Part 2: Timpanogos Cave Lehi, UT

20090526

Navigation Links
 Trip Home Page     

 


The Trip

We spent the night in a motel in Lehi, UT after having remote camped for the previous 4 nights. The accommodations were more than adequate but the real benefit was the coin laundry and internet connection. Our plan for the day was to visit Timpanogos Cave, restock supplies and then generally head north avoiding the interstate to the extent possible.

The Photos

The photos below are what we saw.

Timpanogos is in American Fork canyon. The terrain here is very steep and rugged.

The hike to the mouth of the cave was "strenuous". Those were the NPS words. My word is "killer". It was steep and narrow, but the view was awesome. Above is a view looking west out toward the Utah valley.

We had to hike up about 1500 feet vertical to get to the opening of the first cave.

Timpanogos is actually 3 caves that were joined in the 1930s by a tunnel system. This is a live cave, and as such, it is wet all the time.

A number of the nicer structures in the cave were damaged or stolen in the early years of being open to the public. Above, you can see a broken structure.

In addition to the normally white calcite, some of the structures were tinted with other minerals to result in a multitude of colors: reds, tans and pale greens.

As stated above, Timpanogos is a live cave and there is water everywhere. The tour takes us past an underground lake with water dripping in from the ceiling.

More structures with tinted colors. Note the chocolate brown color.

There were a number of drapes that were nicely formed.

More colored stalactites against a white background.

Many of the flow stone structures were tinted as well. Some looked like chocolate sauce on ice cream.

The moisture on the stone was easily visible.

Many of the structures had actively dripping water on them.

Droplets are visible on the bottoms of these structures.

The water makes the structures glisten in the light of the flash.

Cave "popcorn" was present in many areas.

I wish I could recall the formal name of this type of structure. They are quite rare.

A big bank of flow stone.

Flow stone with chocolate sauce.

After we finished at the cave, we had to walk down the 1500 foot cliff. Above, we got a great view of the valley below.

The American Fork river was churning with spring runoff. These waters are fast, cold and very dangerous. From Timpanogos, we headed north along I-15 toward Logan, UT.

En route to Logan, we passed many hills that were covered in nice yellow flowers. Later conversations with some folks in Logan revealed that the yellow flowers are considered a noxious weed and invasive species and is much reviled.

We made it to Logan and visited fellow mogger Jud Eades at his business. Like all good moggers, he has multiple toys. Above is his very clean 712 Pinz that will be for sale soon. This rig is in great shape and if you are interested, contact Jud directly. The Pinz just got back from a long weekend at Moab.

Jud also has a nice 1300L.

Another view of the 1300.

We left Jud's shop and he invited us to stay at his home, fed us dinner and then asked us to join him with the local scout group at the local shooting area so we hopped in the trucks and headed out. Above, the boys get ready to set out targets.

While they were shooting, with a little encouragement from Jud, Kathleen attempts to drive up a berm at the shooting site. She failed to make it up and during her retreat, the cargo basket became a plow. The only easy out was to be winched from the upper terrace.

Because of the basket, she could not go backward, so we set up for a winching.

We un spooled the cable and hooked onto Jud's 1300 as the anchor.

Jud's 1300 serving as the anchor point.

It was an easy winch and the only damage was to Kathleen's pride. The basket was scratched and covered in dirt, but no real damage.

We were treated to an excellent sunset that was visible from the shooting site.

Next morning, I got this shot of the mountains across the valley from Jud's front yard.

Timpanogos was a nice cave, but the hike was a killer. I guess that means that instead of just hanging out, I should have been working out. While it was long and steep, we somehow survived. Special thanks to Jud Eades and his wife Sadie for their hospitality and letting us stay at their beautiful home. From Logan, we continued our trip north.


Navigation Links
Previous Adventure
Top of this Page
  Next Adventure
Trip Home Page  
Bill Caid's Home Page

Photos and Text Copyright Bill Caid 2009, all rights reserved.
For your enjoyment only, not for commercial use.