Ape Caves - 3rd Longest Lava Tube

17.9.

The local tourist newspaper tells us about the Ape Caves, which attract tourists with the third longest lava tubes in North America, not far from here (1 hour drive is not far in the USA). Luckily, the guide lets us in without a reservation, as we, as usual, had no internet to secure a spot. The caves are very worth seeing and a real little adventure. We cover the approximately three kilometers in record time! We are recommended a restaurant in Cougar that we visit for our lunch break. After that, we use the internet at the store across the street, where we sit for almost three hours planning the next few days.

Afterwards, we drive and hike to the worthwhile Falls Creek Falls, the first of many waterfalls in the Columbia River Gorge area. We don't have enough time to visit Panther Creek Falls before it gets dark, so we stay overnight at the Trailhead parking lot. It starts raining at night and won't stop for the next 48 hours...