Nac Snap Photography

This is a really cool spot. I had no idea about this place other than it was a cave… Well, it’s a very long lava tube and it’s very dark so it’s very hard to take pictures. It’s also very moist and absolutely no food or non-water beverage is allowed here to protect the habitat. Nothing tests your claustrophobia and fear of the dark like a trek through ever-changing lava tubes. Follow the buttons below to jump sections.

Some fun quick facts:

• There are two options for cave exploration and one is more kid friendly.
• Absolutely no food or non-water beverages are allowed to preserve the habitat.
• It’s very very dark so bring a headlamp. There are many many places you could fall through and get stuck… you’ll be climbing over and around lots of very large boulders the whole time.
• The cave will always stay a steady and very cool 42F degrees and is pretty moist inside
• You are required to make a reservation and to have either a NW Forest Pass, or you can buy a day pass ($5) at the parking lot. If you go in winter (Dec – March) the gate may be closed and you’ll need a Sno-Park Permit as well, but Ape Caves are closed during winter.

Getting to the Trail

The Road There: is all paved and the directions you find online are pretty clear. My Google GPS worked the entire way. You go by another pretty cool trail on FR8303, so if you have time take a stop there too!

The Trailhead/Parking: is great! Nice, clean vault toilets, a big paved parking lot with room for about 50 cars, a gift shop (when open) that can rent out lanterns and answer questions, shoe cleaning station gor habitat preservation reasons, and lots of trash cans. There is no water station though, bring your own water.

Start of the Trail: by the big sign, close to the gift shop/info center, down a paved trail. Something I didn’t know when we went: there are 2 exploration options: Upper and Lower caves.

Trail Options and Specs:

Here is the official website for current information: https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/giffordpinchot/recarea/?recid=40393

This trail has 3 options: Lower, Upper from Main Entrance, and Upper from Upper Entrance.

Map Images courtesy of http://www.mountsthelens.com/ape-caves.html

Our Mistakes and Tips

Mistake 1: It’s very very dark and wet in there and my camera wasn’t a very big fan. I also lost an entire lens system down there and cried when I got home. There are lots and lots of places to lose items forever into.

Mistake 2: Not doing a little better research before heading out. I assumed there was only one path and at the end discovered there was a whole other side (Lower) and that the side we took was the harder and not suggested for kids side… Oops. My kid did fine (6yo), but it was kind of scary in parts and there are very large lava rocks and boulders to climb over… meaning there are very large pits underneath the boulders she could’ve fallen into and it would’ve been nearly impossible to get her out of… if at all. We were lucky to be there with a group that had tall boys because they were very helpful. The cave only goes one way honestly, but we did get into weird crevices here and there and had to turn around. Also, I’m used to hiking and eating during the hike, so we left all the food behind to follow the rules and there was a lot of complaining about wanting a snack…

What We Did Right: had a blast and challenged our fear of the dark and claustrophobia (more me than her). Brought enough reliable head lamps for everyone. Worked together as a team to overcome bigger boulders for the little, and generally just had a really good time.

The Trek

• Snacks Packed/Consumed: nothing, food isn’t allowed.
• Meals Consumed: none, food isn’t allowed.
• Summit Prize: non, food isn’t allowed. She got a Happy Meal on the way home though and a Vanilla Bean Frappuccino from a very popular coffee place.
• In her bag: filled water bladder
• In my bag: 10 essentials, extra set of clothes,, small camera bag for camera goodies and a place to put my camera if I wanted to stop carrying it, my new Canon EOS M50 camera, an extra headlamp, emergency sealed granola bars, and my 2L water bladder full.

When we first arrived I was a little nervous. I’d never been in a cave and had no idea what to expect. Plus, I didn’t really do much research before going… we were meeting a life-long friend of mine and I just decided to rely on her. When we met up, she had no idea either. We did make reservations beforehand and I did read a quick summary so I knew there was a shorter easier side and more adventurous hard side… I just had no idea that the harder side was not suggested for small children… whoops.

Anyways, we walked in and found the entrance and went down and just went for it. This is the first time I’ve ever, and will ever, go to a hike without any of my own preparation and a map review prior. Even so, the cave system is pretty straightforward and really only goes one way with little inlets of passages that didn’t seem to really go anywhere. The kids all tried to climb into tons of different smaller cave paths and none of them led anywhere.

From the Main Entrance, going towards the Upper portion, you cross a large metal platform and then have a choice to walk into a bigger cavern (guessing this is the lower segment) or to start climbing large rocks the other direction and go for it. If I recall, there was a big white arrow and no other information. So we just started climbing and going the direction that felt natural.

The cave/lave tube changes width and height constantly. Sometimes the cavern is huge and very breathtaking, and other times it is very small and feels claustrophobic (a different kind of breathtaking). Sometimes the ground is flat, and sometimes you are pulling yourself over very large boulders and lava rocks praying you don’t slip and fall into the pits in between. I actually dropped a camera lens flipping my camera onto my back to help my little climb over a large boulder… and it fell for awhile. I had no choice but to move on after the echoes of it’s death pinging against rocks as it fell lingered for nearly a whole minute… darn. I now have straps that attach my lens to the main body in case I accidentally twist it off again.

There is also water everywhere: dripping off the walls, covering parts of the ground, and just generally like a wet, moist blanket, kind of air all the way through. A faint, musty smell lingers throughout and oddly enough, you can’t really hear other hikers until they’re pretty close. It doesn’t echo like I assumed it would, but the paralyzing fear of sending stalactites falling if were made too much noise… Still not sure if that’s just a movie thing or if you could really create that much vibration, but better to be safe than sorry.

I’d say I remember the place having a few distinct parts: lots of large lava rock piles, then a small open space, then a very skinny room of large rocks, and then more large rocks to climb on and around, then a very large cavern of glittering purple rocks, then many many more large boulders to climb on and many different small pseudo-paths, then a tall slippery 8 ft wall we had to climb over with very few handholds (enough to snag painfully onto though if you came the other way and slid down), a small underground creek we had to walk around, and then a big opening up above to let in lots of light (near the end) that was a nice break, and then the rickety ladder to get out. The order? Not sure. It’s been too long since we went and I decided to write this post. There is also a small cavern behind the rickety stairs to play in before leaving, but the way out is only up that ladder or going back the way you came.

We climbed out what felt like small tube into the bright open air. The trail back to the main entrance and parking lot is very clearly marked and paved, but we played in the lave field a little outside before heading out. There are so many fun very little caves all around there and holes in the ground right off the paved trail that you could fall into. We contemplated doing the other trail nearby, but we headed home because I had a little soaked child who never got any food and she was tired and hungry.

Very very cool experience, but I don’t think we’ll revisit anytime soon unless I know someone who would really like to explore a cave or has a kid who really wants to. It’s definitely a must see, but it takes quite a bit of effort to go through and it’s quite dark and musty. I think I prefer hiking outside in open air chasing waterfalls and conquering summits.