Mount Timpanogos, Wasatch Mountains, Utah

Rising above the early-morning fog of Utah’s Heber Valley, 11,749′ Mount Timpanogos provides a sparkling backdrop for a bald eagle as it warms itself in the sun while perching in the frosted branches of a cottonwood tree. Named by the indigenous people to this area, the word “Timpanogos” roughly translates to “water on rock”. This terminology likely pertains to the numerous cascades of tumbling water which flow from the high alpine cirques of this mountain during the spring snowmelt. Vast cirques and basins were gouged into the flanks of this peak by an abundance of glacial ice during the height of the last glacier advance around 20,000 years ago. By 12,000 years ago, most of this ice had melted to reveal the rugged profile we see today. A remnant of a glacier from a much more recent cool period still persists high in a cirque just under the summit ridge. This photograph was captured on 6×7 format film.