the light shone in the darkness

No, this won't be a posting exhorting you to live a life exemplifying Christ... today David and I explored the Ape Caves near Mt. St. Helens. They aren't exactly caves, it's a tunnel about 2 miles in length that was created a couple thousand years ago when the volcano erupted. The lava went underground, burning through the earth and rock, and after flowing for a few weeks, left behind a carved out tunnel! It was so cool. There are two entrances, one at the end, and another about 1/2 mile from the opposite end of the tunnel. And between the two entrances? Pitch black, except for the flashlights and lanterns of people exploring the caves. Most of it was pretty easy to get through, since the bottom was either fairly even lava flow or sand and mud that had been deposited over the years. But there were sections where it got real narrow and we had to climb over big rocks, or up and down sleep slopes. Fun! Here are a couple fuzzy pictures of our adventures. The first is a picture of one of the entrances (which has a very helpful staircase leading down into it), and the second is the one and only skylight that lets a little light peak into the tunnel about halfway through. It was awesome to see the varying contours of the inside of the tunnel, all the ridges and cavernous ceilings; but unfortunately pitch black darkness doesn't lend itself well to photography. You'll have to check it out for yourself!