Down Under

What is as dark as the night 
in the middle of day?
Though it's easy to find
you can't find your way?

With no wind in the air
it carries a breeze.
It is chilly and cold
though it's 80 degrees.

What is peaceful and quiet
but will play on your fears?
What was born in a minute
but took thousands of years?

What is as solid as rock
but the day it was made,
it flowed from a mountain
a molten cascade?

    Janet Herman Anderson

Here, extending 12,810 feet through the earth, is the answer_Ape Cave, the longest intact lava tube in the country. A lava eruption of Mt. St. Helen's created this cave 1900 years ago. To walk through it today is an eerie experience. Like all caves, the interior is pitch black, but the black shiny glass pleats and ripples on the walls here, making it seem even more so.

With three light sources each, we descended into the lower cave and walked across loose pumice rocks through passages with high, narrow walls. Every once in a while someone would yell "bat" and all flashlights and lantern beams would scour the ceiling.

We walked for 3/4 of a mile before coming to a solidified lava ball which had been carried along in the lava stream and become wedged in a passage twelve feet above the floor. Beyond that, the rocky floor eventually gave way to sand and the passage we were in narrowed to a crawl space. John removed his pack and got down on hands and knees. He dropped to his belly ten feet further down, jimmied around a bend and dropped out of sight. I shone my light into the empty cavity where he had been and waited. Darkness extended the minutes. "Hello, John?" It seemed like eternity, but five minutes later he emerged into my beam of light head first. He had found a room, big enough for only ten people, but, none the less, a discovery. I made a mental note of the date and time - this could be big news in the spelunking world.

We stopped for a Kodak moment on the way out (sorry to say that picture developed as a solid black slide) and walked the distance out with two women we met along the route, Angela and Tina (Hi if your reading). They gave us some tips on where to go in Portland (we always accept tips). We shed out coats and sweatshirts when we stepped out into the sun, and then loaded into the van heading south to the Columbia Gorge.

Wind Surfing at Columbia Gorge

Hundreds of colors fill the Gorge. Streaks of yellows danced on blues, blues curled on reds, reds streaked on greens, and waves raced at 35 miles per hour. We couldn't let this call go unanswered. So we too took to the wind.

We studied the waves, followed them across the Gorge gauging their strength. We surveyed the shoreline. We were ready. We stepped to the edge of the water. The wind gnawed at the sails and chiseled grins to our faces. Our bodies arched, gripping at the empty air for balance. Then with divine grace, we maneuvered, managing the controls as if they were merely extensions of our arms.

The flips were more challenging. A missed moment could mean total failure. But when it worked, when the moment was there, timing exact, everything clicked. One more shot. The surf came tumbling toward the rocks. Pay attention, pay attention. Timing is critical. At the precise instant, release and advance.