One of the goals for my trip was to hike up volcanoes. Mt. St. Helens called to me so almost a full day was spent there. The power and recuperative power of nature was incredible. I first got to St. Helens late in the afternoon, driving up the back side to the Windy Ridge Overlook.

Expecting to just take a quick look around at the devastated area, I checked out all of the overlooks to see how the area had repaired itself during the 17 years since the 1980 eruption. Waist-high trees grew from the ground that had been destroyed during the eruption. The regeneration is remarkable, having seen pictures of the miles of leveled forests.

At the top of Windy Ridge Overlook you are fairly close (about 3 miles) to the actual cone. While at the overlook, a storm moved in quickly. Trying to get a photo of the cone and get above the incoming storm, I ran up the ridgeline, pushed uphill by a 50 MPH wind. A 50 MPH tailwind sure does help the hill climbing ability!

For More Information:

Well, I did not beat the storm. Heavy fog, rain, and the wind blasted my climb. Not being able to see much of anything, I just pushed forward, and upward. I had lost the trail at some point, so I was just blindly climbing upward. I finally passed some guy wearing an entire REI store worth of clothing and asked how far to the summit cone. He then told me I was already there. There was no real view, due to the clouds. He made some comment about me wearing shorts in a cold, driving rainstorm, but I was already turning to get off the exposed mountaintop.

Finding the trail, I blasted down, straight into the teeth of the storm. There were a few warm spots where the heat from the ground reminded me that I was on a volcano! As I approached the overlook, the storm clear as I arrived at the parking lot. Many photos were taken, except at the top. I couldn't see anything beyond my feet, so photos would have been pointless. Next time!

The next day I did the Ape Lava Tubes. Home to Bigfoot, the caves are actually lava tubes from an 500-year-old eruption. Lava goes through these tunnels in the mountainside, leaving behind a cave. The Ape Caves are the longest lava tubes in the world at 12,810 feet, I hiked from end to end. Parts of the hike were just walking, others fully tested my very limited rock climbing skills. On yeah, all of this was done in absolute, total darkness!

I bought two flashlights at Kmart the day before, a blue-light special at two flashlights for $2.50! They gave some light, but it was dark and wet inside the tubes. After a few minutes in the darkness, I came to the conclusion that I should have spent more than $2.50 on my flashlights.

A total of more than three miles of hiking is needed to cover the full length of the tubes, so that is a good amount of time underground. I picked out a smoother section and turned the lights off and jogged a couple seconds. Now, I have run up Mt. St. Helens and also inside Mt. St. Helens! Great experiences!

I would recommend St. Helens to anyone out in the area. It is a spectacular exhibit on the force of nature. I'd love to go back. hopefully, next time I'll be able to see something!