Hiking Timpanogos Cave

David's brother and his family are visiting from Oregon. We don't get to spend much time with David's family so this has been a great time for us. Baylie is getting to know her Batchelor cousins and is loving every minute of it.

Yesterday we hiked to Timpanogos Cave. The last time I went to the Cave was when I was about 12 years old. Now I know why it took me so long to go back. It is a hard climb! I'm sure I slowed the group down, but our cave tour time was for 12:40 and we made it by 12:30, so I was at least within the time limit. It took us about an hour and 15 minutes. The cave tour takes about 40 minutes. It was tricky carrying Baylie the whole way. Sadly, she slept through the cave and is too little to remember anything anyway.

The way down was much easier and probably just took 30 minutes or so. I felt badly for the people heading up as we were going down because it was so much hotter. I figured I inspired people since they could say, "If that fat lady can do it carrying a baby, then certainly I can do it." The cave is definitely worth the hike, but next time Baylie goes, I think it will be a daddy-daughter date.

Advice to others considering the climb:

• Start in the morning and the climb will be mostly in shade.
• Drink lots of water.
• Take lots of breaks.
• Strollers are not allowed, so be prepared to carry small children. (Backpacks can be used on the trail, but not in the cave.)
• If you are afraid of heights like me, be aware that there are steep dropoffs in some places.

On Monday we went to the Children's Museum. It was really cool, although pretty pricey. I had never been to the Gateway area and was impressed. Baylie especially liked the water feature, although at one point she crawled right in it. Oops!