It was pretty low key this year, just three of us out riding, Bullet, myself and Arden. There were some organized rides and parties up North, but we would rather just ride than socialize. We went back up to Pine Hollow expecting more snow (from two storms last week), and nicely packed trails. It was 16 degrees when we arrived at the parking lot at 8:30 am, and there was quite a bit more snow from last week. The road was completely covered with about 4-6 inches of snow. There was a couple from the Forest Service at the parking lot and told us they had groomed some trails at Timpooneke. The riding up the road was nice, though there had been lots of foot traffic so lots of divets.

Heading up the Alpine Loop Road from Pine Hollow.

Arden at Timpooneke Trailhead.

Timpooneke Trailhead

We had hoped to ride Trail 150 out of Timpooneke but unfortunately it was not packed out. We got about 40 yards before we were wiping out in the soft, deep snow. But the Forest Service had groomed a nice trail through and the around the campground, though it was only about 1.5 miles or so. The trail was in excellent condition and the views of the North summit of Mt. Timpanogos were pretty spectacular.

On the Timpooneke Loop

We did a couple laps there, then headed back down to the Alpine Loop Road and headed up to Salamander Flat. The riding was not ideal. Surprisingly there were no other bike tracks, just foot and ski tracks. It was quite soft in places as well and left us wallowing a bit. Surprisingly we didn’t see very many other fat bikes, maybe 6-7, mostly coming up as we were headed down.

On the Alpine Loop Road near Salamander Flat.

Hopefully the other trails will get packed out in the coming weeks. It was a nice, cold clear day up there and we had a great time. For the ride back down to the parking lot, we bundled up with extra layers and heavier gloves and were glad we did as it was quite cold zipping down the road.