A Trail of Two Forests


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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.

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Lots of holes everywhere.  Lots of old trees.


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Looking down into a hole.

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A new tree growing over the hole of an old tree.


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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.

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Heading down to see what there is to see.


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Inside the tunnel.  A fallen tree made this lava cast.  Note the bark molding on the walls.


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Heather crawling into the hole.  This isn’t a tunnel for people with claustrophobia or who have rotund proportions.


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Another trunk casting.


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The exit to the lava tube.

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Moss out on the old lava flow.