Ape Cave

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Ape Cave
Ape Cave entrance.jpg
Ape Cave entrance
Location Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Skamania County, Washington
Length13,042 feet (3,975 m)
Discovery1951
HazardsSharp rocks that hang down
A famous feature far into the cave is the "Meatball". It is a lava ball wedged in a ceiling channel. Lava balls form from smaller rocks which roll along in lava flows, accreting more and more layers over time, like a snowball rolling down a snow bank. Ape cave meatball.jpg
A famous feature far into the cave is the "Meatball". It is a lava ball wedged in a ceiling channel. Lava balls form from smaller rocks which roll along in lava flows, accreting more and more layers over time, like a snowball rolling down a snow bank.

Ape Cave is a lava tube located in Gifford Pinchot National Forest just to the south of Mount St. Helens in Washington state. Its passageway is the longest continuous lava tube in the continental United States and the third longest (in total mapped length) lava tube in North America at 2.5 miles (4,023 meters). [1] Ape Cave is a popular hiking destination with beautiful views of the Mount St. Helens lahar region. Lava tubes are an unusual formation in this region, as volcanoes of the Cascade Range are mostly stratovolcanos and do not typically erupt with pahoehoe (fluid basalt).

Lava tube Natural conduit through which lava flows beneath the solid surface

A lava tube is a natural conduit formed by flowing lava which moves beneath the hardened surface of a lava flow. Tubes can drain lava from a volcano during an eruption, or can be extinct, meaning the lava flow has ceased, and the rock has cooled and left a long cave.

Gifford Pinchot National Forest protected area in the state of Washington, United States

Gifford Pinchot National Forest is a National Forest located in southern Washington, USA, managed by the United States Forest Service. With an area of 1.32 million acres (5300 km2), it extends 116 km along the western slopes of Cascade Range from Mount Rainier National Park to the Columbia River. The forest straddles the crest of the South Cascades of Washington State, spread out over broad, old growth forests, high mountain meadows, several glaciers, and numerous volcanic peaks. The forest's highest point is at 12,276 ft. at the top of Mount Adams, the second tallest volcano in the state after Rainier. It includes the 110,000-acre (450 km2) Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, established by Congress in 1982

Mount St. Helens US American volcano

Mount St. Helens is an active stratovolcano located in Skamania County, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is 50 miles (80 km) northeast of Portland, Oregon and 96 miles (154 km) south of Seattle, Washington. Mount St. Helens takes its English name from the British diplomat Lord St Helens, a friend of explorer George Vancouver who made a survey of the area in the late 18th century. The volcano is located in the Cascade Range and is part of the Cascade Volcanic Arc, a segment of the Pacific Ring of Fire that includes over 160 active volcanoes. This volcano is well known for its ash explosions and pyroclastic flows.

The cave was discovered circa 1951 by Lawrence Johnson, a logger, when he noticed a tree that "looked wrong." After investigating the tree, he discovered it tilted into a lava tube collapse. A few days later, Johnson brought the Reese family back to the cave, and Harry Reese was lowered to the floor and became the first person to explore the interior. Subsequent explorations were conducted by members of the Mount St. Helens Apes, a local Boy Scout troop. [2]

Ape Cave Trail No. 239, which runs along the interior of the cave, is a National Recreation Trail receiving 170,000 visitors each year. [3]

National Recreation Trail designation given to trails that contribute to health, conservation, and recreation goals in the United States

National Recreation Trail (NRT) is a designation given to existing trails that contribute to health, conservation, and recreation goals in the United States. Over 1,148 trails in all 50 U.S. states, available for public use and ranging from less than a mile to 485 miles (781 km) in length, have been designated as NRTs on federal, state, municipal, and privately owned lands. Trails may be nominated for designation as NRTs each year. The NRT online database includes information on most designated trails. National Recreational Trails are part of the National Trails System.

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Lava Beds National Monument national monument in the United States

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Mount Adams (Washington) Stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc of southern Washington

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Ape Canyon

Ape Canyon is a gorge along the edge of the Plains of Abraham, on the southeast shoulder of Mount St. Helens in the state of Washington. The gorge narrows to as close as eight feet at one point. The name alludes to a reported encounter with several "apemen" in 1924, an event later incorporated into Bigfoot folklore.

Indian Heaven mountain in United States of America

Indian Heaven is a volcanic field in Skamania County in the state of Washington, in the United States. Midway between Mount St. Helens and Mount Adams, the field dates from the Pleistocene to the early Holocene epoch. It trends north to south and is dominated by six small shield volcanoes; these shields are topped by small spatter and cinder cones, and the field includes a number of subglacial volcanoes and tuyas. The northernmost peak in the field is Sawtooth Mountain and the southernmost is Red Mountain; its highest point is Lemei Rock at an elevation of 5,925 feet (1,806 m).

Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument

Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument is a U.S. National Monument that includes the area around Mount St. Helens in Washington. It was established on August 27, 1982 by U.S. President Ronald Reagan following the 1980 eruption. The 110,000 acre (445 km2) National Volcanic Monument was set aside for research, recreation, and education. Inside the Monument, the environment is left to respond naturally to the disturbance.

Silver Lake, Washington Unincorporated community in Washington

Silver Lake, sometimes Silverlake, is an unincorporated community in Cowlitz County, Washington, in the southwestern portion of the state. Silver Lake is located 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Castle Rock along Washington State Route 504, which is also known as the Spirit Lake Memorial Highway. The area considered Silverlake is about 6 miles (10 km) east of Interstate 5 (I-5) and is approximately 50 miles (80 km) from Portland, Oregon, to the south and Seattle about 110 miles (180 km) to the north. The closest cities to the subject property are Castle Rock, six miles (10 km) to the west, and Toutle, four miles (6 km) east.

