Ape Cave
A group of students once asked me whether I had ever been to Ape Cave. I had never
heard of it. They gave me directions to get there and told me they would be there on
Saturday.
The cave is south of Mt. St. Helens. I went there with a friend, thinking we might meet
them there, but somehow, we missed them. We had brought “headlight” flashlights and
I had brought my camera and some portable flash equipment.
The cave is a long lava tube, probably the longest such structure in the hemisphere. It
is called “Ape Cave” because it was discovered by a youth outdoor club called the
“Apes”. There are actually two parts to the cave; each is about one mile long. If you
look at the pictures on the sites mentioned (and a search will find others), you can see
that the tube is quite narrow, but the width varies from place to place. It is rather cold
down there, and dark. Really, really dark. The interior’s floor varies from strewn
boulders to relatively flat and comfortable. There is a very well established trail, worn
smooth by the feet countless hikers. Off the trail, it can be quite rugged.
At one end, there is a concession which rents Coleman lanterns, which people carry
with them as they hike through the cave. The lantern lights it up pretty bright. Without
the lantern, with just the headlights, our vision was by an essentially axial light; that is,
the light was very close to the axis of our vision. In this light there was quite a strange
luminescence that expressed as a texture of light wiggly lines, like strange bright
jewelled worms, on a black field. It is some kind of a plant growth, possibly a fungus.
The lanterns would not reveal this wonder. We didn’t go far into the cave because my
friend didn’t want to brave the depths. We didn’t know that it would be like a
refrigerator, and had not brought warm enough clothing to spend a long time down
there.
I proposed that we go over to the edge of the cave in a wide section, as far as we could
get from the trail and turn off our lights. Doing so, we plunged ourselves into absolute
darkness and silence. Having spent so many years in darkness as a color printer, I
wanted to experience darkness in a different way, without the presence of so many
pending work orders. Darkness in a very large subterranean space, unbroken and
solitary, but with another person. That was unusual for me, because in the darkroom I
work alone. It was terrific. I have a strong motivation toward experiences of myself in
unusual places, inside myself and out. This was one of the best so far.
How long did it last? Well, not very long, because soon we began to hear a distant
sound, which gradually grew louder. Sounds began to become clearer, and
differentiate. Their source began to reveal itself as a group of people. I guess we were
expecting this. Gradually, a dim light began to grow from our right, and a small party
came through, talking, with their lanterns. They passed. The light dimmed and the
sound gradually diminished, finally extinguishing altogether. Several other groups came
through, each time illuminating the eerie interior, then gradually disappearing. Like a
train going through at night, the sound emerging from nothing, peaking, then diminishing
again to nothing. Each time, we were again swallowed by the dark and the silence. No
one saw us. They were all focused on the cave ahead, and didn’t think to look toward
where we stood silent, our lights extinguished.
This went on for awhile, and then hearing the sound begin again so far away, we
listened carefully to its growth. This time it was different. There was an unusual density
to the sound, combined with a distinctly increasing chaotic quality. As it approached, it
got more and more chaotic, a crescendo of chaos. The light grew, as did the sound.
We wondered. What on (or under) earth could this be. Louder and louder, it became
almost deafening, and intensely agitating.
As the light grew and the sound grew, individual voices began to emerge and then we
saw the comedy unfold. It was perhaps two or three families with several lanterns.
There were a whole bunch of children, complaining and crying. Somebody was eating a
sandwich. One or two adults were smoking cigarettes. “Dad, why did you bring us
here?” “I hate this place! It’s boring!” “I want to go home!” “I’m tired!” “Carry me!”
Adult reply: “SHUT UP!” “You are grounded for a week!” etc. etc. We couldn’t believe
it. It was too amazing.
What a great metaphor. These people had brought themselves to the cave, truly a
wonderful place to experience and see, and had made sure that they wouldn’t see it.
They had rented the lanterns, and the lanterns cast a bubble about them. They
couldn’t see the luminescent patina on the walls; their light was too far off axis. They
went all the way through the cave with the screaming kids, the cigarettes and
sandwiches. They had packaged themselves in a darkproof box.
What they had was what they had at home. Maybe it was even worse.
Copyright Larry Bullis, 2004 —All Rights Reservcd
————————————————
Here are a couple of links to sites concerning “Ape Cave”
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/MSH/ApeCave/description_ape_cave.html
http://www.oregonl5.org/lavatube/apeflow1.html
