August 23
WiFi is iffy in the middle of Utah. I will add comments tomorrow. That is if the lodging in the Grand Tetons has WiFi.
Turns out the WiFi at Signal Mountain Lodge in Grand Teton NP is excellent.
Is it not amazing that one can go from the East Coast to the West Coast in a few hours? Then, when factoring in the time zone differences, it is almost as if you just woke up. I was headed out of Salt Lake City airport by 11:30 AM to reach Timpanogos Cave NMon. SLC appears to be starting a 2nd phase to upgrades/expansion. The first phase looks pretty darn good. This is one nice airport. I-80, and therefore I-15, is right outside the main terminal, so folks can get a move on. About 25 miles south on I-15 and I was turning east on route 92. This road has three lanes in each direction. Two are for those vehicles which need to stop at all the lights. The third is the “commuter lane”, skipping all the lights. The two commuter lanes are separated from the others, horizontally and vertically, going under the bridges which were the connections to the intersections. You may have to see it to understand it. This was great. After a few miles the nice roadway turned into a narrow 2-lane path which followed the American Fork Canyon. Thankfully, only a couple of miles until the entrance to Timpanogos. You must have a reservation for a cave tour. If your tour is 3 PM, you are expected to begin hiking the 1.5-mile trail at 1:30 PM. This is an 1,100-foot elevation hike at 15% grade. Ouch. Some folks were struggling more than others. There were four or five “Health Station Stops” along the way, with signage reminding you to check your heart rate and to drink water. Oh yeah, portions of the trail are on active rock slides. The rangers said if you saw red/yellow dashed lines on the pavement, quickly move forward without stopping. And if you were to hear something like plastic bottles cracking, hug the inside of the trail and protect your head.
The ranger who led the group was a graduate of Ohio State University. Please forgive me Buckeye fans; The Ohio State University. She cannot wait for the Michigan rematch in November. She led us through three caves. Each was naturally separate from the others. The NPS has cut two tunnels so there is a path from beginning to end. We toured the Hansen Cave first, it being discovered in 1887 by Martin Hansen. The ranger pointed out the natural entrance, well above our heads which had just come through the manmade entry door. The story is that Hansen had seen the tracks of a mountain lion going up the steep slopes of the canyon and decided to pursue. It seemed the cat had gone into the cave. Not knowing what was inside, Hansen cautiously took his time over the next days and weeks to explore this new discovery. The ranger had us turn off all lights so we could experience what Hansen would have seen. Basically, no light, so a good idea for him to take his time. Timpanogos Cave was found in 1913, with Middle Cave discovered in 1921. The path through the complex is paved with a few stairs at the end. One of the more interesting sights was the red, purple, green, and yellow hues coming from various crystals, when a flashlight was put behind them. This is due to zinc, iron, or other minerals being caught in the seeping of water through the caves and depositing the solids.
Our group had a band of youngsters who kept offering up good questions for the ranger to answer. She was impressed by their enthusiasm (the rest of us were too) and targeted inquiries. I will say it again… great to see kids getting out to the national parks. Keep at it all you parents.
The ranger staff at Timpanogos was awesome. They said they will start following my trek and asked if I would say “hi” to their sister parks; Fossil Butte and Golden Spike. These three parks have the same Superintendent so are considered “sister”. This was like Saugus Ironworks and Salem Maritime, among other combinations I have previously mentioned. I will be at Fossil Butte tomorrow.