
Can
you imagine what Martin Hansen must have felt like in 1887 after following
mountain lion tracks into what would later be known as Hansen Cave for the
first time? Sure, climbing into that hole seemed like a good idea a few minutes
ago, but now… completely enveloped in darkness and looking back toward the
natural entrance which he had just crawled through surely Martin wondered
what exactly he had gotten himself into. Well, literally anyway, it was the
first of three caves waiting to be discovered in the area. These caves were
later joined by man-made tunnels to make touring the caves easier. But what
exactly is a cave anyway? In the simplest of terms a cave may be defined as
any natural cavity large enough to allow human entry. However, as you will
soon see Hansen, Middle, and Timpanogos Caves are much more than your average
holes in the ground.