Ape Cave

Ape Cave is a lava tube located in Gifford Pinchot National Forest just to the south of Mt. St. Helens in Washington, USA. At 13,042 feet (3,976 m), it is the longest continuous lava tube in the continental United States, in terms of passageway length. Lava tubes are an unusual formation in this region, as volcanoes of the Cascade Mountain Range tend toward the stratovolcano type and do not typically erupt with pahoehoe (fluid basalt).Ape Cave is a popular hiking destination with beautiful views of the Mt. St. Helens lahar region.

A logger named Lawrence Johnson discovered Ape Cave in 1947 when his truck fell into a sinkhole and in there he came upon the entrance to the cave. A Boy Scout troop under the leadership of Harry Reese performed the first exploration in 1950; they named the cave for their sponsor, the St. Helens Apes: a group of local Scouts, sometimes called "Brush Apes".

References

* E-mail interview with Teresa Newton of the U.S. Forest Service
* [http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/recreation/ape-cave/index.shtml Ape Cave Home] (some adapted public domain text)
* [http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/MSH/NatMonument/PointsInterest/ape_cave.html USGS Ape Cave Home]

External links

* [http://lewisriver.com/apecave.html Ape Cave Pictures and Information]
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