UT -- Timpanogos Cave Natl Monument:
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- Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
- CAVE_060603_022.JPG: In the distance, you can see a water pipeline. They've given up on using the pipeline because frequent rockfalls make it hard to maintain. They'll be bringing in helicopters to airlift the segments out of the canyon.
- CAVE_060603_028.JPG: Warped Cliffs:
In the exposed cliff face, layers of sandstone and quartzite slate at steep angles, influenced by forces other than gravity. The geology appears chaotic, but the rocks do follow a pattern.
As the Wasatch Range was slowly uplifted, layers of igneous and sedimentary rocks tilted and folded. Over millions of years, erosion exposed the cliffs you see today.
- CAVE_060603_075.JPG: Again, you can see parts of the oil pipeline on the distant cliffs
- CAVE_060603_113.JPG: Earthquake Zone:
At the mouth of the canyon, where the paved road curves, the mountains jut abruptly from the broad valley floor. The dramatic rise occurs along a fault in the earth's crust.
This fault is geographically dynamic; the Wasatch Range is still rising, resulting in steep slopes, while the valley to the west is dropping. More significantly for humans, the area remains an active earthquake zone as slippage continues.
- CAVE_060603_115.JPG: A close-up of the edge of the earthquake zone
- CAVE_060603_154.JPG: This platform is used by workers fixing the rockslide fence up there
- CAVE_060603_166.JPG: Living Caves:
These limestone caves formed along fractures in the mountainside. Drop by drop, water seeped through cracks, depositing calcite in the expanding rooms. All three are living caves; their formations continue to grow.
Middle Cave:
Although Middle Cave's entrance is near the other two, it was the last to be discovered. In 1921, the son and grandson of Martin Hansen were in the canyon hunting deer. Scanning this slope with binoculars, they spotted the third opening.
Wayne Hansen later recalled the day they returned to explore Middle Cave, climbing 120 feet down a rope into the dark. "Grandfather Martin Hansen, although 73 years of age, was with us on this trip. He had always been hale and hearty and would not hear of staying home."
Tunnels blasted in the late 1930s link Middle Cave to Hansen and Timpanogos caves.
- CAVE_060603_167.JPG: Safeguarding the Irreplaceable:
Created crystal by crystal over thousands of years, cave formations can be damaged by an instant of thoughtlessness. The slightest touch can break a small stalactite or leave skin oils that discolor the stone.
Timpanogos Cave:
The entrance to Timpanogos Cave was so subtle that it was not discovered until 28 years after Hansen Cave. Dazzled by the draperies, cave popcorn, and delicate helictites, early visitors recognized the immediate need to protect the cave.
Even before President Harding declared this a national monument in October 1922, members of the local Payson Outdoor Club dedicated themselves to preserving Timpanogos Cave from vandalism.
"Unless something is done and done drastically at once, Timpanogos Cave will be a despoiled treasure within a year. Gawky kids, thoughtless women, and hard-boiled men go in that cave and try to carry away as many crystals as they can stuff in their pockets." -- Reporter Frank Eversoll, July 1922, "The Utah Southern".
- CAVE_060603_183.JPG: Discovery -- The First Cave:
From the valley floor, it is almost impossible to detect the three cave entrances. According to popular legend, Martin Hansen was cutting timber high on the slope in 1887 when he came across mountain lion tracks. Following the traces to this high ledge, he found an opening in the rock -- the entrance to a small cave that would later be named for him.
Although Hansen made the first documented discovery, others may have known about the caves. Long before white settlers, the Ute tribe inhabited this area, and they have passed down old stories involving caves in the vicinity.
Hansen Cave:
Martin Hansen began leading groups of visitors straight up the mountainside to the cave. In 1892, the cave was mined; two freight car loads of flowstone was shipped east. Although the cave was stripped by early souvenir hunters, perspectives on preservation have changed, and today Hansen Cave has many slow-growing formations. It could take thousands of years for them to replace what was lost.
- CAVE_060603_188.JPG: The bathroom (so to speak) is in the distance
- CAVE_060603_215.JPG: We're barely inside at this point. It will get much darker....
- CAVE_060603_247.JPG: The hook was used by people stripping the cave of its contents
- Wikipedia Description: Timpanogos Cave National Monument
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Timpanogos Cave National Monument is a cave system in the Wasatch mountains in American Fork Canyon near American Fork, Utah, in the United States. After a fairly difficult 1.5 mile hike on a paved trail up the side of a mountain, the cave opening is accessible. Tours are run when the monument is open from May through October.
There are three main chambers accessible in the tour: Hansen Cave, Middle Cave, and Timpanogos Cave. Many unique and colorful cave features or speleothems can be seen. Among the most interesting are the helictites, which are like hollowed straws of rock. They are thought to be formed when water travels through the tube and then evaporates, leaving a small mineral deposit at the end. Other speleothems found in the cave include: cave bacon, cave columns, flowstone, cave popcorn, cave drapery, stalactites and stalagmites.
Martin Hansen discovered Hansen Cave in the late 1800s, reportedly while tracking a mountain lion high up the side of American Fork Canyon. Unfortunately, many of this cave's features and formations were damaged or removed over a number of years.
The man who was given credit for discovering Timpanogos Cave was named Vearl J. Manwill. He came with the Payson Outdoors Club in 1921. The club might have come because of rumors of a hidden cave that no one could find. After doing the tour of Hansen's Cave, they all went different ways to try to find the rumored cave. Vearl went up above Hansen's, alone. After a little way, he found a crack, and looked in. He called the rest of the club to come look at what he had found.
That fall, George Heber Hansen and Wayne E. Hansen, Martin Hansen's son and grandson, were hunting on the other side of the canyon. While using binoculars to try to find deer, they came across another hole in the mountain, in between the other two caves. In a few days they came back, with 74 year-old Martin Hansen. Martin was the first human being in the cave, now called Middle Cave.
Fortunately, Middle Cave and Timpanogos Cave were discovered in an era where their formations and resources could be protected. The National Park Service, which oversees and preserves the cave complex, has continued to develop new ways to retain its natural features, including limiting lighting in the caves to retard growth of invasive organisms.
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