Stalagmites,Stalactites, and Caves Oh My!

 We planned a day to have a special outing with just our little family while in Utah, and we decided that because we enjoyed hiking so much we would go to Mount Timpanogos. We didn't even let the website that described the hike as 'strenuous' get in our way. The kids were whining a little bit on this hike, and switchback after switchback I can't blame them, but to climb 1100 feet in 1.5 miles was a big task for these sea level living children. The views were gorgeous and being in the mountains is always a joy when we are back in Utah visiting. Just remind me we need to at least retire somewhere with mountains to climb.

 Taking a little water break, it was hot and it was a lot of up hill, good for the muscles we kept saying!

 Catching up to Dad was our first form of bribery for Mason, then the fruit snacks were pulled out and he was even more willing to hike the hike.

 There were some grumbles and some smiles from this little firecracker. 

 We even helped hold the tunnels up for a moment.

 Still smilin'

I'm not really sure how many bags of fruit snacks Mason went through, but it got him to the top without Mike having to carry him and ruin his back some more, so it was okay in my book.

Tiny spaces to walk through

 The cave was gorgeous inside, and I wish that the pictures could give it justice, but taking pictures in caves is a bit more time consuming than what we had time for. Mason was not a happy camper about more walking, more stairs, and just more moving…and then, they turned out the lights to let us see just how dark it was in there when the discoverers of the cave would have come down. The darkness is a surreal thing, nothing can compare to feeling like you are shut in when you can’t see your hand in front of your face. Mason thought this part was fabulous, he was giggling softly to himself.

Carter standing in front of the "Heart of Timpanogos"

Brennan being such a cool dude in this one

Mason did swindle a couple piggy back rides, but overall he did much better on this hike than the last. 

Taylor and Brennan loved giving us mild heart palpitations by getting as close to the edge of the path as possible. There is no guard, just a big drop off. This made for some fun as we were trying to get them to obey the Ranger’s rules on the way down and just walk—no running, jogging, skipping etc. We just happen to be in a group that had with them a couple special need young adults. When we left the caves we got a small briefing about being safe on the hike down. As we got started back down I loved what one of these young men said, "Did you hear that lady, stay away from the edge, it is danger, danger to the death!" Couldn't have said it better myself!

Love this "Conquering the Mountain" picture of Taylor

Learning about the different types of rock you will find on the mountain

Half way down..the way down goes much faster than the way up.

After Timpanogos we went to Cabella’s, we just HAD to get some new camping treasures(more on those later) and the kids loved the inside of the place with all the stuffed animals. We also were able to meet up with our ‘little brother’ Kirk AKA Elder Kats. These are the moments where I was having too much fun and kept forgetting to take pictures. L All in all it was a wonderful day and one not easily forgotten.