Hiking in the dark

The description of Ape Cave had me seriously interested: The 1.3-mile lava tube on the flanks of Mount St. Helens is completely dark, full of huge boulder stacks and remains a constant 42 degrees year-round.

In short, it sounded like an odd, scary, exciting experience. It didn't disappoint.

The drive to St. Helens was incredible. The road hugged a variety of reservoirs that glowed emerald on a rare clear February day. Gaps in the trees revealed sweeping views of St. Helens. It was easy to see how its peak had been blown off by its eruption 30 years ago. Still, it's a commanding, dominating presence, dwarfed only by the ghost-like peaks of Mt. Rainier and Mt. Adams on the horizon.

The entrance to the cave is just a big hole in the lava-rock ground. A staircase descends in the darkness. The Forest Service recommends bringing three sources of light -- standard headlamps, a strong flashlight and a gas lantern. Between my friend Chuck and I, we brought two headlamps and one weakish flashlight. Probably not the smartest approach, but we got by OK.

Initially, though, the darkness was unsettling. The headlamps certainly didn't light up the large dark cave. In some spots the cave was 80 feet wide and 20 feet high. In other spots it was 4 feet wide and 6 feet high.

The trail -- uneven from the spiky lava -- regularly ran into stacks of boulders. The hardened lava stacks stretched 10 to 12 feet in the air and required some pretty careful climbing. Dripping water didn't help footing much either. At one point, we had to scale an 8-foot, sheer lava wall. There were plenty of handholds, though, and it wasn't too bad.

The trail revealed one skylight, that made for a welcomed reprieve from the darkness. The trail emerged at another large hole in the lava rock. A 12-foot ladder led to the light.

A beautiful 1.3 mile, above-ground return trip featured views of St. Helens, large fields of lava boulders and a trail of gray ash. All in all, it was an unusual and memorable hike.


The details:
Trail name: Ape Cave
Location: 12 miles northeast of Cougar, Wash., in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.
Length: 2.6 mile roundtrip (1.3 underground, 1.3 above. Shorter routes are available.)
Beginning elevation: 2,115 feet
Peak elevation: 2,115 feet
Difficulty (out of 5): 2