COUGAR — Carol Braman doesn’t know anyone who likes to bundle up and stride through the snow, so she signed up for a Mount St. Helens Institute snowshoeing trip.
“I don’t have friends or family who would be caught dead out doing this,” said the Hillsboro, Ore., resident as light snow fell on the entrance to Ape Cave.
It was the first time on snowshoes for another participant, Ken Meyer of Battle Ground; no experience is required for the outings.
Snowshoe adventures continue through March. No snowshoeing experience is necessary for the Sunday outings. Most of the adventures are recommended for families.
Snowshoe adventures continue through March. No snowshoeing experience is necessary for the Sunday outings. Most of the adventures are recommended for families.
Feb. 27 -- Koshko Loop on the Wind River Highway
March 13 ---- Marble Mountain Sno-Park to Chocolate Falls on Swift Creek, south of Mount St. Helens
March 27 -- Old Man Pass Loop on the Wind River Highway
Snowshoe adventures cost $15 per person. The Institute does not provide equipment. Early registration is recommended because space is limited.
The website to register is http://mshinstitute.org/index.php/programs/guided_adventures.
Feb. 27 — Koshko Loop on the Wind River Highway
March 13 —- Marble Mountain Sno-Park to Chocolate Falls on Swift Creek, south of Mount St. Helens
March 27 — Old Man Pass Loop on the Wind River Highway
Snowshoe adventures cost $15 per person. The Institute does not provide equipment. Early registration is recommended because space is limited.
The website to register is http://mshinstitute.org/index.php/programs/guided_adventures.
Braman and Meyer were among the 20 people who explored the Ape Cave area during the Institute’s first guided outing of 2011 in January.
The non-profit organization has three more snowshoeing trips planned this winter, plus more than 20 summer season trips with themes ranging from history to geology.
Institute trips always have an educational component, and this trek over six inches of fresh snow was no exception.
“The place you’re standing is right in the middle of a volcanic landscape,” executive director Jeanne Bennett told members of the group.
They snowshoed on a wooden boardwalk that makes a loop over lava tubes formed 1,900 years ago when lava flowed around trees which later rotted away. The group then headed up a road to Ape Cave, less than a mile away.
“This is the best time of the year to go into Ape Cave,” said Tim Brim of Kelso, an Institute volunteer.
Few people make the trek over snow, so the cave is much less crowded than in summer. The cave’s internal temperature stays around 42 degrees year-round.
Group members lashed their snowshoes to their packs, switched on head lamps and explored the lower, 3/4-mile long leg of the cave.
Leader Steffan Gregory of Seattle explained how the cave was formed by the same lava flow that created the lava tubes and how it got its name. (Members of a Cougar-area Boy Scout troop called the Apes were early explorers.)
Don’t worry about getting buzzed by bats, Gregory told the group. Regular visits by human explorers have scared bats away from Ape Cave.
Meyer, the beginner from Battle Ground, was pleased with his first snowshoe outing.
“I tripped once,” he said. “But you can’t beat them for winter walking.”
Bennett said the mix was younger than the average Mount St. Helens Institute group.
“We tend to have people who are more like 40 and 50,” she said.
Trips are popular with singles, she said. “We provide that little bit of security for them” heading into the wilds.
The Institute is bumping up its outings this year.
“We are trying to expand both the number and the variety, and try to get into the shoulder season a little bit more,” Bennett said
