Wii had a Meeting

Tonight we had a planning meeting at Bro. J's house. We concoted some plans for upcoming Wednesday evenings and are excited to do some ultimate frisbee, rappelling, flying, bowling, and behind-the-scenes tours at the vetrinarian's, Wauna mill, the movie theater, Freddy's, the jail, and so on. It should be a really fun next few months! Oh yeah, and we had to fire up the Wii tonight, of course. That makes any meeting worth attending. That, and all the chips, cookies, and candy we ate.

Steven puts the smooth in Wario Ware: Smooth Moves.


Pass the "form baton" to Chimi . . . who's Chimi?


Squat, Bro. J . . . do it AGAIN . . . nope . . . too slow. You can actually break a sweat on this game.

Ape Cave Trip -- August 25, 2007

Today we took off on another wild expedition seeking to put the Ad in Venturing. The Odyssey served the six of us well and helped us rock out to lots of Weird Al and enjoy fine quality entertainment such as "Nacho Libre". My wife will be pleased that we did not get it all muddy. We met at 7 AM and were back in Astoria by a little after 4 PM. Linner was at Burgerville in Woodland, and I learned that Steven and Sean have no trouble putting away Ultimate 1/2 pound cheeseburgers, Dean is very very into blackberries (having them in both forms: shake AND lemonade), Burgerville serves the largest onion rings known to man, and if they drop a few of the fries from your basket they'll bring you a whole 'nuther basket more (which the Bishop and Dean will help you with). I love saying "a whole 'nuther", by the way. In any case, we all had lots of fun and nobody got broken.


Um, yeah. We picked up J.J. from the Cougar Recreation Area Campground on our way up to the cave. Evidently they must have trouble with people recreating in the campsites, when clearly that must be done in the area exclusively set aside for recreating. Dang it, if I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times: these campsites are for CAMPING!! :-) We also felt very thoroughly warned about the Slow Children, which actually appeared to be pretty fast. Lastly, it would seem to me that a recreation area for cougars and slow children would be a bad combination.


Steven, Sean, J.J., Bishop H, Dean, and I (taking the photo) arrived and quickly established our headquarters. We arrived at the cave entrance by 9:45 AM, and this was great because the crowds hadn't shown up yet. So, if you're heading up there, go early! People were waiting for our parking spot by the time we left, and there were tons of cars lining the road on the way out.

Intro to Commando Crawling

The intrepid explorers prepare for their descent into the abyss, never to be heard from again . . . until 3 hours later. (L to R Dean, Sean, Steven, J.J., and Brian)


Almost there, Steven, you can make it! We got to test our claustrophobia level at the bottom of the cave. Thankfully, they installed the sand to cushion your elbows. Thanks, Mt. St. Helens!


OK, so this almost looked like an impressive place to be. Dean, however, is really just relaxin' and having a good time. The happiness is probably actually relief since he's finally reaching an area with a ceiling higher than 18 inches.


Bishop H leads the remaining train, happy that Brian scurried into the chamber ahead to get photos (if for no other reason than that Brian's feet are no longer in his face) "Hey, could you guys back up?"

Good Times in the Lower Cave

This is mostly fun for J.J., but he's scarred from a childhood experience. Apparently, he was sent headfirst into a small passage and became stuck. This was, shall we say, unpleasant. So, he's mostly having fun here, but you get a hint he's feelin' a little crazy.


Possible captions: Sean's elbows could take no more. OR, Sean gets delusional and starts chowin' on the sand. OR, Sean breaks in his school clothes.


Dean, Steven, Sean, Bishop H., and J.J. havin' a little pow-wow in the very bottom of the cave. Just after the commando crawl, you get to this little chamber. And we had to, of course, turn off all our lights. It's dark. Interestingly, though, you wave your hand in front of your face and it still looks like you can see it move. Apparently, it's a brain trick.


Possible captions: Two passages diverged in a smelly cave, and I took the one less travelled by . . . (shout out to Steven) . . . and got a cool picture. OR, Sean, Steven, and J.J. perform a recreation of the Joseph and the Coat of Many Colors story on poor unsuspecting Brian.

The Upper Cave Begins

This is our last Lower Cave picture. It splits high/low and Steven, Sean, and J.J. checked out the top passage and thought it was pretty cool. Anciently, many many moons ago, it was this passage in which a close relation of mine had uncooperative guts and had to answer nature's urgent call. There is now a commemorative plaque to mark the location.


