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You are here: Home / Photo Blogging / On The Road – Origuy – Road Trip 2006 Part One

On The Road – Origuy – Road Trip 2006 Part One

by WaterGirl|  December 17, 202010:00 pm| 16 Comments

This post is in: On The Road, On The Road After Dark, Parks After Dark, Photo Blogging

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On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.

From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.

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Origuy

In August 2006, I took a road trip through some of the Western US to go to orienteering events near Laramie, WY and Buena Vista, CO, and to see some sights along the way. My first stop was at Timpanogos Cave National Monument, in Utah’s Wasatch Mountains. Timpanogos is actually three caves, connected by man-made tunnels. It’s a bit of a hike from the parking up to the cave entrance, but once you’re there the cave tour isn’t too strenuous, although a bit of a squeeze in a few places.
All photos taken with an HP PhotoSmart R707.

On The Road - Origuy - Road Trip 2006 Part One 7
Timpanogos Cave National MonumentAugust 8, 2006

The view from along the trail up to the cave entrance. The caves penetrate Mount Timpanogos, the second-highest peak in the Wasatch at 11,700 feet.

On The Road - Origuy - Road Trip 2006 Part One 6
Timpanogos Cave National Monument

The first cave, Hanson’s Cave, has been damaged by onyx mining and private collection. Some of the delicate formations further in are in better shape.

On The Road - Origuy - Road Trip 2006 Part One 5
Timpanogos Cave National Monument

This formation is called the Great Heart of Timpanogos. There are legends about two Indian lovers which end sadly, but whether these stories originate with the Ute people of the area, or with imaginative tour guides, I’m not sure. The NPS website has more on these.

On The Road - Origuy - Road Trip 2006 Part One 4
Timpanogos Cave National Monument

Being a limestone cave, Timpanogos has a wide variety of formations. These are called helictites.

On The Road - Origuy - Road Trip 2006 Part One 3
Timpanogos Cave National Monument

One of the more interesting and colorful formations.

On The Road - Origuy - Road Trip 2006 Part One 2
Vedauwoo Climbing Area

Continuing on to Wyoming. The orienteering events were the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest, between Laramie and Cheyanne. At the eastern end of the area is the Vedauwoo Climbing Area, which draws rock climbers from all over. Some of the climbs are suitable for beginners, while others can be very technical.

On The Road - Origuy - Road Trip 2006 Part One 1
Laramie, WY

One of the things to do on a day off is visit the Laramie Plains Museum at the Iverson Mansion. This large Victorian was built in 1892.

On The Road - Origuy - Road Trip 2006 Part One
Near Laramie, Wy

Pronghorns in a prairie south of Laramie. It’s hard to get a picture of them because they move so fast. They aren’t really antelope; their closest living relatives are giraffes and okapi.

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Reader Interactions

16Comments

  1. 1.

    West of the Cascades

    December 17, 2020 at 10:24 pm

    Beautiful! And thanks for identifying pronghorn accurately.

  2. 2.

    Yutsano

    December 17, 2020 at 10:27 pm

    I’m pretty sure the Natives who hunted the pronghorn just called them food. They are beautiful animals tho.

  3. 3.

    JanieM

    December 17, 2020 at 10:28 pm

    The cave formations are strange and fascinating, and the Vedauwoo Climbing Area is interesting in a different way — it’s not an area I’ve ever visited, or a landscape I’ve see in pictures. We get taken on so many cool journeys around here!

  4. 4.

    Amir Khalid

    December 17, 2020 at 10:37 pm

    Those pinkish stalagmites have a look about them that’s kind of, well, suggestive and maybe NSFW.

  5. 5.

    Wag

    December 17, 2020 at 10:42 pm

    Pronghorns are the fastest mammals in the Americas, and the second fastest land animal in the world, after the cheetah.  They can run at speeds of 55 mph for a half mile, and can sustain speeds of 35 mph for four miles.  Amazing animals.

  6. 6.

    Benw

    December 17, 2020 at 10:49 pm

    Holy smokes, this is some good stuff. Right into my veins!

  7. 7.

    Mary G

    December 17, 2020 at 10:59 pm

    Love the pronghorns, but the caves will not be going even my hypothetical bucket list. Too dark and creepy.

  8. 8.

    Origuy

    December 17, 2020 at 11:00 pm

    @Yutsano: You got me curious about what the Native people called them. I found that they had a wide variation in cultural significance. 

    Native Americans had many names for the pronghorn. The Cree called pronghorn “small caribou;” the Yankton Sioux named it “small deer.” To the Ogallala Sioux, pronghorn were “pale deer.” But for a long time Europeans didn’t know what to make of this strange animal, usually describing it as a kind of goat.

    …

    The Hopi have a pronghorn kachina, called Chop. This kachina is thougtht to make the rains come and the grass grow.

    Many native americans believed animals with forked horns or antlers, such as the pronghorn and deer, represented a forked or double nature. Thus, they could be either a good or bad omen.

  9. 9.

    gbbalto

    December 17, 2020 at 11:02 pm

    @Wag: There used to be cheetahs here in North America IIRC, good reason to be fast.

    Edited for clarity

  10. 10.

    Enzymer

    December 17, 2020 at 11:15 pm

    @West of the Cascades: Having grown up with pronghorns in Nebraska, I never knew, till now, that they weren’t antelopes, but more closely related to giraffes!

  11. 11.

    Dan B

    December 17, 2020 at 11:34 pm

    I believe we saw Pronhorns in Nevada north  of Winnemucca.

     

    Pleased to be able to use the name Winnemucca!   (Covid stir crazy?)

    The pictures are intriguing western terrain, thanks!

  12. 12.

    Origuy

    December 17, 2020 at 11:58 pm

    Thanks for the comments. Part Two is in the queue.

  13. 13.

    Jay

    December 18, 2020 at 12:05 am

    Sadly, Pronghorn’s won’t be around much longer,

    https://www.conservationmagazine.org/2014/10/americas-pronghorn-migration-faces-human-obstacles/

  14. 14.

    StringOnAStick

    December 18, 2020 at 12:51 am

    I used to live a few hours from Vedauwoo and did a lot of rock climbing there; the area has a lot of what are called “off width” climbs, meaning wide enough that you have to shove your whole body into a wide crack and struggle up inside it.  It’s kind of a specialized subgenre of rock climbing.  Lots of other good routes there and excellent rock quality too.

  15. 15.

    StringOnAStick

    December 18, 2020 at 12:55 am

    @Origuy: Thanks for the natural history about prong horns; giraffe and okapi!?!?  Wow!  Very cool factoid.

  16. 16.

    swiftfox

    December 18, 2020 at 7:38 am

    @Jay: Too gloomy.  The article cited is six years old. There are plenty of pronghorn in various western states.

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