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| Selfie at the skylight |
Getting There
It's 28 miles from Woodland to the Cougar. There are a couple of gas stations here. Continue east on SR-503 which becomes Rd 90 for 9.5 miles to Ape Cave. Looks for the sign to Ape Caves, June Lake, Climber's Bivouac, Ape Canyon & Lava Canyon which is Rd 83. It's 0.3 miles to Trail of Two Forests and 0.7 miles to Ape Cave.
The Hike
Elevation Gain: 364 ft
I'd been to Ape Cave on June 19 for my mentor session to be a Hiking Steward for MSHI, another volunteer/mentee had only gone in a few hundred feet to the bottom of the 2nd set of stairs. However, this was my first time actually inside the lava tube.
Like many locals and nearby resident from Vancouver and Portland, I'd lived in the PNW for over 20 years but had never ventured up there. I just assumed it was always super busy with people and I'd always gone out to the forest for some solitude and scenic views.
At the last minute and per my MSHI mentor's suggestion, I arranged for a mentor session at Ape Cave with a seasoned volunteer. I confirmed with the volunteer coordinator and confirmed with the person I'd be spending the day with on arrival time and other details. While I'd been trained for the NF-83 road and sites like June Lake, Ape Canyon, Lava Canyon, Ape Cave is unique
I expected to spend most of my day at the cave entrance greeting, educating, and orienting visitors who were there to explore the lava tube. I knew about the history of the area and some facts about what to expect but none of it was first-hand. To my delight, part of my orientation was to include my own venture underground.
I was tempted to do the Lower Passage with is shorter and easier to get my feet wet but when I descended the stairs inside, I decided to go for the challenge, the Upper Passage. And it was!
The day before when i'd confirmed I was coming, I stopped by a hardware store to get two new, powerful flashlights and a brick of AA batteries. On my previous visit, I'd used my camping headlamp which is fine for puttering around a campsite at night and digging through the snack box but was totally inadequate for cave exploration or spelunking. I was hardly do anything that adventurous since thousand of visitors do the same tube every week but it was still my first foray into this kind of environment.
I knew there was "27 rock piles" but that didn't quite describe what I actually found. To add to the challenge, I only had one free hand to negotiate the giant rocks that you had to climb over since I was holding the flashlight on the other hand.
As a volunteer and representative of the site, I greeting folks along the way and tried to answer questions. One that kept coming up is "how much further". I told them honestly that it was my first time in the lava tube as well. I encouraged the people that were a bit tepid about their abilities.
The rock piles were not difficult to get over but as you got further along, some of the passages were narrow. Fortunately, my pack did not prove to be an encumbrance. Actually, I think the only place were I felt the squeeze was when climbing the ladder at the end to get back to the surface.
One obstacle that presented an bigger challenge was a 6-7 foot rope ladder with no foot hold. I was behind two other groups that were helping each other out. Bravely, I didn't accept the help I should have take but I managed to clumsily get up the ladder, like a beached whale. LOL. I did put my knee down on a jagged rock but didn't suffer any lasting discomfort.
I thought about one visitor I'd talked to at one of the early rock piles that seemed particularly nervous about the adventure. They weren't gonna like this section. I stopped and waited for another large group I'd passed to see how they managed. The kids made it up with little effort and in fact, several adults who protested seemed to make it fine. I certainly wasn't there to provide climbing assistance or be a guide. As they waited for the whole group to get up and over this obstacle I took off.
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| The cave |
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| The cave |
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| Near the skylight |
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| Fascinating textures |
What an experience. I continued to
marvel at the high ceiling and contrast of course rock with smooth,
glasslike patterns. Near the end, there is a skylight. I did my best to
photograph the tunnel but my camera didn't have anything to focus on so
many pictures were blurry. This skylight was perfect for some
underground photography.
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| Near the exit |
If there hadn't been so many people down there, I would probably have been nervous as there was no way to gauge distance or progress with technology. Eventually, I made it to the exit. There was a gathering of people there waiting their turn for the ladder. The climate got a bit humid and there was a bit of a fog as the outside, warm air mixed with the cave air.
Lots of folks were resting outside the cave, enjoying snack and the daylight. One teenager that was having a little difficulty was sitting quietly, relieved.
It had been raining earlier but that had stopped but it was still warm from the summer heat. I took off my jacket, took a bit swig of water, and ate half a sandwich. I picked up some bits of trash and milled about. I'd seen many of these people at entrance so there wasn't much need to engage. Most people just seemed a bit tired and glad to completed the "more difficult" section of Ape Cave. I said something about taking a well-earned rest and headed back to the trailhead through the forest.
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| The exit (hole in bottom left) |
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| Just outside the exit |
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| Trail back to the cave entrance |
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| Trail back to the cave entrance |
I finally reached the entrance and again and shared the highlights of my subterranean journey with my mentor. He was an older gentleman who admitted he wasn't fit to do the cave. I was glad to share my own experience.
Throughout the day, visitors arrived in waves due to the timed 2-hour passes: 9am, 11am, 1pm, 3pm, 5pm. Around 4pm another MSHI volunteer arrived. She was going to work this site but did some roving on the Loowit Trail near June Lake and ended up helping participants of 5K stay on track.
At 4:15p, we took down the signs we'd put up, mostly pictures of the 1980 eruption and other educational aid, even though this side of the mountain was mostly unaffected. It's still the reason the monument exists.
Walking through Ape Cave is high on the list of exceptional things I've done, right there with Preikestolen in Norway. I said goodbye to my mentor and the other volunteer. A great day!
