Soon after awakening, I found myself in the Ape Cave parking lot. I’d been surprised the night before to see a sign along the interstate for Ape Cave. The large parking lot contained only one other vehicle. Alan went to pay and disappeared for awhile. Brian showed up and we chatted until Alan got back. I felt glad when told that most lava tubes are almost entirely walking. Therefore, I could wear my backpacking backpack through the entire cave! We consolidated gear and hiked toward the upper entrance of Ape Cave. As we ascended, I couldn’t help but notice how different this forest looked from any woods I’d ever seen. The forest vegetation looked so green and lush. Lime green moss covered the ground and decorated the trees. Even the ground appeared different. Alan pointed out different types of lava formation as we saw them. Pahoehoe, where lava has folded over on itself, looks rather like a pile of dinosaur dung. Aahaah looks like a large pile of breakdown formed by lava forming chunky pieces that fall off the top as it flows. We reached a clearing and Alan said he wanted to take a picture of Mount St. Helens. I looked ahead and saw a large tree-topped hill and thought to myself that’s really boring. Then, I looked to my left and spotted a majestic snow-topped mountain and realized that I now saw Mt. St. Helens. We climbed atop a large tumuli feature and photographed Mt. St. Helens. Tumuli is formed when lava blows a big bubble which crust over and then collapses forming many large breakdown slabs. I still couldn’t get over how beautifully lush and green the surround forest appeared. It’s so refreshing to see scenery so bizarrely new. As we hiked, Brian found many mushrooms alongside the trail. He told us that he’d found one over a foot in diameter under a log. We passed one lava tube entrance as we hiked through the enchanted forest and eventually arrived at the upper entrance to Ape Cave. I’d really been an easy hike considering Ape Cave’s vertical extent is 800’.
To our surprise just as we arrived two old geezer popped out of the cave carrying a flash light each and hiking poles made from golf clubs. They’d done an hour through trip. I photographed circling around the perimeter of the skylight entrance which really looked like a sinkhole. Alan then took a couple pictures as I climbed down the iron ladder through a small entrance into the lava tube. I first noticed how inadequately my light lit the tube. I could barely see four feet ahead. The walls remained quite black as we progressed up-tube. The passage seemed to be about 10’ H x 20’ W though the lack of illumination made it hard to tell. At one point, I found myself walking straight toward the right wall. A coupe hundred feet up-tube, the passage came to a definite end. The passage now measured about 14’ W and 8’ tall. In front of us, a solid, flat wall of igneous rock blocked further exploration. I couldn’t help but think to myself push it Nate! We routed back to the entrance and started down-tube. The floor of the tube was composed of hard, rough, knobby rock with enough variation to keep your eyes looking down. We followed nice walking canyon passage ranging in size and dimension to the next skylight entrance. I remember thinking to myself that I liked lava tubes. Sometimes, the tube slope became very obvious. I distinctly remember looking upslope in tall walking canyon passage 20’ H x 10’ W and enjoying how noticeably the ceiling and floor descended like a ramp down tube.
The constantly changing passage dimensions and ceiling heights make traversing a lava tube especially neat. As we progressed the passage got smaller. My backpack brushed the ceiling once and then we began traversing some canyon-like passage and encountering climb downs called lavafalls.
I sat up a neat picture in a narrow section of passage. Brian posed atop a lavafall while I lit the foreground and Alan provided backlight. Brian and Alan chilled quickly in the narrow passage as the 43 degree air whipped by them. I set my second and final shot up a little further down tube in a really nice section of tall and somewhat diagonal canyon passage. The drippy lava tube provided a small stream and pooled water here. For the picture, Alan climbed and traversed a ledge midway up the passage. He shot his strobe there while Brian fired 2 strobes from the other side of the pool. I painted light in the foreground. I really liked the resulting picture. As we continued down tube the passage continued to change. At one point it took on the circular, arched appearance of an animal den and later greatly reminded me of Gemini’s 3rd borehole as it assumed a bell shape. Overall, the passage seemed to keep enlarging. The dimensions already measured 40’ W x 20’ H. As I crested a large breakdown mound, the chamber grew even larger. After a few more variations in passage shape and size we reached the lower entrance. I couldn’t help but peak ahead as Brian clambered up the metal walkway to take a piss. I really liked what I saw. The passage transformed into a majestic canyon 50’ tall and 20’ wide. The floor also leveled out due to organic fill from outside making walking very easy. The passage retained its majestic stature as we continued ¾ a mile down tube. We saw a meatball suspended between the passage walls. This is formed ________?
Finally, we reached a natural bridge. Below, passage continued but quickly became crawling and damp. The wind still whipped by but we chose a dryer route. Above the bridge, dry passage continued ahead quickly becoming a stoop walk and then a belly crawl which opened briefly before totally pinching. We climbed back down from the upper level and started out. I saw lights ahead and first thought they were crawling in the tall canyon passage since their headlamps were so low to the ground. As the pair neared, I saw that they carried handheld lights. A dad and his son passed us as we routed back to the parking lot. I had just completed my first lava tube and it’d even been a through trip! The weather had warmed and the sky cleared while we were inside. The weather was beautiful. The sky was dark blue. To Beach # 2
Ape Cave
Looking over the lush, green tumula towards Mt. St. Helens.
Looking over the lush, green tumula towards Mt. St. Helens.
Ape Cave
Alan posing below Mt. St. Helens.
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Ape Cave
Alan taking notes above the entrance to Ape Cave.
Alan and Brian prepare to enter Ape Cave.
Ape Cave
Alan and Brian prepare to enter Ape Cave.
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Ape Cave
Alan takes notes below a skylight entrance inside Ape Cave.
Brian poses in the chilly wind above a lavafall.
Ape Cave
Brian and Alan paint light across this beautiful section of canyon passage.
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Ape Cave
Brian and Alan paint light across this beautiful section of canyon passage.