This unassuming hole in the ground next to a boardwalk on the south flank of Mount St. Helens is a remnant of an old forest that once stood on this site. Thousands of years ago, a lava flow crept down the mountain and encircled the old trees. All that remains of that forest are lava casts. A new forest has grown up in place of the old but remnants of what once was.
Lots of holes everywhere. Lots of old trees.
Looking down into a hole.
A new tree growing over the hole of an old tree.
A lava tunnel made from the trunks of trees long gone is open for people to crawl through. A steel ladder leads down into the entrance hole.
Heading down to see what there is to see.
Inside the tunnel. A fallen tree made this lava cast. Note the bark molding on the walls.
Heather crawling into the hole. This isn’t a tunnel for people with claustrophobia or who have rotund proportions.
Another trunk casting.
The exit to the lava tube.
Moss out on the old lava flow.