One of natures wonders is right here in Utah County. Timpanogos Cave is 1 of 3 caves in the world that has a particular kind of calcium formation. I went once when I was a kid, but hadn’t been back since. (From that trip the only thing I remember was being scared, so my dad had me on his shoulders. And at one point in the cave his head got cut and required stitches.)
We had a 1:00 tour appointment (when you are supposed to start hiking up). Me and my boys were late getting out the door because Benjamin couldn’t find his shoes. (The curse that is now mine since I always lost my shoes as a kid.) June had already got the tickets and the instructions so she filled us in as we quickly got to the trailhead. It takes most people 1 and 1/2 hours to hike to the top. So we had to hike quickly.
But once we got started, it was quite the climb!! Extreme switchbacks. We had to stop and rest at every switchback plateau. Jess (15) kept saying over and over, “I hate switchbacks!” I was constantly reminding my boys that they needed to stay away from the edge, and to always walk next to the rocks. (And NO throwing rocks either!) Samuel (3) had a hard time remembering to stay away from the edge. Though there was always someone to remind him. Benjamin (5) was always right by my side (or hanging onto my diaper bag). Anthony and James were good troopers. And Jacob LOVED being outside and smiling at everybody that was coming down. The sling was great!
It tooks us nearly 2 hours to get to the top. (Just 1 1/2 miles, but very steep.) When we started the cave tour, we loved the cool 45 degree (F) temperature. But shortly into the tour Benjamin started to say, “I’m freezing!” And within minutes Samuel said, “I’m scared!” Since I was holding Jacob in my sling, I couldn’t hold him too. Cousin Jessica held Samuel’s hand and stayed with him for the tour. The formations were so interesting, and our tour guide was a junior high school science teacher, so he really catered to the young kids in the group. While showing us the long calcuim formed tubes, he said, “See these? They are hollow in the middle, just like a straw. So if you were to break off one of those and drink some soda through it, it would completely dissolve, just like your teeth.” I snickered and said, “Did you hear that boys?!” James wasn’t paying attention and said, “What? what’s so funny?” So I had to quickly explain it. But it was lost a bit in the retelling. I’m always telling my boys that soda is poison.
Halfway through the cave, a man came up to me and said, “This would be a great place to play some Baroque music.” It took me a few seconds to register, but it was James Rhodes. A professional violist that just played a Utah Baroque Ensemble gig with me in April. At the end of the tour he caught me up on his Chamber Music camp that he is holding for local students.
Nearing the end of the tour Jacob had enough and was exhausted. He starting crying and I couldn’t console him. Fortunately we hurried out of the cave and I was able to nurse him to sleep on a bench. Then we began the descent. (After explaining to the boys that they COULD NOT run down, complete with a story of a 3 year old boy that tripped and fell off the side and died. To which Anthony commented, “ouch”.)
On the way back down June and her kids (along with Sam) quickly steamed ahead because they had to get to a toilet. I took my sleeping baby Jacob (in comfy sling), James, Anthony and Benjamin at a bit of a slower pace. All the way down my boys asked, “tell me a story of when you were a kid”. It was a very good time to pass on childhood stories, mistakes that I made and learned from. We had a wonderful bonding time.
The amount of energy kids has constantly amazes me. Samuel nearly immediately fell asleep on the 45 minute drive home, but he woke up when we got home, and was awake until 11:00pm. I was ready to go to sleep at 8:30, but the kids were just as wired as ever. At 10:30 I was reading stories to Anthony and I asked through my own bleary eyes, “Aren’t you tired at all from the hike?'” He looked at me like I was crazy, “No.”
Three days later, my body is still a bit sore! The boys told a ranger, “if our dad came, he’d have a heart attack!” But that’s another story for another post.
