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Hansen, Middle, and Timpanogos Caves at Timpanogos Cave National
Monument
Timpanogos Cave National Monument consists of three caves (Hansen,
Middle, and Timpanogos) that have been connected together by
man-made tunnels. To get to the caves, visitors hike 1.5 miles on a
paved trail that leads to the entrance of the caves. The hike is
gains over 1,000 feet in elevation and can usually be done in about
an hour. Timpanogos Caves may only be entered with a guided tour.
Cave tours are offered daily throughout the summer season . Park
rangers lead all tours.
Cave tours are 45-60 minutes long and are limited to 20 persons per
tour. Cave tours often sell out, especially on holidays and
weekends. Tickets for the cave tour can be purchased up to 30 days
in advance by telephone. See Fees and Reservations for more
information.
Access to the caves requires hiking a 1 1/2 mile paved trail.
Because of the steepness and incline of the cave trail strollers
and other wheeled vehicles are not allowed. Visitor may bring a
baby backpack for hiking to the caves; but they will be asked to
leave their backpacks outside while they tour the caves infants in
arms. No pets are allowed on the cave trail or in the caves.
Some of the earth's most powerful and most delicate forces combined
to create the wonders of Hansen, Middle, and Timpanogos caves
beginning when the Wasatch Range was building 65 million years ago.
Tremendous mountain-building forces slowly uplifted and fractured
the sedimentary rock. The caves were dissolved later along
fractures now called the Hansen, Middle, and Timpanogos faults in
the Deseret Limestone. Apparently rising hot water and descending
cold water were important factors in the caves' origins. Natural,
weak carbonic acid dissolved the rock to form the caves, which were
created at the level of an ancient water table and later invaded by
a stream for a short time. It is likely that rainwater and water
from melting snows seeped or flowed underground along two vertical
cracks (or faults) dissolved the surrounding layer of Deseret
Limestone, and hollowed out the subterranean chambers.
Then a change occurred. Water that filled or partially filled the
caves drained. As water seeped into the air-filled caves, it
decorated them with fantastic formations. Water trickling through
the limestone overlying the caves dissolved calcite and other
minerals from the rock. Then, upon entering an underground chamber,
the water deposited its mineral load as a tiny crystal on a cave
ceiling, wall, or floor. Over thousands of years, as countless
crystals were deposited, a variety of cave formations took shape -
stalactites, stalagmites, flowstone, helictites, and others. Each
had its own shape and size, determined by how and where the water
entered the cave, how long it flowed, and other factors.
Today, the caves still are changing: new formations are being
created, and existing ones are growing where mineral-laden water
continues to enter. In Timpanogos Cave a stalactite-stalagmite pair
are growing closer year by year; today they are only ¾ of an inch
apart, and if growth continues at the current rate, they probably
will join in about 200 years. As long as water - the master
architect and interior decorator - continues to trickle into the
caves, creation will continue.
Helictite, a strange and exotic sounding word, is the name of a
strange type of cave formation found in these caves. The tremendous
number of helictites is one of the things that makes the Timpanogos
Cave system so special. Such quantities of helictites, coupled with
anthodites, are uncommon. Helictites twist and turn unpredictably
in all directions, defying gravity. Usually less than ¼ inch in
diameter and a few inches long, they are as delicate - and fragile
- as hand-blown glass. Smooth but spiraling helictites are made of
calcite; needle-like crystals are made of aragonite, a mineral
chemically identical to calcite but with a different crystal
structure.
Many different types of cave formations have been created by water
simply dripping or flowing into the caves. Perhaps the most well
known of these are stalactites and stalagmites, which can be seen
throughout the caves. Stalactites, which hang like icicles from the
ceiling, form as drop after drop of water slowly trickles down
through the cave roof. The smallest stalactites may be hollow and
as thin and straight as a soda straw, and so are called soda straw
stalactites. Others may be massive: The Great Heart of Timpanogos
in Timpanogos Cave - 5¼ feet long, 3 feet wide, 4,000 pounds - is
composed of three, or possibly more, tremendous stalactites that
have grown together. The many colors of stalactites - and indeed
all of the formations in the caves - are caused by traces of iron,
nickel, magnesium, and organics. Stalagmites are formed when
mineral-laden water strikes the floor. The tallest stalagmite is
about six feet high in Timpanogos Cave; most are smaller.
Occasionally stalagmites and stalactites merge, forming a
floor-to-ceiling column. The caves' largest column, 13 feet high,
is found in Hansen Cave. Another common formation - draperies - are
created when water trickles down an inclined ceiling. A spectacular
example of such a formation is the Frozen Sunbeam, a thin
translucent sheet of orange-colored calcite in Timpanogos Cave.
Draperies in these caves are seldom more than one inch thick.
To log this cache hike to the entrance at the coordinates and then
answer these questions:
1. The tour begins in which of the 3 caves.
2. Describe the natural entrance in the first cave.
3. Count the beams holding up the structure above the entrance and
send me that number in an email.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)