Hiking the Ape Caves

When we say hiking, the picture that comes to our mind is hiking in the forest, in the mountains or in the hill areas. But what if you are hiking inside a large cave where it is pitch dark that means complete absence of natural light and bunch of surprises awaiting for you as you walk in the trail because you will not be knowing where and how the trail ahead goes. Its somewhat unusual right!. Ape caves in Washington will give us similar kind of experience.

Ape cave was formed about 2000 years ago when Mount St. Helens erupted. It is 13,042 ft long and is the third longest lava tube in North America. It is located at Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Washington.

We did a little bit of research in the internet to find out how difficult the trek will be. We got to know that there are 2 caves: Upper and lower with lower cave being the easier one and upper cave being the difficult one. It was also mentioned that inside the cave it will be pitch dark and temperature will drop, so we have to carry headlamp, flashlights and jacket with us. We decided we will hike the upper cave which is 1.5 miles one way.

With this limited amount of information we got ready on Saturday for this unusual adventurous hike. We had to drive for about 200 miles to reach there so we started around 9 am. After 2 hours of driving we took a tea break at our regular location that is MacDonald's. I think we have visited most of the MacD's in our state!. After 15 minutes we restarted towards Ape caves.

We reached our destination at 12.30 pm. At the entrance of the cave a lady gave us awareness about the fungal disease called White Nose Syndrome that has killed many bats in U.S and Canada. She asked us to clean our shoes before entering the cave (using boot brushes that were placed outside the cave) and also clean them after going to home and sanitize the items we were carrying in order to kill the fungus that could get transferred to other caves and kill many more bats. After cleaning our shoes we entered the cave and headed towards Upper cave. As we entered the cave it was pitch dark. Using the headlamps, a flashlight and mobile flashlight we continued walking. There was no light other than that illuminating from our flashlights. It was summer and was pretty warm outside but inside the cave it was very cold.

Entrance to the cave

Initially the path was smooth which I thought would run entirely through the cave. But as we moved further the path got increasingly more difficult. We encountered many rocks piles and jammed rocks with sharp edges. We had to climb up, over or around the abrasive rocks, taking care not to slide down and get hurt. This hike is not usual and needs some physical ability to climb over or to squeeze around couple of rock formations.

Inside the cave

Since it was dark we were able to see only about 10 feet in advance using our flashlights. Everywhere we look there was some kind of interesting formations and also drops of water dripping on our head and face that seem to come out from the ceiling of the cave.

Some kind of formations inside the cave

At one point the path became narrow and there were boulder piles which made us difficult to pass through. We had to mount the big rock to proceed. We made it through that and thought this as our biggest achievement. Little did we know that one more big thing was waiting for us further. As we walked the trail for more than half a mile there stood a giant 8-9 foot high lava fall with only one significant foothold. We had to scale that to move further. This was the most difficult thing in the whole hike.With the help of my husband and friends I climbed it, Thank God or else I had to return back by the same path I came. I felt as if I did rock climbing. We had walked for more than one hour and yet we had not reached the exit. We didn't expect one and half mile will take so long, we had thought we will complete the hike in one hour. We were already exhausted. After hiking for about one mile we could see light; first natural light after the entrance. We were happy because we thought we reached the exit. But as we got closer we saw a hole in the ceiling through which light was penetrating. It was not safe to exit from there. So we continued to hike further.

First natural light through the ceiling

After hiking for about half an hour there was a metal ladder and this was the exit. Finally we were out of the dark cave. It took about 2 hours to complete the hike. We sat there in a shade for a while and then continued walking towards the main entrance. The direction of the return trail was affixed on tree trunks. We followed that and reached the main entrance after walking for about half an hour. It was 4 pm. We had our lunch and took rest for sometime. 

After relaxing for about one hour we thought of driving towards Lava Canyon which is about 8 miles from ape caves. Lava Canyon was formed from the the eruption of Mount St. Helens during 1980. On the way we could see Mt. Helens and many igneous rocks that were formed as a result of lava eruption. We reached there at about 5.30 pm.

Mt. Helens view on the way to Lava Canyon

There are three sections of Lava Canyon trail. The upper trail is straightforward and paved. As we walked through this trail we got to know about the history of the formation of lava canyon from the signage that had been displayed there. This trail leads to beautiful waterfall viewpoint. We took photos over there and spent some time savoring the beauty of the nature. The water flowing in between the blackened lava rocks with the cool green background of the forest is stunning. 

Waterfall at lava Canyon

The second trail or Suspension loop trail forms a loop and is not paved. There is a 125 feet suspension bridge and the view of the canyon from bridge is spectacular. 

Suspension bridge and view of canyon from bridge

After the suspension bridge there are two paths. One leads to the paved trail (upper trail) thus forming a loop. The other leads to the lower trail. We did not hike the lower trail because it was already past 6 in the evening and we had to head towards our home. We hiked the loop and reached the parking lot at about 7 pm. After driving for 3 hours we finally reached home. We were dead tired after hiking both ape caves and lava canyon and had a good night sleep.

This hike was entirely a different experience and it was a sort of adventurous hike too!. It was worth visiting the place.