- Karl Rasmussen, 70, is completing the Timpanogos Hiking Challenge's 15 Wasatch Front routes.
- Timpanogos Hiking Co., founded by Joe Vogel, promotes hiking for mental health benefits.
- Hikers earn badges for completing routes; 7,000 badges were awarded last year.
PROVO — Karl Rasmussen takes to the mountains often.
The retired soon-to-be-70-year-old American Fork man hikes at least once a week. Sometimes alone. Sometimes with a couple of different groups. He wasn't an avid hiker until about two years ago when he decided to go to the top of Mount Timpanogos. That whet his appetite and he's been on the go ever since.
This year he's on a quest to complete the Timpanogos Hiking Challenge, which consists of 15 routes along the Wasatch Front, some tougher than others. He has done seven of them so far, including two of the more difficult ones. Lake Blanche in Big Cottonwood Canyon is a favorite.
Provo-based Timpanogos Hiking Co. sponsors the challenge, which comes with a little reward for finishing each hike.
"There's some challenging hikes there," he said.
Rasmussen said the beautiful Utah scenery is one of the things that draws him to hiking. "We've lived here most of our lives and I haven't taken advantage of some of those incredible places," he said. He also likes how it helps him become physically and mentally stronger.
Escaping the noise
Hiking offers many benefits for the body and mind. It has emerged as one of the most well-documented antidotes to the mental health crisis. It's an opportunity to unplug from the digital world. It reduces rumination, lowers cortisol and restores the kind of focused attention that cyberspace systematically depletes.
Joe Vogel founded Timpanogos Hiking Co. as a direct response to the surge in depression, anxiety and loneliness, especially among young people, since the early 2010s — driven, in large part, by the mass migration to smartphones and social media.
"I think we all just need a break from the screens," he said.
"We use technology where it's useful. But what we really believe is that physical experiences in nature — actual movement, actual mountains, actual people — are what people are hungry for right now. The data on mental health makes that clear. Our growth makes that clear too."
In a cultural moment defined by screen fatigue and declining mental health, the outdoor lifestyle brand says it bet on the physical and the human — and believes it's working. The company scaled to seven figures in revenue in just three years on the strength of its simple, unwavering motto: Escape the Noise.
Vogel, who graduated from Utah Valley University, moved back to Utah after 15 years on the East Coast to be near his ailing parents. He picked up hiking and his entrepreneurial spirit led him to found Timpanogos Hiking Co. He lost both parents in the past year.
"We were super close, so it's just been really hard. But I can tell you honestly, there's nothing that I've found that's better for me than getting outdoors. It's just getting out in the mountains. It just makes me feel better. And I've just heard it from so many people," he said.
Vogel counts Rock Canyon east of Provo and Sunset Peak in Big Cottonwood Canyon among his favorite hikes.
Badges of honor
In 2023, the company started the Timpanogos Hiking Challenge to get people off their smartphones and on their feet. It rewards hikers with badges for completing certain hikes. Last year, it gave out more than 7,000 badges to Utahns and visitors around the world. People posted their hikes on Instagram and TikTok. Badges appeared on jackets, hats and backpacks across the state.
Vogel revived the tradition of giving out badges after reading about the history of Mount Timpanogos. From 1930 to 1971, the Timpanogos Summit Club gave out patches to those who made it to the top of the 11,752-foot peak. Initially, the company only had a badge for bagging Timp, as it's called, but has since expanded.
This year the challenge features 15 badges in two categories: the GOAT Challenge — seven peaks — and the Escape the Noise Challenge — eight destinations across stunning Utah landscapes.
Hikes to the peaks are more strenuous and could last all day, while most of the other trails can be traversed in two or three hours.
"It's very doable this year. We've had some harder years, but this year the hardest one is (Mount) Nebo," Vogel said. "So that allowed us to get more kids and more families involved."
The badges are free. Hikers can snap a photo on each trail, tag a social media post @timpanogoshiking and stop by the store at 252 N. University Ave. in Provo to claim their badge. The first 300 hikers to complete either challenge receive a free shirt.
"It's my favorite part of the business and it's just so cool to see all the different people from all different backgrounds that come in, from little kids to people in their 70s or 80s, and really people from all over the world, too. When they come visit Utah, they hear about it and they participate, so it's fun," Vogel said.
The company hosts Timpanogos Club community hikes every Tuesday and Sunday. They're free and open to hikers of all abilities.
Pando Refitters, a used-first outdoor shop with a commitment to sustainability and trail preservation, and Trailhead Strategies Group, an organization dedicated to supporting veterans and outdoor nonprofits through consulting and community-building with a particular focus on mental health, help support the hiking challenge.
Timpanogos Hiking Challenge
GOAT challenge
- Kyhv Peak
- Sunset Peak
- Mount Raymond
- Frary Peak
- Deseret Peak
- Mount Nebo
- Mount Timpanogos
Escape the Noise challenge
- Timpanogos Cave
- Lake Blanche
- Battle Creek
- The Y
- The Living Room
- Adam's Canyon
- Cecret Lake
- Primrose Overlook
Health benefits of hiking
Dr. Mathew Kampert, a sports medicine physician, said hiking should be thought of as a spectrum.
"There's no reason to really limit what you call hiking," he said, per the Cleveland Clinic . "I think anytime somebody gets out in nature and they're moving from point A to point B and they're getting their heart rate up, you can consider that a hike."
How quickly people might see some of the benefits is unique to each person. So how long you need to be out in nature depends on how active you've been.
"If you're sedentary, just the smallest amount of effort will result in a lot of benefits," Kampert said. "But as you adapt and become more fit, you're going to have to increase the stress on the body by either increasing the duration, the intensity or the frequency."
According to the Cleveland Clinic, there are at least nine health benefits to hiking:
- Reduces risk of heart disease
- Lowers blood pressure
- Combats disease
- Tackles obesity
- Reduces anxiety and depression
- Improves sleep
- Helps build strong muscles and bones
- Improves arthritis
- Helps with balance
