![DSC_7937](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4040/4662145132_2953f561dc.jpg)
Last week, I went with Ella's class up to Timpanogos Cave.
![DSC_8030](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4035/4661573237_345842f708.jpg)
It's quite the hike - 1.5 miles and 1065 feet elevation gain. Within the last two weeks, a ranger has died and a school girl fell 100 feet off the trail. Needless to say, there were a lot of parent chaperones on this trip.
![DSC_7987](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4071/4661554347_6797947489.jpg)
It's worth the huffing & puffing when you get to the top & enter the cave.
![DSC_7982](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4014/4662173372_2e2e7c383c.jpg)
It was discovered over 100 years ago. I can assure you that if I were the one who came across the hole in the rock, I would not have come back to explore by candlelight.
![DSC_8004](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4042/4662216870_eb775d5359.jpg)
The kids have been studying caves & excitedly pointed out the different formations in the cave like this cave bacon (formed by water running down a limestone cave wall or along a ledge which deposits calcite into delicate draperies. When minerals like iron oxide make stripes in the drapery, it is called cave bacon or bacon strip.)
![DSC_8010](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4036/4661599337_089556f879.jpg)
And helicites.
![DSC_8015](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4030/4662221062_4effe67e79.jpg)
A column in the making.
![Heart of the Cave](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4013/4662183270_8c1912f854.jpg)
The heart of the cave had really neat lighting though I had trouble capturing some green calcite nearby.
![DSC_8017](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4043/4662223750_21eac769ba.jpg)
I was surprised how much Ella remembered from our fall tour. She spotted the alligator in this photo.
![DSC_8018](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4032/4662224846_effa498cff.jpg)
And remembered that the alligator bit off the nearby camel's leg & spit it out on the other side of the cave.
![DSC_7995](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4048/4662181168_4e08541916.jpg)
I had fun playing with the camera in the dark & listening to the kids bombard the tour guide with their expertise & numerous questions.
![DSC_8036](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4024/4662199574_d673891323.jpg)
The kids all did really well - not too many complaints at all. Here they are collecting "cave kisses" on the way down the trail. It was a fun day & I am glad that I was able to juggle some projects at work to tag along with Ella's class.
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