In June,
we visited the Ape Cave, the magnificent lava tube at Mt. St. Helens, and tried the lower trail. The lower trail dead-ends, requiring a return along the same path, and is fairly easy. We understood that the upper trail was much more challenging. It's about 1 1/4 miles, rising slowly uphill. At the end, spelunkers can climb out of the cave and return along a downhill trail through the woods. We decided to give it a try. We brought lights for our heads, to free our hands up for climbing. It was quite a challenge! There are a
lot of boulders to climb. It took us about 2 1/2 hours to get through it. After about 1 1/2 hours, we came to an 8 foot high rise (a lava fall). My husband fearlessly lifted Jasper up, and climbed up himself with great caution, carefully choosing among the few footholds. Then he looked down at me and asked if I thought I would be able to do it. There was no way, this far into the cave, that I wanted to turn around. But I have to admit that I was genuinely scared. I made it!
Some cavers were walking the cave "backwards", taking the forest trail uphill to the cave exit and then walking the upper cave trail down to the entrance. This strategy means negotiating the lava fall as a drop instead of a climb. Midway through the cave, we passed a large party that was doing the trail backwards. Shortly after they passed us, they turned around and headed back the other way towards the exit. Soon we progressed to the lava fall, and I was truly shocked because one of the people in their party was a woman with an infant on her back. They had just tackled this lava fall twice!
Jasper loved this adventure and can't wait to return. I think I'd like to do it again with lots of rope to help me up the lava fall. We bought head lamps at REI for around $20 each. They had a vast selection of more expensive ones which offered more lumens, but ours were perfectly adequate. I personally can't imagine negotiating the cave while carrying a glass lantern, as we observed people attempting. This would be so stressful for me it would sap the joy out of the experience. Other things we brought: extra batteries and extra flashlights just in case, water bottles, good shoes, and warm jackets (the cave is 42F all year). Oh, and a bag of chocolate chip cookies to help us celebrate when we emerged from the cave! August is a good month to walk the cave, because it is considerably drier than at other times of the year. The cave is more pleasant and the rocks are less slippery. (The last time we visited, it was bright and sunny outside the cave, and it was raining steadily inside.) I was worried that I would have to crawl, but the ceiling is pretty high throughout the cave. There is a $5 parking fee. More info on the cave can be found here:
http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/recreation/ape-cave/hiking-the-cave.shtml#upper.
In June, we visited the Ape Cave, the magnificent lava tube at Mt. St. Helens, and tried the lower trail. The lower trail dead-ends, requiring a return along the same path, and is fairly easy. We understood that the upper trail was much more challenging. It's about 1 1/4 miles, rising slowly uphill. At the end, spelunkers can climb out of the cave and return along a downhill trail through the woods. We decided to give it a try. We brought lights for our heads, to free our hands up for climbing. It was quite a challenge! There are a lot of boulders to climb. It took us about 2 1/2 hours to get through it. After about 1 1/2 hours, we came to an 8 foot high rise (a lava fall). My husband fearlessly lifted Jasper up, and climbed up himself with great caution, carefully choosing among the few footholds. Then he looked down at me and asked if I thought I would be able to do it. There was no way, this far into the cave, that I wanted to turn around. But I have to admit that I was genuinely scared. I made it!
Some cavers were walking the cave "backwards", taking the forest trail uphill to the cave exit and then walking the upper cave trail down to the entrance. This strategy means negotiating the lava fall as a drop instead of a climb. Midway through the cave, we passed a large party that was doing the trail backwards. Shortly after they passed us, they turned around and headed back the other way towards the exit. Soon we progressed to the lava fall, and I was truly shocked because one of the people in their party was a woman with an infant on her back. They had just tackled this lava fall twice! 
Jasper loved this adventure and can't wait to return. I think I'd like to do it again with lots of rope to help me up the lava fall. We bought head lamps at REI for around $20 each. They had a vast selection of more expensive ones which offered more lumens, but ours were perfectly adequate. I personally can't imagine negotiating the cave while carrying a glass lantern, as we observed people attempting. This would be so stressful for me it would sap the joy out of the experience. Other things we brought: extra batteries and extra flashlights just in case, water bottles, good shoes, and warm jackets (the cave is 42F all year). Oh, and a bag of chocolate chip cookies to help us celebrate when we emerged from the cave! August is a good month to walk the cave, because it is considerably drier than at other times of the year. The cave is more pleasant and the rocks are less slippery. (The last time we visited, it was bright and sunny outside the cave, and it was raining steadily inside.) I was worried that I would have to crawl, but the ceiling is pretty high throughout the cave. There is a $5 parking fee. More info on the cave can be found here: http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/recreation/ape-cave/hiking-the-cave.shtml#upper. 
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