The Mount St. Helens Creation Information Center, previously Seven Wonders Creation Museum and Seven Wonders Museum of Mount St. Helens, is a ministry, museum, and bookstore dedicated to promoting young Earth creationism. The museum is located off of I-5 at Castle Rock, Washington on Front Street near Mount St. Helens, United States. Admission is free but donations are accepted, and often accompanied by a guided tour of volcano sights.

Lava Canyon Falls drops 200 feet along the Muddy River in Skamania County, Washington.

Lava cave Cave formed in volcanic rock, especially one formed via volcanic processes

A lava cave is any cave formed in volcanic rock, though it typically means caves formed by volcanic processes, which are more properly termed volcanic caves. Sea caves, and other sorts of erosional and crevice caves, may be formed in volcanic rocks, but through non-volcanic processes and usually long after the volcanic rock was emplaced.

Lava River Cave

The Lava River Cave near Bend, Oregon, is part of the Newberry National Volcanic Monument, which is managed by the United States Forest Service. At 5,211 feet (1,588 m) in length, the northwest section of the cave is the longest continuous lava tube in Oregon. While the cave’s discovery in 1889 was officially credited to a pioneer hunter, the presence of obsidian flakes near the cave has led archaeologists to conclude that Native Americans knew about the cave long before settlers arrived in central Oregon.

Oregon High Desert Grotto organization

The Oregon High Desert Grotto is an American caving club, known as a grotto. It is affiliated with the National Speleological Society.

Specimen Ridge mountain in United States of America

Specimen Ridge, el. 8,379 feet (2,554 m) is an approximately 8.5-mile (13.7 km) ridge along the south rim of the Lamar Valley in Yellowstone National Park. The ridge separates the Lamar Valley from Mirror Plateau. The ridge is oriented northwest to southeast from the Tower Junction area to Amethyst Mountain. The ridge is known for its abundance of amethyst, opal and petrified wood. It was referred to as Specimen Mountain by local miners and was probably named by prospectors well before 1870. The south side of the ridge is traversed by the 18.8-mile (30.3 km) Specimen Ridge Trail between Tower Junction and Soda Butte Creek. The trail passes through the Petrified Forest and over the summit of Amethyst Mountain el. 9,614 feet (2,930 m).

Cueva del Viento is the largest lava tube system in Europe, and the fifth largest in the world, behind a series of lava tubes in Hawaii. It is also considered the most complex volcanic tube in the world, due to its morphology of several levels and passages.

Gruta das Torres cave in Portugal

The Gruta das Torres, is a lava cave, a geological formation of volcanic origin formed from the flow and cooling of subterranean magma rivers. This formation is located outside the parish of Criação Velha, in the municipality of Madalena, on the western flanks of the island of Pico. The cave system formed from a series of pāhoehoe lava flows which originating from the Cabeço Bravo parasitic cone about 500 to 1500 years ago. The caves are a group of interconnected lava tubes between 0.5–22 metres (2–72 ft) width, created from both pāhoehoe and ʻaʻā types of lavas generated during different geological periods. It has a height between 1.1 and 15 metres (3.6–49 ft) and is located at an elevation of 300 metres (980 ft). With an estimated length of over 5.2 km (3.2 mi) it is the longest lava cave in the Azores. Access to the cave was managed by the Mountaineering Association. Starting in 2011, AZORINA, SA took over the management and organization of the cave.

Derrick Cave lava tube cavern in Lake County, Oregon, USA

Derrick Cave is a lava tube located in the remote northwest corner of Lake County, Oregon. The cave is approximately 1,200 feet (370 m) long. It is up to 80 feet (24 m) wide and 46 feet (14 m) high in places. It was named in honor of H.E. Derrick, a pioneer rancher with a homestead 3 miles (4.8 km) southeast of the cave. The land around the cave is managed by the United States Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management. Derrick Cave is open to the public year-round; however, camping is no longer permitted in the cave.

Castle Creek (Washington)

Castle Creek is a tributary of the North Fork Toutle River on the flank of Mount St. Helens in Washington State. It rises about two miles (three kilometers) northwest of the crater rim and flows generally to the northwest. The outflow of Castle Lake joins the creek at the lake's north end after traveling a few hundred meters on the South Fork Castle Creek. It joins the North Fork Toutle River at 46.28302°N 122.29359°W, elevation 2,200 feet.

Windy Ridge (Mount St. Helens)

Windy Ridge is a ridge and eponymous Forest Highway in the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. The ridge goes between Windy Pass and Independence Pass, 1 mile (1.6 km) east of Spirit Lake. Several road guides list Windy Ridge Road (NF-99) as one of the best roads in Washington State due to its good pavement, good views, and winding "sweeper" curves enjoyable to many drivers and motorcycle riders. At the end of the road at 4,200 feet (1,300 m) elevation, at 46°15′00″N122°08′14″W above Spirit Lake, there is a viewpoint into the St. Helens crater.

References

  1. USGS, Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument , retrieved 2013-05-20
  2. Halliday, William R. (1983), Ape Cave and the Mount St. Helens Apes, p. 24
  3. "Ape Cave Trail No. 239". American Trails. 2013-04-23. Retrieved 2014-08-14.

Coordinates: 46°06′29″N122°12′43″W / 46.108086°N 122.211877°W / 46.108086; -122.211877

Geographic coordinate system Coordinate system

A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position and two or three of the numbers represent a horizontal position; alternatively, a geographic position may be expressed in a combined three-dimensional Cartesian vector. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation. To specify a location on a plane requires a map projection.