fatigue, etc. so I stopped and waited for him in one of the burnt areas. As Matt approached my resting place a nasty little rock attacked him. Next thing I see Matt on his head with his feet in the air wedged against this log. The first thought that went though my head was, 'oh no. I sure hope my cell phone works here because I'm going to need help getting him out of here.' Fortunately he was ok. Unfortunately I didn't think to whip out my camera and take a picture of this kodak moment, although I did get a good laugh after I found out Matt was ok.

Not long after Matt's dive my right IT band started hurting. It hurt so bad that I actually pulled out my knee brace and put it on. I haven't used the knee brace for several years now even though I religiously carry it on all my hikes.

With about 4 miles to go, I stopped and rested on a nice rock and waited for Matt to catch up. We were going so slow that water was becoming an issue. I packed a two liter bladder and a half liter bottle. Matt brought four 1 liter bottles. He had finished all of his and I gave him half of my bottle. At the rock I ate all my remaining food and finished the little bit left in my bladder. When Matt arrived he was out of water and starting to overheat. I gave him the last half of the bottle. I offered to carry his backpack. I opened his pack to stuff mine in and found that he had an extra half liter.

A little farther down the trail we found another half liter bottle half full. Since the source was unknown and drinking it could be questionable, it became a cooling liquid as Matt dumped it on his head and the back of his neck. A pair of hikers passed us and gave Matt another half liter of water.

As we continued down the trail we reached an area where tall trees shaded most of the trail. We were still slow but hiking farther with less breaks. By this time it was late in the afternoon and the sun had gone down far enough that the rest of the hike was pretty much in the shade. Soon we came to the South Willow Creek Fork. Then to the trailhead where we would have been finished under normal circumstances, but since the road was closed there was still another 2.5 miles to go.

When we made it to the car our total elapsed time was just under twelve hours. It sure felt good to sit down and enjoy the ride home. That's enough labor for one day!

I was looking for a way to share photos and trips reports of my adventures and I found this cool simple php blogger that I have added to peakjumper.com. I'm going to try to add in some of my past adventures and then keep this current going forward.

July 31, 2009 - The longest day of the year. My plan was to hike Kings Peak with my brother Kevin as a day hike on Friday, July 31. I knew I needed to get some sleep before the adventure. So Thursday I went to bed around 6pm.

Well it was too light, there was too much noise, it was too hot, I was too excited, and I wasn't tired. So I started watching TV. Finally at about 9:30pm I dozed off to sleep. 1:59 later I woke up one minute before my alarm clock was going to go off. 11:30pm I got up preped for my planned adventure. Ate some breakfast. Packed my stuff and headed to WVC to pick up my brother Kevin at 12:30am.

I picked up Kevin at about 1am and we headed to the Henry's Fork trailhead. Kevin hadn't slept at all. So he slept in the car while I drove. We arrived at the trailhead at 3:42am and began to make last preparations to begin the hike.

At 3:52am we started up the trail. I signed in at the trailhead and was surprised to see that people actually left their car keys in the sign in box. They must be from ultralight backpackers trying to cut the last few ounces possible. Anyway It was cold and dark and we hiked until a quarter mile past Elk Horn Crossing before we took our first break. We didn't need the break because we were tired. We needed to grab a bite to eat since it had been about 5 hours since the last time we ate anything. It also just became light enough that we didn't need to use the flashlights anymore.

Soon we were passing tents near Dollar Lake. And we could now see hikers on the trail ahead of us. We continued passing hikers all the way up to Gunsight Pass where we caught up with my friend Craig and his family. We took our second break there. Elapsed time 3:30.

As we cruised over to Anderson Pass a scout group coming from the chute arrived just before us. We took our third and final break at Anderson Pass. The last two times I hiked Kings Peak I struggled up the last 800 feet. Although we hiked this part fairly slow compared to how fast we had been hiking we made good time up and made it to the peak from the trailhead in 5:23 Elapsed at 9:15am. That was almost an hour faster than last year.

At the peak we fueled up took some pictures.


