LOST: Orange and grey backpack with lots of stuff in it left on Mt. St. Helens. The bag was left around 6600 ft near the last rock outcropping before the final push. If you found or have it, please call me at 206.856.4578. I will come wherever you are to pick it up. Thank you!

This was our first trip to the Ape Caves though I'd been wanting to go for quite some time. We got there at 11 and the parking lots were already full and ppl were parking down the road so the cave was already quite highly populated. The other groups were all polite, the slower ppl letting us pass just as we let the faster folks pass us. We hiked upper and started at the entrance near the interpretive center and worked our way up.

We were prepared with jackets, gloves, sturdy boots, headlamps & spare flashlights. Batteries are good to bring too as we ran into more than one person whose batteries had died and were relying on others for light. Gave most of our spares out but withheld one set for ourselves.

I picked up the previously mentioned beer cans along the way, and my pack was full of trash by the time I got to the end. I'm surprised that with as many rangers as I saw around the interpretive center they didn't assign one to make a clean up run through the place on a daily basis. Maybe check for bodies along the way! I can't believe how many people were dragging their young children through the upper cave which is clearly marked as being not recommended for young children.

Once I made it through there was a good-sized crowd milling around the head of the stairway to climb out. No one wanted to come down, they just wanted to stand there and look into the cave, take pictures, etc. Would be nice if people would realize that the people coming out of the cave have been in the dark for 2-4 hours and give them a little room to climb out without having to squeeze by.

As much fun as I had, this place is dangerous. You will be climbing over rocks and boulders through pitch blackness for a mile and a half or 2-4 hours depending on your speed. There are lots of cracks and crevices just waiting for a foot or leg to slip into and twist or break. I can't imagine how many rescues they must carry out of here each year. My husband had to gently coax one child out of a complete and total screaming meltdown at the foot of the second big climb. He was terrified and crying and did not want to go any further, but had already passed the 8 ft wall and couldn't go back either. People were backed up in both directions waiting and this poor kid was just stuck. I would NOT recommend this hike for children under 12 and even then only if they're relatively athletic kids.

I hiked the Ape Canyon Trail up to the junction with the Loowit Trail this past week. The first part was in the forest among majestic Douglas Fir. Beautiful. Large, tall, and straight. They seemed to go up forever. Soon, there were views of Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams, and Mt. Hood. Mt. St. Helen's was in your face. Near the destination I walked through wildflowers whose fragrance was very pleasant.

The road to the trail head is excellent. The trail itself was in great shape. I did not see any others on the trail on the way up. I did meet one on a mountain bike near the junction, two hikers with a dog and another on a mountain bike on the way down. I only noticed a few bugs. One of the mountain bikers reported seeing two elk.

A great hike.

 

After reading this as a hike of the week I wanted to check it out, and get out of my normal North Cascades hiking. I found the trail fairly easy with an easy elevation gain. Of course after Pugh, Lookout Mt., and Gothic Basin, I find everything else fairly easy. Many wildflowers are blooming on this hike. After a steady elevation gain thru the forest I broke out into the open with a spectacular view of the mountain. The clouds had not completly burned off, so I could not see Adams or the top of Mt. St. Helens, but a great hike all the same. I could see when its hot your very exposed, would recomend lots of fluilds and sunscreen. On the way back down I experienced something new, a steady stream of cyclists. Never experienced this before, so I don't know what the trail etiquette is. Most were very nice and polite, but for some I was an annoyance on the trail. I must say that dodging bicycles every 5 minutes on the way back down took away from my hiking experience. I want to share the outdoors with everyone, but I should be able to hike without being a burden to someone on a bicycle. After, I drove to Windy Ridge for photos and scout some more hikes.