When Mike and I took the trip down to Redwoods we met a couple who were on the last leg of a three-week road trip around the West. We shared a sunset with them over the Pacific Ocean as they shared a bit of their travel with us. One of the spots they mentioned was the Ape Caves near Mt. St. Helens, a solid 1 1/2 mile strenuous hike through a pitch-black cave. Needless to say, Mike had been dreaming of getting there ever since (and I am a willing, albeit somewhat wary, thrill seeker).
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| Mt. St. Helens |
The Ape Cave is the longest lava tube in the United States, formed after an eruption from Mt St. Helens almost 2,000 years ago. It took us a little over an hour to get to from Portland, and was a ridiculous Indiana Jones-like experience to say the least. The mile and a half trail takes more than two hours to climb through, using headlamps to guide the way as we climbed over about 27 boulder piles and had to scale an 8-foot high lava fall. The magnitude of it was amazing, and it was really fun being an adventure drastically different from anything I have done before.
We survived the trek below the surface of the earth to celebrate the sunshine of the weekend: the 5K we ran for Run for Congo Women was amazing. It was wonderful to see all the people come out in support for it (there are events you can find in a city near you here). The weekend was concluded by the Fleet Foxes show at McMenniman's Edgefield, which was so fun. They were wonderful live and I was thrilled to see them (plus, to have it at an outdoor venue)! Hope you had a wonderful weekend!
Mykonos by Fleet Foxes:
8 comments:
Such a great weekend :) I haven't been to the caves since I was a kid but I remember I loved them.
I am soo excited for Foster the people coming in October!
If you tell if you continue like this, I'm going to tour america:)
great song, liked it very much. thanks
that's quite a weekend, I'm jealous :)
Wow, what an awesome weekend. And the Fleet Foxes was the icing on the cake. SO jealous.
that sounds like an amazing adventure!! dannon and i have been craving something like that. it's hard to find challenging adventures in the LA area, especially in summer when it's too hot in the desert to be hardcore. maybe on our next trip to portland/seattle, we can spend a day there. you rock!! :)
What an incredible, adventurous weekend-I'm impressed!
sounds like you had quite the adventurous weekend - the ape cave sounds pretty intense!
Mary, you're showing me just how beautiful America can be.. why did I never make it over to that side of the country?!
It's crazy (in a good way!) that, often times, when people go somewhere to be secluded, they meet so many wonderful people.
Thank you for the birthday wishes! : )
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