We tried to hike to Timp Falls, which is a lesser known hike - most people hike to Stuart Falls. Timp Falls however, is half the distance and the views are amazing. It's only about 1 mile each way.
The hike starts above Aspen Grove, which is about 7000 feet elevation, so it's pretty high up. We started to see snow on the mountains, but weren't too worried - it was like 60 degrees outside.
This hike is the same trail that people use to hike to the top of Timp which sits at about 12,000 feet elevation - the 2nd tallest mountain along the Wasatch Mountain Front. The trail is just about 8 miles long to the top and takes about 6 hours. Many people start at 3 and 4am. Not us....we would start at about never o'clock for that hike.
We started our hike, and before long, the trail turned into a small paved trail.....then the small paved trail turned into a huge paved river.
Seems the melting runoff used the trail as a streambed and we were forced to walk in the 1-2" water bed or go off the trail. Eventually, the trail turned back into dry......
Then we hit the snow. We could see the falls just ahead, but there was no way to get to them. It was very obvious this area was prone to avalanches - all the trees, some of them big trees, were all broken, bent, and in some cases, snapped in half from avalanches during the winter.
Then we were blocked by a smooth valley where the snow had slid down and it just wasn't melting. We walked across it, as we saw the trail on the other side, but that lasted about 100 feet and then it was total snow all the way to the falls.
So, we didn't quite make it. But the views were amazing and it was a beautiful hike. We'll be back - maybe in a month or so when the snow has melted.
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| Nice enough looking day..yeah..there's some snow up there in the mountains..but we'll be fine! |
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| Beautiful - aspens and snow capped mountains |
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| Here is one of the slide areas....Of course Jacob had to go out on the snow..can you see him? |
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| Look at all the trees snapped in half....this was the trail - it was an obstacle course! |
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| I love this photo - spring on the left, winter on the right |
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| Can you see the falls up there? Hmmm...wonder if we can make it? |
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| This is obviously where a slide occurred. This was the end of our hike. |
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| We walked across the snow, we could see the trail on the other side, but it only went for about 100' and then it was snow the entire way |
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| Time to head back |
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| Jacob found a snapped tree not quite snapped in half, that provided a bit of jumping fun... |
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| This was a big pine tree- snapped in half. There were no pine trees even close to this area - all the pine trees were about 500' UP the mountain - so this came down with the winter avalanches |
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