Mt. St. Helen's and the Ape Caves

September 26, 2009 we took a day to go see Mt. Saint. Helen's. It was cloudy and sprinkling on our way to the observatory, but then we cleared the clouds and had an amazing view of the valley and mountain. It is so humbling to see the power of mother nature. The kids loved it, they didn't love the car ride. After eating lunch at the mountain we headed off to do the ape caves. Our GPS told us there was a back road that would shave a bunch of time off the trip. They guys were all for trying it, it was a dirt road and probably would have gone through eventually if not for the gate that blocked the road part way. So we turned around and headed a different direction which took us to the main road. We got to the parking lot and found out that it was a free day so we didn't have to pay parking. We descended into the pitch black and had to stop. Britt forgot extra batteries, then Ben broke his flash light. The kids loved it though. Jon and Britt crawled on their bellies to the farthest they could go. We turned off all the lights at the end and let the kids feel just how dark it was...it was crazy the blackness was so thick. Back at the entrance you could leave the caves or go to the upper cave. Alexis was done and so was Ben so Stephanie and i left and Britt, Jon and Sam went tot he upper cave. It was intense with climbing over boulders and skirt holes, glad I didn't take Alexis. We let the kids play and run around outside and when it started to get dark we got in the car and the kids played some more. It took the guys some 3 hours to get through the upper cave and we were starving by that point. We hit Mcdonald's and ate before starting the over 2 hour drive back to Jon and Steph's. Then the 45 minutes back to our house. It was seriously a fun day and I can't wait to explore more of Washington. Up next is the Olympic rain forest. We might wait until spring for that one though! Who knows though one of these nice Saturdays may just find us in the car driving west!



The battery on the camera died right after this picture.