Me and Kevin peakjumping on Kings Peak

I was feeling good. Kevin was too. We decided to try to summit South Kings Peak about 1 mile to the south. The hike over to South Kings is not a hard hike, if that's all you do, but after hiking from the trailhead to Kings Peak it is an exhausting hike. We arrived at South Kings Peak one hour later at 10:15am (6:23 Elapsed). We ate again, I finished my water. We took some photos.


Me peakjumping on South Kings Peak. (notice Kings and Gilbert in the background)

Then we headed back to Kings Peak. I wasn't feeling as good this time. We made it back to Kings Peak at 11:31am (7:39 Elapsed). When we got to Kings Peak (for the second time) there was a kid up there smacking golf balls off the top. Kevin shared some water with me and we made our down. Below Gunsight Pass we refilled our water bottles.

We hiked down near Dollar Lake and stopped to do some fishing. Keving brought two fishing poles that collapse down to the size of pens. We hiked down around the stream and we both caught some cutthroats. I landed one, Kevin landed three. After about an hour of messing around fishing we decided we needed to make the long hike out.

I don't know why but somehow while we were up on Kings Peak having a great time the forest service managed to lengthen the trail out by about 10 miles or so it seemed to us. The hike from Dollar Lake out to the trailhead was torture. As we hiked the extra 10 miles on the way out I could feel my body giving out. My right IT band was becoming irritated. I was also starting to feel a blister form on my left foot. I was tired from only 2 hours of sleep the night before and my body didn't appreciate the fact that I was only feeding it Powerbars and trail mix.

At 6:37pm (14:45 Elapsed), we finally made it to the trailhead. I headed straight to the stinky out house and Kevin headed a couple hundred yards down the road to the car. We both changed our shoes, grabbed some food and water and started the drive home. Kevin was asleep within minutes. I was too but somehow managed to stay on the road until Mountain View. I couldn't take it any longer so we stopped at a rest stop so I could take a nap. After 1/2 hour nap I felt much better. We pulled into the Maverik. I filled the gas tank and grabbed the biggest size banana-blueberry slurpee and drove home.

I decided I needed to get out and start hiking before this summer ends. So I finally made it out on July 24, 2009. I decided to hike Timpanogos on the Timpanokee trail. I have hiked Timp 13 times - all from the Aspen Grove trail. I couldn't get anyone to go with me so I decided to hike it by myself. I figured it would be pretty safe since it was a holiday and there would be tons of people on the trail.

Sure enough I got to the trailhead at 6:20 am and the parking lot was almost full. I started hiking at 6:25 am and soon started passing people on the trail. At about 6:38 am I saw a man running down the trail and I figured it was Davy Crockett. My friend Craig had mentioned to me that he would be hiking/running it but much earlier than me.

I continued passing people up the trail. The Timpanokee trail is much nicer than the Aspen Grove trail. There is a lot less sun and it is not as steep. I was making really good time. I made it to the saddle at 2:20 and took my first break to eat some food. Then headed on to the summit which I made at 2:53 (my fasted time ever). At the summit I signed the log in the shack and noticed that Davy Crockett signed earlier so it was him I passed, I ate the rest of my food, took some peakjumping pics of myself, taped an annoying blister, and then headed off south to the glacier saddle.


This is a self portrait from my first solo hike.

I got to the saddle and two other guys were struggling making their way down. I picked a spot I thought looked good, put my gloves on, moved the pack to the front and started down. It was probably the most comfortable glissade I ever had there on Timp. The snow was soft and slushy. It wasn't rough or rocky or bumpy and freezing cold like the last 11 times I had done this. It was perfect. After I slid as far as I could I just ran down the rest of the way with the snow cushioning each of my steps. I made it over to the edge of the basin and sat on a rock to change my socks.

With dry socks I headed down the trail. I knew I was making really good time and I wanted to try and run a little bit on the way down. Unfortunately I have no running stamina so I it was more like run for 30 seconds, walk for a minute, run for 30 seconds, etc. I made it back to the trail head with a total time and new personal record of 5:27.