Having completed the Lower Cave, you come back up and bypass the stairway you first came down. Then the fun really begins! The Upper Cave is not where you see the groups of underdressed 10-year-old school kids (it's 42 degrees in Ape Cave all the time). It's 1 1/2 miles of terrain often similar to walking on the Jetty in the dark. Yes, all ankles are still functional.


"Spiderman, Spiderman, does whatever a spider can..." There are some well-placed holds that make this pretty straightforward, but it sure looks cool!


I'll hold the rock, and you guys squeeze through!

Ape Cave: The Great Escape

Steven's happy, but not happy to be leaving Ape Cave.


Dean exceeding the load limit for the ladder, and, well . . . thankfully it didn't altogether separate. :-)


Oh no . . . this isn't the exit. It's just a skylight! Feel the dread . . .


Yes, my brain is glowing (I am secretly Tron) And, coming out of the dark, damp cave into the damp, warm Washington daylight environment made the camera lens fog.

Planning Some Spelunking

We're heading to Ape Cave this Saturday. Here's some info:
From: U. S. Forest Service, Volcano Review: A Visitor's Guide to Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument: Summer/Fall 1995

"Ape Cave: Named by members of an outdoor group called the Mount St. Helens Apes, this cave is the longest continuous lava tube in the continental United States. Cavers should wear warm clothes, sturdy shoes and have at least two sources of light. Lantern rentals are available at Apes' Headquarters.
Two different routes of exploration exist inside the cave and an above-ground trail (Ape Cave #239) connects the main and upper entrances. The lower cave is a relatively easy 0.75 mile hike that takes 1 hour round trip. The challenging upper cave is 1.5 miles long, requires climbing over large piles of rocks and takes 2.5 to 3 hours.
Trail Difficulty: Easy to Most Difficult"

Based on my prior experiences, I'd also recommend bringing gloves. Really be sure you have enough warm clothes. It's 42 degrees and damp in there pretty much all the time. Also not a bad idea to bring some clean clothes. Your sturdy shoes should have good traction. You'll be happy if they're waterproof and have some kind of shank in the soles too.

Ice Blocking Activity

Ah, the cardboard toboggan!

Adults had fun too (chatting).

A gorgeous evening (much more gorgeous than AMS, I might add).

Ice Blocking Activity

Who's got next?


The ice gets to the bottom faster than Jacob.


Bronson, look more intense please!


"Gittin" on down the hill and looking relaxed at the same time!

Ice Blocking Activity

So the surfing technique is a bad idea . . .


Yee-haw!


Kimberly's slip-slidin' away.


Leavin' the ice behind . . .

Ice Blocking Activity

Sean's slidin away.


Here comes Thomas at the front of the freight train!


Sterling pioneers the frozen belly technique.


Courtney and Thomas parting ways from the cardboard.

Soarin' With the Eagle

THIS is the new wallpaper on my laptop! Matt and his father Doyle let me come along for his "Flight of the Eagle". Thanks a TON! LOTS MORE Flight of the Eagle photos at brionicman.blogspot.com.

Caving Opportunity?

This sounds pretty sweet:
(from the community page of the Daily Astorian on Aug. 3, 2007)

"Gene Hancock, The Daily Astorian's Internet designer, has been a member of the Oregon Grotto, a caving club that explores and maps the hundreds of lava tube caves on Mount St. Helens, for six years. Hancock and the Oregon Grotto are also members of the National Speliological Society.

In addition to exploration, the Oregon Grotto arranges Boy Scout tours of caves and spearheads conservation efforts to preserve the caves for future generations. To see photos of the group's explorations, go to www.oregongrotto.com.

The Ear has learned that Hancock has made a slide show of his own experiences on his last caving trip July 28. "I really enjoy being involved with an organized club that has access to all those hidden caves." said Hancock.

To watch the caving slide show, go to http://movies.dailyastorian.biz/caving/caveshow7-28.swf
"

Fort Columbia, August 1, 2007

Crew 628 (L to R) members Steven, J.J., and Matt all have Creative Camera Posing Merit Badge. Behind this dam on the hill above Fort Columbia, bats were skimming the surface of the water to munch on delicious insects. J.J. is the only one of the group who's received advanced training in swimming with leeches (a favorite passtime in Iowa, evidently).
Steven and Matt also have Synchronized Stump Stepping Merit Badge.


















Matt redefines "stumpjumping"
Steven soaring.