Volcano View Trail — Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016

South Cascades > Mount St. Helens

Another Hike-a-thon Hike completed! Go team Lola and Kai! We parked at the upper trailhead as the main parking area for Ape Cave was packed as usual. Then we dropped down the 1.0+ mile trail to the cave. It is an old road grade that WTA volunteers built into a trail by adding sinuous curves here and there. The forest is a mix of shady regrowth and some dense stands of evergreens that appear to be remnant native forest. Lola's favorite part is a tumble of big boulders near an old, mossy rock quarry. I like the spot where the trail runs between two large stumps with young western hemlock trees sprouting from their tops. Once down to the cave entrance we chatted with the ranger who was sharing information about the white-nose syndrome afflicting bats. They had installed shoe cleaning stations to prevent the infection from spreading into this cave system. After a short drop into the caves we headed back up the hill to our van and on the then next hike in our Hike-a-thon quest.