Sunday, May 15, 2011

If Looks Could Kill and Other Observations




Hatched! Looks like three, possibly four. It's not every day you get a bird's eye-view of nature like this. They are just a pile of feathers until the parents show up with food. Then, the little necks strain upward and the beaks open as wide as they possibly can for some delivery of nourishment.



If looks could kill... Mother Robin may be wondering about the proximity of our bedroom window to her nest, but oh, well, too late now, the babies are here and must be fed!



Yesterday was our second training day up at the cave. Here's the view from the Last Chance restrooms near the entrance of the cave system. Can you say, "V-shaped canyon?" This looks down on Utah Valley. What's the view like from your restroom at work?



Drippy. Water is life. The end.


This dark eyelash looking thing is a brachiopod fossil located in the white marbleized band of calcite found in the limestone on the Lake Room side of the Hansen tunnel. The whole mountain is like a giant fossil, made of life. Millions of live animals (well, they used to be), including coral, are fossilized there. Blows my mind.


Frostwork in the Big Room of Middle Cave. These are anthodite crystals (a.k.a. aragonite). These little beauties are created by evaporation. A-MAZE-ing!



Formations in the Chimes Chamber of Timpanogos Cave, a magical place.


I will never tire of watching water drip into Middle Cave Lake. I think it is absolutely beautiful. It makes me think about lots of things. Mesmerizing.


Historic graffiti in Hansen's. Ol' Blanche signed her name in July of 1914, almost ninety-seven years ago! And just for the record, we don't allow graffiti in the cave now-a-days!


Everything was shining and glistening after the rain. What's your view out your office window? Thought I would snap a photo of all the stuff that rangers are capable of throwing around with no visitors in sight. We hauled the gurney and other first aid supplies up.




The Dead Dog waterfall was running really good yesterday, especially after our afternoon rainstorm. Also, I had to put in an annual picture of my favorite orange lichen.




As we ended our training day at the cave, I snapped a picture of J., one of our amazing supervisors. This is his forty-fourth season! He knows all the best seats along the trail with all the best views! He was resting because we were all locked in on the trail. They haven't issued our keys, badges, and other stuff yet, so we were hanging out, chatting, and taking a good look at the quarter-way slide hoping there wouldn't be an afternoon avalanche.


1 comment:

  1. I love your reports on the robins! That was an awesome picture of the "look" she was giving. And of course I love the pictures of the cave too. :)

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