I know I have been up there plenty of times in the past, but never really went up there to specifically learn about cave formations. This time I was on a mission. Besides, Jay really needed some one on one time with me so we made a date out of it.
It was a nice, cool, overcast afternoon. Perfect for hiking. Jay was so excited to start our hike.
You can't really tell from this photo, but right behind that bush Jay is sitting in front of is a huge cliff. The second I snapped this photo, I made him get back on the trail and next to me.
The fall colors were amazing this day. The pictures do not do it justice, but here is one I took that warmed my soul. I LOVE the fall. My favorite time of year!
Here we are taking one of our few rest breaks. The rangers can make the hike in 45 min since they do it everyday. They said it usually takes twice as long for the visitors. Jay and I made it in 1 hour and 5 minutes.
Once we got inside the caves, the Park Ranger found out that Jay was about to have a birthday. He made Jay his official Assistant Park Ranger on the tour. Here is Jay pointing the flashlight up to where the original cave opening was and showed us the 100 year old ladders still up in the narrow cave. The hike wasn't a piece of cake by any means, but I am glad we didn't have to repel into the caves once we got up there.
We saw some pretty awesome stuff while we were there. You have to be VERY careful to not touch the walls and duck down really low so you don't actually touch any of the formations. The oils from your hands damage the forming rocks. This is one of the stalactites we had to maneuver past on our narrow trail.
The most famous stalactite on the whole tour (and in all of Utah) is the Heart of Timpanogos. It is HUGE.
Further on into the caves, there are a ton of different formations that people pretend to look like something vague (such as the dead mouse hanging from it's tail) But THIS formation honestly does look like the profile of a St. Bernard.
When we finished the tour, we were exhausted but still were having a great time. We were glad that when we finished the tour, the rest of our hiking was downhill. Hence, the relieved smiles we have here.
On the hike down, Jay found an little outcropping in the rocks and decided it was the perfect place to take an apple break.
All I have to do now is write the report of what I learned on cave formations and turn it in. It would be so much easier to just give my professor my blog address. ;)
