Mount Timpanogos
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Mount Timpanogos is the second highest mountain in Utah's Wasatch Range (second only to Mount Nebo). Timpanogos rises to an elevation of 11,749 feet (3,582 m) above sea level. The mountain towers over Utah Valley, including the cities of Provo, Orem, Pleasant Grove, American Fork and others. Timpanogos is a Paiute word for "river of rock" — dominated as it is by large talus cones of limestone and dolomite. Local residents tend to shorten its name to Timp.
Mount Timpanogos is one of Utah's most popular hiking destinations. There are two main trails to the top: one starts at Aspen Grove with a trailhead elevation of 6,910 feet (2,106 meters), and the other starts at Timpooneke campground in American Fork Canyon at 7,170 feet (2,185 meters). They both have a one-way length of 6.95 miles (11.18 km). (Official government sources still assign the trails erroneous distances of 8 and 9 miles.) Hikers climb through montane forest, subalpine and alpine zones. The hike is marked by waterfalls, conifers, rocky slopes and ridges, mountain goats, and a small lake, Emerald Lake, at 10,380 feet (3,164 m). A short diversion will lead hikers past a World War II bomber crash site.
A debate rages over whether the mountain harbors Utah's last glacier. A semipermanent snowfield feeds Emerald Lake; the snowfield is often misnamed a "glacier." In the 1990s, the snowfield melted completely, exposing a crevasse in the talus. The crevasse revealed solid ice beneath the surface. A Washington State University glaciology team analyzed samples of the ice to determine if it was truly glacial, but its results were inconclusive.
Until 1970, there was an annual Provo event called the "Timp Hike" which sent thousands of people up the mountain's slopes. This event was cancelled after 59 years to help preserve the delicate mountain ecosystem. Remnants of the Timp hike can still be seen, such as a stone shelter built in 1959 near Emerald Lake. A smaller metal shack exists on the summit, built as an observation deck complete with brass rods etched with notches that are aligned with various landmarks. Despite the presence of these structures, the mountain was designated wilderness by the U.S. Congress in 1984.
From a distance, by using a little imagination, Mount Timpanogos has the profile of a sleeping woman, which a "legend" says is the young Indian Princess Utahna.