Ape Caves - Mt St Helens - 10-15-2011

Mon 17 Oct 2011 1:00:00 AM GMT

This is what you can expect if you are going to the Ape Caves:

(Necessary items for hiking thru the cave: Hard hat/bicycle helmet, 2 flashlight (in case one goes out or you drop it between boulders, also would suggest a necklace of some kind attached to your flashlight in case you need to let go of it to catch your balance), gloves (as you will be grabbing onto a lot of rock for balance).

The Drive: We drove from Seattle which is a rather long drive, but my truck was full of kids so they kept each other, and me, well entertained. On I-5 and once you exit I-5 there are brown signs that direct you to the Ape Caves. You will find there is not much cell reception on the drive up there but once you get to the main parking lot you will have good cell reception.

General Cave Info.: There are 2 cave entrances, a lower one near the parking lot and an upper one (1.3 miles up a very scenic trail). The lower cave entrance you can go up or down (down being a very easy hike that is about .75 miles). Up from the lower entrance is an easy hike into the larger caverns/areas of the cave.

Our Hike: We chose to hike up the 1.3 miles to the upper entrance so that we could hike thru the caves coming back down (Hiking thru the caves from one entrance to another is a rather difficult hike that involves climbing and good balance).

We started our trek by climbing down a steel ladder into the cave itself (kind of a tight fit if you have a backpack on), then we proceeded the hike down thru the mine. We immediately started coming across rock/boulder piles that we had to climb over. These boulder piles are all through out the cave and some of them you can see down between the boulders 10, 15, even 20 ft. down. At some points we were climbing from one boulder to another with drops that would break bones. (Please note here: This is a very cool hike, and if you are careful you will have nothing to worry about... in other words, don't try to rush through this hike).

About halfway down we encountered a lava wall (about 8 ft.) that we had to climb down. I simply stayed at the bottom and as people layed against the rock and hung over the side of it I directed their left foot to a foothold so they could slowly lower themselves to the ground below. (do not attempt to climb down this wall forwards.. make sure you are facing the wall. If you have doubts about it, then ask someone for help, or go back from whence you came (-:) After this lava wall we continued down climbing over more boulder piles and eventually got down into parts of the cave that were huge (big enough to fit buses in next to each other and stacked..and I'm not talking about the short buses either)

We stopped and ate some lunch a little more than halfway thru the cave. Although some of this hike appears to be a level hike thru this lava tube, you will always want to watch your step as there are a lot of small trip hazards. After hiking thru these larger parts of the cave we came to the lower cave entrance whick had a series of stair steps that led up and out into the heavens above. We did not go down the .75 miles on the easy hike as we had some other plans (see down below where we left this parking lot)

DO NOT take pets into the caves because they can't see any better than we can in 'pure darkness'! If you decide not to use common sense and take your pet down there, then take a cross with you to mark where your pet died... seriously... unless you plan on carrying your pet thru the whole cave. They are not allowed down there anyways.

Just ignore the 6-8 inch spiders hanging from the ceiling or the little lizards that try to nip at your feet, neither one will actually hurt you! (I'm just kidding LOL, we didn't see another form of life through out the whole cave except other hikers).

These caves are extremely popular and we passed 100+ people in the caves hiking the other direction (including a boy scout troop), so you will never be alone down there. This hike thru the cave took us around 2 hours to complete and it was well worth it.

Leaving the Parking lot: When we left the parking lot we drove down around a mile and on the right is another parking lot with a trail off to the left as you enter the lot. This is a really cool (mostly bridged) loop walk that takes you over an old lava flow and there are mini lava tubes here that the kids can crawl thru, not to mention that this extremely short hike is also very scenic.

Here are some pictures I took of our group hike... CLICK HERE!

If you go to the Ape Caves, Have a great time and stay safe!

Also, I would suggest not taking very young children down there (the ones with our group were ages 11-15).

Feed My Starving Children

Mon 21 Mar 2011 12:20:26 AM GMT

Current events we are attending: This will be updated weekly.

Sat. June 4, 2011 - Redmond, WA

Our Goal: To help package 1 quarter of a million (250,000) meals.

Code # 133940 = 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM

4 Volunteers - Goal = 100 volunteers

Use the code #'s above as explained in the instructions for joining our group.

New Gear

Fri 18 Mar 2011 4:28:01 PM GMT

We have added tents to our line of products, with new ones being added daily.

Enjoying the wildlife

Sat 29 Jan 2011 6:27:02 AM GMT

Be careful of some of the wildlife you may come across, respect em. You may not see anything this strange, but hey, it's funny looking. :)

Did you know?

