Monday, June 18, 2012

Spelunking, Our New Favorite - Cave Journey


 I had a fun trip with the kids this week. We planned a few weeks before and picked a day that we all had free. We got online and bought tickets to a cave that is a National Park. 

We met up along the way with Prince and Princess number one and ended up at Timpanogus Cave. We picked an early tour as to beat the heat on the steep hike. 


We got up extremely early at O'dark thirty and had to pay to get into the canyon where the cave is located and then you have to pay per person to go up to the cave and tour it. 


It was $7 for adults and $5 for kids. 


You have to pay $6 a car load for a three day parking pass for the canyon. If we had thought about it, we probably should have explored the canyon while we were there but after the hike we were hungry and hot so we left and found a place to eat. 


The hike is 1 1/2 miles up but over 1000 feet in elevation. It is paved the entire way but along the path, they have red lines which are the "rock fall" area's so if you need to stop and take a rest from the steep hike, you have to avoid stopping in those areas. 

They also have warnings about rattle snakes on the trail. Glad we didn't run into any.

The caves are actually three caves found at different times by different people. The park service dug tunnels through to connect the caves in the 30's if I remember correctly. 


I couldn't believe all the different formations. As I walked through, I couldn't help thinking it kinda looked like what I would guess our colon looks like. I know that is gross but look at some of these formations. It was interesting to see all the different colors of formations as well. Black, white, yellow, green, purple, brown. 


There were formations of all types. Princess number five's favorite was the "bacon" formations which looked like a huge slab of bacon. The cave is known for the "heart" which is a formation that hangs down and looks like an actual human heart, not the hearts we draw. They placed a red bulb behind it and it looks even more like a heart. 


I think my favorite is a little off shoot that the floor is paper thin and covered what once was an underwater river. They have several lakes in the cave which they have to pump out sometimes when it gets full. 


I only got dripped on twice. There are places in the cave where you have to bend, go sideways etc and the ground is a bit slick as it is always wet but they have done a great job of making it as safe as possible. 


The hike had more fear with the steep inclines and no safety fence at some scary looking places than did the caves. However, I wouldn't want to be in them in an earthquake as the fault line goes right through the cave in several places. 


If you are looking for a fun outing, check out the list of National Parks that have caves. Just know that if you cave in the East, you can't go into the caves in the west for a month or so as they are having a bat infection of some kind that is killing off the bats and they don't want it to come west. Little known fact we found out on our journey. 


Wish now we had explored the canyon as well. :-( One impressive thing. There were "Power Walkers" that walk up and down the trail daily. They lapped us. I asked the ranger about it and she said some of them do the trail three times a day. She knew someone that did it 6 times in a day. I was impressed. The girls and I felt like wimps stopping to rest every few switchbacks. 


If you plan on going... Get your tickets online. Before we finished up, the tickets were sold out. Also, if you take smaller children, tie a rope around them and hold onto it like a leash. You can't take a very large pack in and it has to fit in this box like the carry on's at the airport. You can take a child back pack most of the way but they have a place to leave it near the top and it can't go in the cave. There was one woman with a front pack baby carrier. It would be hard to get that through the bend and crouch spots but it obviously worked for her. 

There is one bathroom out-house style near the top which isn't a pleasant experience so make sure you use the facilities at the bottom. 

Wear sneakers or hiking shoes. Some were wearing flip flops but the hike down is steep and I can bet there has been more than one break of a flop on the way down. Tighten your shoes before heading down. We all complained that our toes hurt on the down side from sliding forward in our shoes and I ended up with blisters from that and took my shoes off near the bottom and went bare footed for that reason. Also, a shoe with tread is good in the slippery cave. 

Go early. Our hike up was hot and sweaty but the breeze was cool. On the way down, the people just starting out, the heat of the day made even the shady spots not so cool and the breeze was a warm breeze. I was glad we were on our way down rather than up at that point. 

All in all, the girls and I had a fabulous day. It was worth the trip. I'm looking forward to more outings this summer. 

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