Timpanogos Sunset

**For a more in-depth look at hiking Mt Timpanogos, check out last years trip report**

18 July 2015

We headed up the the Timpooneke Trail to Timpanogos Basin last weekend on 18 July 2015 to see what we could find in terms of wildflowers, and to make a visit a little earlier than in the past. Last year I made that trek on August 1st, and the year before that I made it out to the basin on 27 July. I had hopes of finding those little yellow daisy-like wildflowers carpeting the basin, but no such luck. That’s okay – the basin was still bursting with color.

A Room With A View

When we arrived at about 5 PM the skies were seemingly perfect for photography – light clouds blowing around that would catch the sunset light really well. We found some water and set up camp at the edge of a scenic cliff view and then I shouldered my pack to find a nice composition amidst the many wildflowers. Hiking down the trail, I was mostly looking down, looking for a couple of clumps of flowers that could transform the chaos of color into something more appealing to the eye. When I had finally made my way to an appealing composition I looked up and realized a large storm was rolling in over the peak, and fast. I was able to squeeze off only a couple frames before the rain started to fall, and eventually the hail came pounding down. I reluctantly returned to the campsite.

Storm on Timpanogos

Back at the campsite I stood out in the torrential hailing downpour, uncertain of how to proceed. Soaked to the bone, I knew that going inside the tent would really make things uncomfortable later that night. On the other hand, standing out in the rain was not really doing much for me. Five minutes into my rain-standing stupor I looked back towards the peak and realized that the storm was starting to clear. I could see blue skies to the west. Turning and looking farther still I noticed the setting sun was starting to illuminate some fringe clouds with an orange light. It was time to get my butt back out to the flowers. This time I had to move quickly to find a composition that would work, all the while burning precious time while the mountain and clouds lit up like fire.

Timpanogos Storm and Wildflowers

Mamma mia what a treat!

Fiery Timpanogos Peak

The orange light faded, turning to hues of pinks and purples, and finally climaxed to one of my favorite shot of the trip…

Timpanogos Sunset

Recognizing that the light over the mountain had peaked I returned back to the campsite to enjoy the rest of the show with Jhos. She was sitting in the tent, making some images with our Sony RX100M3. Here is one of the best ones, which shows the light in the opposite direction of the mountain peak. This shot is taken from INSIDE of our tent.

Timpanogos Valley Sunset

Winding down for the night we “cooked some dinner” – boiled some water – and enjoyed the last bits of fading sunset light in the valley below us.

Cooking Dinner