All You Never Wanted to Know about Timpanogos Caves

Havilah, Ranger Jody (on my team at school and a park ranger at the caves), and I hiked to the Timp Caves on Saturday at 7:30am and were on the first tour of the season. Because I am a wannabe geologist and because Jody knows a ton, I got tons of facts and pieces of information from here about the geology of the area and other facts. Here are some of the things I learned from Ranger Jody. This entry is dedicated to Dad because he will definitely care about this information.


They blasted carefully through this rock to make the tunnel. On the other side of the rock is a natural fault line.



This bench got abused by a very large rock over the winter. The trail gets abused a lot. Any of the holes or pock marks you see on the trail were most likely caused by rocks slamming into them. When there is that red stripe on the trail, it is there for a reason.



The cave formations in Timpanogos Cave are made of calcite. The fastest growing formation in the cave is a stalactite and stalagmite that are growing closer together by 3/8 inch or centimeter (I can't remember even though I know inches and centimeter vary greatly in size) every 50 years.



Havilah and I are very happy we brought sweatshirts. The cave is 43 degrees year round.



Ranger Jody tells me that stalactites hang tight to the ceiling and stalagmites might make you trip. How have I never heard that before? I don't think I'll ever forget now.



This is a little hallway connecting two parts of the caves. Without this hallway, parts of the caves would be less accessible. Many people think that park service officials created the hallway but it is actually a fault line that separated in an earthquake a long time ago. Thank you to the earthquake.



The heart of Timpanogos. It used to have a red spotlight on it. Then, the National Park Service took it away. Then, a whole bunch of locals complained and complained and complained. Now the red light is back. It is the only "unnatural" lighting feature in any national park cave in the United States.



One of the rangers likes to name the trees on the trail. There is an Ursula. I'm not sure what this one is called. Havilah called this one "Pregnant Woman Dancing."

Hope of America

We were supposed to go on a field trip to Timpanogas Caves this year but because the economy is seriously hurting, so is any funds for "unnecessary" field trips. But, they didn't cancel Hope of America. (The kids learn a whole bunch of patriotic songs and perform them with other fifth graders from Utah Valley). The practice was in the morning so we headed to the Marriott Center.




After the practice, we took our students to Discovery Park in Pleasant Grove. Everything there is built from wood. They have tried to make it science related and exploratory. My favorite thing was the echo box. The kids had a great time running like crazy and shouting. Many of them discovered a spinning seat though and literally spun themselves sick. I had one student that was on the floor the rest of the day trying not to throw up. I think he learned his lesson.



Here are Megan, Jody, and Suzy. Megan and Jody are on my team. Suzy is my wonderful and amazing aide. I would not have survived this year without her.



Here is Tracy. She single-handedly supplied me with my entire social studies curriculum this year as well as many other things.



The evening performance was pretty cool. All of the 5th graders and teachers sat on the bleachers at the Marriott Center and made a huge flag based on the color of our shirts. Snow Springs made up two of the stripes in the flag. During the performance there were several dance and other routines.

Next year..

I'll still be at Snow Springs teaching 5th grade. But, I just found out today that I get a Smart Board, Elmo, and Digital Projector in my room next year. I can use them everyday! The projector should get installed sometime in the next week. I can't wait.

Why I nearly crashed my car...

I was running errands on Saturday and felt totally annoyed with the rain because it was ruining all of my plans and my hair. But, then I saw this...



This picture doesn't even do it justice. It is the most beautiful rainbow I have ever seen. Every color was completely vivid and it was HUGE. Because it was so low to the ground, it looked like a brilliant sunrise. The fact that all of the trees are in bloom and very green right now created a perfect backdrop. I drove for about 5 minutes but wasn't being very safe because I kept staring at the rainbow. I finally stopped for a few minutes to get a picture.

Sumana's Shower

Sumana was one of my companions in Pakkret. She is getting married in August and her bridal shower was Saturday. It was fun to reunite with some old mission friends. It's weird to think I've been back nearly 2.5 years. Time flies.

Rugby

This was my first game. The scrums and picking up guys by their shorts was a little awkward but it was really fun to watch. The best part was when Tom scored all 10 of the points for BSU. Tom pretty much got all of the athletic talent in my family. It was fun to spend the afternoon with Mom, Mike, and Tom. That doesn't happen very often these days.

Fajitas

These turned out to be really delicious. I will definitely make them again.