Timpanogos Cave National Monument

It’s been a few years since I’ve been here, but here are two important things to know:

1. It is a long, arduous hike up to the cave.

2. The only access to the cave is with a ranger-led tour. Tours go at specific times and space is limited. Be sure to call ahead to check on tour times.

The first time I hiked was with my mom and dad. Mom was about seven months pregnant and the littlest of my siblings was not quite five. Dad ended up carrying her and pushing mom up the mountain. About half way up, mom realized she forgot the tickets and my brother had to run all the way down to the car and then all the way back up. He had joined us before we reached the 3/4 mile marker.

Last time I went was with my own family. Thing One was three and a half and Thing Two was still very small. My husband took Two up in the front pack and Thing One and I walked up. I was worried about it, so we allowed 2 1/2 hours (they recommend 1 1/2) to hike it, but we got up in 1 1/2. Thing One was not happy about going down, though, and told every person we met that she wanted a good mother to take her home.

One very important tip… There is only one bathroom on the trail. It is on the way up only. Use it! And make sure you secure all valuables before you use it because it’s basically a big hole that goes straight down for what seems like miles…

I went out and met two friends in Utah. They were a bit out of shape and we decided to do a local hike at the last minute.

It was above 105 when we went and we ended up hiking in the heat of the day.

The gal in our group was our first casualty. She did not have enough electolytes in her system and her legs began to cramp less than 1/3 of the way up. We sent her back down the mountain and continued up.

The other guy ran out of water 2/3 of the way up and didn’t tell me. Which became a problem on the way down.

We had great views all the way up. The cave at the top was cool (litteraly) and all in all was fun to see.

On the way down I poped my knee out of joint and my buddy became so dehydrated he started going into heat sickness.

It took us 3x als long going down as up.

His wife had gone into the car turned on the AC and fell asleep causing her car to over heat. By this time we were the last peple on the mountain, even the rangers had left.

All we had to fill up the radiator was 3 empty watre bottles and my hydration pack.

So we had to limp back up to the rangers office and fill them up several times to get the car cool enough to get us home.

He ended up in the hospital for dehdration and my knee needed physical therapy to get back in joint.

Mt. Timpanagos is an EASY hike, if your healthy and you take plenty of water and choose the right time of day to hike.

Lessons learned.

1. Never assume anything about the hiking skills of people you have never hiked with.

2. If things start to look bad, get down the mountain as soon as you can.

3. Bring more water than what you need.

4. Powdered gator-aide is your friend.

5. Don’t hike between 12:00 and 4:00pm in Utah’s summer heat.