This picture was taken about nine years ago after Yvonne and I had finished climbing up to the Timpanogas Caves and were ready for the climb back down.
Let me go back a bit. We had been to BYU Women's Conference, something we really enjoy doing. We'd seen the road sign for the Timpanogas Caves, and decided to take a look before continuing on to Boise. Now you need to know that the caves are in American Fork, Utah, south of Salt Lake City. We still had a long drive before stopping for the night. But we stopped anyway.
When we signed up for a time for the tour of the caves, we were told we would have an hour and a half to walk the mile and a half up to them. A mile and a half? No big deal! We didn't think it was all that far. But then, we didn't know what happened in that mile and a half. Like climbing in altitude about 6000 (yes, six thousand) feet. The path angled up at a pretty steep rate. And there were sections where we weren't to stop because the risk of falling rocks was too great. I should have known I was in trouble when I saw the warning sign near the bottom about people not doing it if they have heart or lung conditions. I didn't have either, and Yvonne didn't either, but neither of us was in particularly good shape. And we weren't wearing hiking boots. We were warned that we needed to take water with us because there wasn't any available along the path or at the top. Fortunately, the ranger at the top did have some because we had both just about finished off the bottles we'd brought long before we got to the entrance to the caves. Usually after drinking that much, I would need a restroom, but not in this case. It was all coming out of my sweat glands!
Along the way, there were signs telling us when we were a quarter of the way there, half way, etc. and I suppose that was some consolation. Just the same, at one point the urge was so great to give it up and go back down that we stopped at a bench alongside the path and prayed for help from Heavenly Father. I came across a quote recently that fit this situation very well: "We'd gone too far, and had to pray our way back." He gave us the help we needed. I have to say, though, that it was annoying to be passed by children who were jogging up the path. Rotten little heathens! But we did make it to the top, had a brief rest, put on our jackets, and went through the caves. And it was well worth it! The formations, like the Heart of Timpanogas, were amazing. The path through the caves is about a half mile long. The picture above was taken just after we came out and were about to start the descent, another mile and a half, but at least this was downhill.
We were both exhausted when we got back to the car. I made the mistake of removing my shoes. I don't think I usually have a problem with foot odor, but I certainly did that day! We opened the windows for a while (I wasn't about to put my shoes back on!) and drove on. I don't know how many hours it took us to drive to Boise, and I don't remember what we did for dinner, but I know that after we had each showered, we fell into bed and had no trouble at all getting to sleep.
Just goes to show that it is a good idea to pay attention to warning signs and know what you're getting into before you head off unawares.
No comments:
Post a Comment