Just a heads up – from about 2020 onward the posts on this blog are much less frequent. Keeping it up to date is just too time consuming. Big adventure runs still get posts…sometimes. But the “places” tags aren’t as comprehensive as they once were.
After years of staring up at the ridgeline extended south from the Mount Timpanogos summit and curving southeast up Provo Canyon, I finally traversed it. It was significantly rougher going than the ridgeline that extends north from the summit. The day was beautiful but I moved slow and the hours took their toll. In the end it was about 17 miles with over 6,000 ft. of climbing. Map and route details on Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/15642067179
Robert’s Horn looms over the Mt. Timpanogos Trail from Aspen Grove and I’ve passed by it many times on my way to the main summit. Today, I decided to forego the Timp summit and to do this subpeak. It was great to get away from the crowds. Once I broke off from the main trail just past Emerald Lake I had the mountain to myself and didn’t see another person until I got to the Primrose Overlook. How did I…
Another birthday outing present to myself. This time I eschewed the main Timpanogos Summit and shwhacked my way up to East Peak – a seldom-visited spot on the east flank of the Timpanogos massif. Accessing it from the Aspen Grove trail was easy. Instead of going back the way I came, I descended southeast off the saddle below East Peak into the Stewart Falls drainage below Big Provo Hole and Cascade Cirque. If the descent down from the saddle hadn’t…
A good portion of my teenage years in Bellingham were spent mountain biking on Galbraith Mountain. Back then it was a bit sketchy. You had to climb over some fences, ignore some “no trespassing” signs that others had assured you were put up by curmudgeons and weren’t valid, and regularly get lost in the labyrinth of trails up there. Now it is public land and VERY well-developed with signage and such. It’s nice to see it being managed and accessible,…
When it stays light until 10:30 PM up in my hometown, you’d better take advantage and do some evening hikes. This was a new one for me. I never explored this area on the east side of Lake Whatcom when I was a kid. Just gorgeous.
Was going for the summit but by the time I hit the meadows below the traverse to the saddle, I was just feeling hot and crabby and tired. SO…I called an audible to check out the B-25 crash site, which I hadn’t done before. Very cool. The mountain was a beautiful as ever. You can read a bit more about the crash on the Intermountain Histories project that I manage and edit.
The southwest ridge approach to Big Baldy is a beast. I love hitting it before it gets too snakey. Took Matt up for his first summit. Found a horned lizard on the ridge.
Didn’t I swear I would train before doing another 50k, self-supported or as a race? Yes. Did I train AT ALL for this? Nope. Still great.