Fri 28 Jan 2011 10:44:56 PM GMT

Our "search" future is more capable of finding what you need than most other websites out there. Just type in what your looking for, i.e. "ultralight" "color" etc. and it will pull up all our packs that have the criteria specified.

Oh, and by the way....

!! Welcome to 2011 !!

We hope this will be a great year for you on your hiking trips!

New Products

Fri 28 Jan 2011 10:35:06 PM GMT

Some Vaude products are coming back into stock. New 2011 Vaude Packs will be coming in around mid-February.

We have also just added the NcStar Tactical Backpack in multiple colors.

Out of Stock

Thu 6 Jan 2011 10:49:35 PM GMT

Sorry everyone!

All of our Vaude backpacks are currently out of stock. We will be re-supplying in February with the NEW 2011 line of packs.

So ummm, while we're waiting to restock, why don't ya go throw a snowball at someone and then blame it on us!! :-)

Hope you all had wonderful holidays!

New Products

Tue 28 Dec 2010 2:04:33 AM GMT

Just started adding Brand name Vaude and all of their awesome backpacks to the list.

---Happy New Year---

New Products

Sat 25 Dec 2010 10:19:25 PM GMT

We have added some more brands to our list of backpacks. Outdoor Products and Texsport.

Happy Holidays

New Products

Sat 25 Dec 2010 10:11:38 PM GMT

We just added Coleman backpacks and child carriers to our list of brand name products.

-- Merry Christmas --

New Products

Sat 25 Dec 2010 5:27:31 AM GMT

We have just added a new Brand name product.

Pieps is a manufacturer of some great ultralight backcountry gear.

Happy Holidays!

New Products

Fri 24 Dec 2010 9:01:38 AM GMT

Just added more awesome products from the Mountainsmith line of lumbar packs including the Buzz II, Dart II, Kinetic II, Nitro, and the Swift II. Also added new colors of the internal frame packs for the Apex 75 and Lookout 45.

Have a safe and happy holidays!

Recycled Backpacks?

Tue 23 Nov 2010 2:13:45 PM GMT

I always thought of recycled as being poor quality, and at one time it kind of was. But with the perfection of recycling, they are now able to make quality products out of recycled materials. Mountainsmith backpacks are no exception. These backpacks aren't made out of old newspapers (kind of what I think of when someone says recycled), but they are made out of high quality recycled materials, that these backpacks are better quality than most other brand name packs out there.

So why not be a friend to your environment and get a Mountainsmith All Terrain Recycled Backpack.

The Difference Between Living or Dying in The Wild

Thu 11 Nov 2010 7:07:57 AM GMT

Have you ever seen these news stories about people lost in the woods or mountains and now search and rescue along with dozens of other people are searching for days for these individuals? Did these people plan ahead for their hike? Did they pack the necessary items for their journey, items that just might save them in the face of disaster? Did they let someone know where they were going and give a friend their estimated return time?

Whether you are hiking alone or with friends, the beauty and serenity of the outdoors is definitely worth the trip, just let someone know where you are going and when you are coming back. Make sure your backpack has the necessary items to stay out for a day or two, even if you are just day hiking.

Hiking is a great way to get away from it all, but please do come back!

Happy Hiking!

A Great Way to Meet Up With Other Hikers in Your Area

Sun 24 Oct 2010 5:41:13 PM GMT

How would you like to meet up with groups of other hikers in your area? It is a great way to meet and make new friends and it is free. You may also find that there are great hiking trails, close to you, that you never even knew about.

I discovered this site about a month ago and did a search for local hiking groups without realizing how many there actually are. After browsing thru a rather extensive list of hiking groups, I joined one and have been meeting and hiking with new people every week since then. Little did I realize how many cool hiking trails there are within a very short distance of me and of how many new friends I would make along the way.

So whether you are interested in camping, multi-day hiking, short day hikes, or many other forms of entertainment, you might really enjoy going to http://www.meetup.com/ to find new local friends with your same interests at heart.

Fatal Mountain Goat Attack

Mon 18 Oct 2010 6:02:46 PM GMT

On Oct. 16 Bob Boardman was attacked and fatally wounded while hiking in the Olympics by a mountain goat that was known to be aggressive. It is too bad that this goat wasn't dealt with earlier, but apparently it hadn't had any contact with anyone on previous occasions.

Our hearts go out to Bob’s friends and family.

You may find more on this story here…. http://www.wta.org/trail-news/signpost/mountain-goat-fatally-attacks-hiker-in-olympics or the full story from The Seattle Times here…. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2013189753_olympicpark18m.html