First Peak Of The Year

A couple of weeks ago a friend and I set off to climb Mt. Timpanogos, the beautiful mountain that overlooks the Provo-Orem Area. We headed up one of the two trails that would take us to our campsite for the night. After about an hour or hour and a half of hiking the trail just disappeared. We had a swampy mess to the right and thick trees and shrubbery ahead and to the left. We plodded around for about an hour, even following some moose tracks at one point, in a effort to find the trail. We were only a half mile or so from our destination, the saddle of Big Baldy and Mt. Timpanogos. Eventually we decided we had to give it up and head back to the car.  So much for that.

Yesterday I decided to head up the Dry Canyon trail, the trail on the other side of Big Baldy, to both scout out that trail, as well as get in a good workout. It's a great trail and I was making good time when I came to a fork in the trail and followed the hoodoo trail marker left, it looked like the direction that I remembered seeing on Google Earth. After I headed up that trail for a little bit it became apparent that I was on the wrong trail, but I decided that I'd stay on it as it appeared to go to the Big Baldy summit. I'd never been to the Baldy summit and it sounded like fun.

The trail got really steep really fast; tight switchbacks that looked more used by deer and goats than humans. I was awfully glad to have my Easton Trekking poles. I had to stop frequently to catch my breath and keep the sweat down. Once it started to get dark I decided I'd better find a suitable spot to sleep for the night. I kept heading up but everything was so steep that I didn't feel comfortable sleeping there. Luckily it was a fairly warm night, I only had on my micro-weight Smart-Wool long sleeve shirt, which kept me comfortable.

I looked up and saw that I was closing in on the Baldy summit and the ground looked like it leveled off about 30 ft. below the summit so I figured I'd just keep going up. My legs were getting pretty tired by now and pretty soon every last bit of light was gone. I spotted an old gnarled tree down on the ground and decided that it provided enough protection to keep me from rolling down the mountain in the night.  I threw down my nylon tarp and sleeping bag. I had been craving the candy bar, that I picked up on the drive to the trail head, for the last hour but I didn't want to break into it until I was in my sleeping bag and settled for the night. Finally I was in my bag, the ground had a few more rocks that I had counted on so it wasn't the most comfortable spot, but I didn't care. I tore into the candy bar and probably ate it in two bites. Then I tore into the other one that I had bought just in case I needed something in the morning.

My bivy elevation was about 8400 ft. The night was long and fairly sleepless. I did get tired enough to sleep for about 3 hours at one point. Around 5:00 am, the wind picked up and was whipping my nylon tarp, which I had placed under and over my sleeping bag. It was at this point that I realized just how much I liked my Big Agnes Storm King down sleeping bag. I've tried using mummy bags in the past, but I'm too big and I feel way to restricted in them. Not to mention that I toss and turn a lot in my sleep so I never stay on my sleeping pad. The Big Agnes sleeping requires you to slide the sleeping pad in to a flap on the bottom of the bag which keeps you from sliding off. The bag was roomy, but still plenty warm. I was able to roll around in the bag and sleep whichever way happened to be the most comfortable at the moment. I also have to mention how durable the bag and the Big Agnes insulated dual core sleeping pad.are. I slept on some sharp rocks and the tree I was up against was covered in splintered wood and sharp broken branches. When I checked the sleeping bag and pad yesterday everything was in perfect condition despite rubbing against sharp objects all night.

Around 7:00 am I finally got myself out of bed, besides nature was calling. I got everything packed up and decided to head for the summit. I left my pack where it was, got a big drink of water grabbed my trekking poles. The lack of a 35 lb. pack made the going much easier, but it was still steep and slow. I finally got near the summit and found, to my dismay, That the actual summit was about 300 meters further. Pretty soon I reached the snow line and had to work through knee deep snow for a while until I found some footprints from someone that had probably been there the day before. I used those footprints to keep from adding to the snow that was working down into my hiking boots. The day before I wasn't sure I liked my Scarpa Kailash hiking boots. They have a Gore-Tex layer which makes them waterproof, but also contributes to swampy feet in warm weather. Except for the snow that was slowly melting in my boot, my feet felt warm and dry, even after going up and down the mountain in shin to knee deep snow. I now know that I have a great waterproof alternative to my Scarpa Mont Blanc mountaineering boots when I know I'll be hiking in deep snow.

I finally got close to the summit and found the snow on the ridge line to be nicely compacted and wind blown to a hard crust. This made me feel at ease with regards to avalanche danger and made climbing the last hundred yards much easier. I made the summit, It's not much to speak of. In fact I lived here for 8 or 9 years before I even found out that Big Baldy had a name, it was just a steep mound in front of Mt. Timpanogos. The summit elevation is about 9000 ft. I managed to get a few photos of Mt. Timpanogos and the Everest Ridge line that I want to use when I summit that peak from the west face.