Saturday, February 29, 2020

Class Field Trip into a Lava Tube

Today I went on an underground classroom field trip with my Mount St. Helens Institute Volcanic Naturalist classmates. 😄 We hiked into a nearly 2000 year old lava tube ("Ape Cave") near Mount St. Helens.

Luckily I had been in this tube before and knew what to expect so I was able to focus on our lesson instead of on my breathing... because inside a cave is not my favorite place to be! I really enjoyed it though and kept thinking how lucky I was to have this opportunity to learn hands-on about something that truly fascinates me.

Outside, as you can see, it was cold and covered in snow. Inside, it was 42 degrees F, which it stays at year-around regardless of what the temperature is above ground. It's always moist inside but during the winter it's downright WET.  Basalt is very porous so it "rained" on us the entire time we were underground.

What a great and interesting learning experience! I love this class!










"Railroad tracks" created by slow moving and cooling lava.


The "meatball" above. You can also see that there is another tube 
above the one we were in and that the two tubes joined each other.





Looking for cave bugs. :)





Upper and lower tubes









2020 Hike 8/52
3.50 Miles





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