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Show Majestic Mount Timpanogos : I A Friend or a Deadly Enemy? ; . - Mount Timpanogos - majestic to i look at, a challenge to conquer for many, and a deadly enemy to the N unwary or unrespectful. This is evidenced by the fact nine have given their lives to the mountain and its nearby ranges on the Uinta National Forest so far this year, and several others have been seriously injured. Four died in a Memorial Day crash of a small plane near the Squaw Peak Trail in Provo Canyon; one died of hypothermia; .. two died in hiking accidents on the 'I Timpanogos trail; one of other ' causes; and the latest, a 'I nine-year-old boy who drowned in American Fork Canyon. "The mountain looks easy - but it can be deadly," said Kent Traveler, assistant ranger for Uinta National Forest. ' ' People get off the trail, hike on ledges with loose shale, and don't wear proper hiking shoes and other apparel." "I'd send my 9-year-old boy up ' there if he stayed on the trail. The trail is safe. It's off the trails where l the dangers are," the ranger said. 1 "You can hike safely if you will just take certain safety precautions and use common sense," he said. The Mt. Timpanogos Trail is one of the most popular recreation attractions on Uinta, Mr. Traveler said. Over 200 people a day traverse its trails during the summer months by actual count of electronic monitors planted on both the Timpooneke and the Aspen Grove trail heads. There are still great accumulations accum-ulations of snow' on the mountain because of the amount that fell during the winter months and because of the cool spring. "The temperature may be 100 degrees in the valley, but that isn't always so on the mountain," he said. As a result, it may not be safe to leave the trail and hike the snow fields. You can go through the top crust of snow and fall into holes caused by water undercutting the snow pack and going into the natural ravines. Many of these are deep. Hikers planning to make the climb to the top of the mountain, or anywhere on the mountain for that matter, are urged to use winter mountaineering techniques. "Travel with a companion, and let someone know where you are going and when you expect to return. Beware of unstable conditions such as snow bridges, waterflows and falls, rocks bounder fields, shale ledges, and crevasses, all of which may not be visible on the surface," forest personnel say. These hazards are especially present in the activity known as glissading, or sliding down a snowfield. ' ' "Use your best judgment arid never take chances," officials said. Stay on the maintained portion of the trail while hiking. Short-cutting trails increases your chances of having an accident while hiking. Initially when someone takes a shortcut off the maintained trail, the vegetation underfoot, is trampled and eventually destroyed. The topsoil is exposed and compacts from continuous use and the eventual result is gullies which take the trails and parts of the mountainside with them in the event of a heavy rain, with subsequent loss of property and life. Timpanogos : Friend or Foe? |