PNW Trip - Day 3

Today was our date with an APE. Let me explain... APE, or Mission 9, is a historic geocache. From the cache page:

This cache is a Project APE cache, a cache hidden with permission for the Planet of the Apes Promotion in 2001.

You can click the link above if you really want the full back story. But it's an old cache, and one of only two left in the world. Originally, it was a 4 mile hike, mostly flat, but walking through a one and a half mile former train tunnel. All accounts I heard, was that the tunnel was dark, and once you got in it, all you could really see was.... the light at the other end of the tunnel. That starts as a small dot, and slowly grows as you get close to the end.

But, alas, the tunnel was closed last year due to safety issues. BUMMER!

Now, the only way to access the APE cache is to hike up a mountain. The first mile is uphill, with an elevation gain of about 750 feet. Being from one of the flattest parts of the country, this was a bit daunting....

But we were rewarded with great stops along the way, like this waterfall above, that flowed under this bridge below.

Although there were about 300-400 people making the hike that day, I wouldn't have picked anyone other than these three other women to do it with! We all really helped each other get up there! So much fun!

This sign greeted us when we got to the top of the trail that marked the flat part of walk for about a mile.

You can see from this pic, that there were a lot of people up there, but at least this part of the trail was flat, flat, flat. It was very welcome!

The organizers arranged to have some mascots there when we arrived, so we took the opportunity to take some pics, too.

The best part was the hike and the camaraderie throughout the day. One of us gals had bronchitis, but trucked along. One of us had a bum knee, but trucked along....

And coming down the mountain was just as rough as going up. BUT, we all DID, and Conquered the APE!

Day 4 - GeoWoodstock

AMW