We thought about going to the Columbia River Gorge today, but it's a long drive to get there, and there's a lot to see, so we decided to make that our first stop heading south after the wedding. Instead, we went down to 503, and to the south side of Mount St Helens, which is the side that had less destruction. It's a less-traveled route than the north side, which has the visitor centers.
Our first stop was at the Ape Caves...so named because of the Bigfoot sightings in the area. The caves are long lava tubes. The lava on top formed a crust and allowed the hot lava below to form tubes. There are two tubes here that you can go in. One is 1.5 miles long and the shorter is .75 miles long. The temperature is 42 degrees, and it is pitch black inside. These are not guided tours! You're supposed to have a lantern and walk over rocks on wet ground. Needless to say, we did not go very far! We didn't have warm enough clothes and we just had small flashlights. We did turn off our flashlights to see how dark it can be, which is very eerie! That was enough caving for us! I took some pictures, but just aimed in the dark and didn't know what I was taking until I saw the screen. My flash picked it up pretty well.
Next, we drove to Lava Canyon and hiked the 1.3 mile trail. Dogs aren't allowed on trails in the park so they had to stay in the car, and it was not a trail for them anyway! The first part of the walk is downhill but paved. Then you go across a bridge over the canyon and down a rocky path to a lower suspension bridge. It was really scary to cross! This canyon was formed during the 1980 eruption, and uncovered lava walls from previous eruptions.
Our last stop was the Trail of Two Forests. The current forest has grown around the lava beds which flowed through the forest about 2000 years ago. That lava burned the trees, but left holes where the trees stood or fell, so there are strange lava formations. You are allowed to crawl through one of the tubes...and I do mean "crawl"! It's about 50 feet long and I could have fit into it, but I didn't think my knees would take it since it's rough, and I could just envision the claustrophobia!
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| Is that a black hole or what?!! |
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| Brave souls entering the cave. |
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| This is where the mudslide came after the eruption. |
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| More nice graphics! |
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| But, the paths are tough! |
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| Water below first bridge |
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| Water above first bridge |
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| Lava formations |
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The lava at the top is the crust.
The hot lava below ran under the crust, and when it cooled, formed columns. |
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| Suspension bridge....now, this was SCARY! |
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| Looking down on one side |
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| Looking down on the other side |
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| More lava formations |
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| River running through the rocks |
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Back of the volcano.
All this field was covered in ash. |
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| I think this is a ground squirrel. |
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| Moss-covered hole in lava bed |
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| Lava solidified around tree trunks |
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| Diagram of the "crawl" |
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Looking into the crawl.
You can see the bark pattern in the lava. |
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| Another hole where a tree was |
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Looking across Silver Lake.
Our campground is on the right with St Helens in the distance. |
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| Our campsite |
There are a lot of adventurous things I'd like to do someday, but crawling through those tunnels is NOT one of them! Yikes! I'm enjoying following your trip!
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