The spelling of Timpooneke

This is just one of my many pet peeves. I shouldn't let it bug me, but it does.

Timpooneke is the name of a campground and a trail in the Mt. Timpanogos area in Utah County, Utah.

I don't know why, but many people say (and write) "Timpanooke" instead. I guess it's close, but as far as I know, it's not right. I find it funny that local folks (including the press) have a hard time with this name. I'm not going to look up all the history and stuff behind the name (perhaps there is an explanation for this confusion), but here are a few examples:

1) From the Daily Herald on June 06, 2007, 03:43:04 pm:

A man is stranded on the Timpanooke trail on Mount Timpanogos, and weather is keeping searchers from finding him. Utah County Sheriff's Lt. Yvette Rice said police do not know the man's name. The man's wife went looking for him when he didn't return from a day hike.

To their credit, the Daily Herald constantly updates their articles as more information becomes available and during one of their edits, the spelling was corrected. Here is the current version.

2) From a description page on the TERT web site:

From Aspen Grove Trail Head to Timpooneke Trail Head - go 5.7 miles on 92 and turn off at Timpanooke and go about 0.5 miles.

TERT is a great organization and one in which I have membership. This just shows the extent of the confusion.

3) In the original incarnation of an article about a boy who was killed by a black bear, KSL used the Timpanooke spelling repeatedly. It appears that they corrected it in the current article, now that they also have a picture of the campground sign on their site:



Whatever...