North Timpanogos & Main Summit Loop
I have been eyeballing the Timpanogos ridgeline for years, but have only ever done the main summit. After years of plans falling through, I finally did some of the north ridgeline today.
Starting at the Timpooneke Trailhead, I went up the Timpooneke-Chris Flat trail until just before the Julie Andrews Meadow, then veering off the trail and up towards the NE ridge of North Timp. There was a “trail” that was fairly easy to follow, but wildly steep. Moving through some scrub oak and aspen for a while, the ridge eventually opens up to wide open terrain, with just rocks and grass to navigate. A couple miles up the route enters some jumbled rocks and approaches cliff bands to the right of the Grunge Couloir. There is a nice rock ledge-easy to attain- that backtracks to the right and safely wraps you around the other side of a little ridge. From there, it is a mostly straight-shot up the NE ridge. There are various scree shoots, ridgeline trees to get around, and small rock sections that require hands but don’t really count as “climbing,” but it is otherwise pretty simple. Standing on the North Timp summit felt great. There is a summit registry in a mailbox, but it is hard to find an open page to sign! I wonder if someone should take it down, replace it with a new one, and digitize the entire old one and put it online.
From North Timp, I bounded on down the ridgeline to Bomber Peak and then on to the main trail saddle. Up to that point, I only saw 2 hikers who were making their last push up to North Timp from the opposite direction. I saw a few people between the saddle and main summit, but had the peak to myself. The descent was fairly uneventful. I didn’t bomb has hard as previous trips. Next, I need to do the rest of the ridgeline to the south!
