Trail Tuesday 7/14
It’s Trail Tuesday, and it’s that time of year. That time of year when we get asked “is Timpanogos clear?”. We didn’t know, and there’s only one way to find out: We (me, myself, and I) went up to Timpanogos to ride the classic Start O’ Willamette/ Windy Passs/ Sawtooth loop, with a side trip to the Sawtooth summit and Indigo Lake.
Oakridge is an area full of special places, but Timpanogos “Timpy” holds an extra special place in many of our hearts. I stopped at Indigo Springs on the way up, and it’s well worth the stop. Many people get water from the springs, and we’re fortunate that the Emigrant fire spared this gem.![]()
Arriving at Timpy, I headed passed the snow shelter and had a look. It’s such a beautiful structure inside and out. Heading up the Start o’ Willamette trail, I fully expected to be climbing over logs, but was stoked to find fresh cuts, Yessss!!! The trail was a bit of a challenge to climb due to some trenching from water, but the elation of finding a tree free trail more than made up for it. Update: some amazing humans on motos with chainsaws cleared this area- thank you!!!
Reaching the Windy Pass junction, the trail was in much better shape, and this 4.5 mile leg is a great low angle single speed climb- brilliant. There were a couple large down trees, but in managed to shift one, as that’s what my friend Matt would have done, go full Hulk mode.
At the Cowhorn traverse junction, the open terrain throws in a few descents as it makes its way to the Indigo extension junction. There are no trail signs there, so be familiar or bring a map. A shorter option would be to drop down to Indigo, but my mission, knowing that the trail was probably clear, was Sawtooth summit!
The approach to the summit involves a bit of hiking, but it’s worth it. Them there is a spur trail along the ridge to the summit, and leaving the bike down towards the main trail is sensible. The scramble to the summit is a bit sketchy in carbon riding shoes, so use caution. The initial “summit” is a volcanic cone, and there’s a slightly dicy traverse to the actual shale covered summit with amazing views towards Diamond Peak and overlooking Indigo Lake. I enjoyed what might be the best cookie ever , the High Five from Sweetvine..
Heading down from the summit, I was getting super stoked to ride one of the spiciest descents around - Sawtooth! And it lived up to its reputation, steep chutes with chunky rocks that required full commitment and left little room for poor line choices. Thankfully I channelled my inner Jedi and used the force to get through in one piece. There are some steep hikes and couple chutes dropping to Indigo Lake that might be best walked, so always look before you leap.
Having survived the tricky bits, it was a real treat to pedal up to Indigo look up at Sawtooth from below, and then enjoy the super flowy 2 mile descent back to the car. It’s possible to achieve ludicrous speed on this section, but be aware of and courteous to the hikers that use this trail.
As I packed up and headed back down rd 21 to Oakridge, I reflected on just how good this loop is, and how grateful I was to whoever cleared it. I had the worlds best cookie, I took pictures of flowers for mom, I survived some solid black diamond trail, I can report that Timpy is clear, I didn’t get eaten by mosquitoes, and I had a swim in the Middle Fork. It was a fantastic day.
This ride definitely has some advanced sections, and packs quite a punch for a relatively “short” loop. I took around 5-6 hours, clearing a few trees and cutting some low hangers. The hike to the summit takes a bit of time, so plan for that if you want to summit.