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At 2.5 miles Ape Cave is the longest continuous lava tube in the contiguous United States, and the third longest in North America. Formed approximately 2000 years ago, it's difficult yet fun hike. From time to time I like to venture in and record all night (to avoid the disturbance of other hikers during the day).
In December 2017 I spent a night hiking and meditating through the cave with a good friend. There's nothing quite like the peace and quiet of a lonely cave to help you focus on your thoughts. It had been particularly rainy and snowy the previous couple of weeks, so there was a lot of saturated groundwater dripping through. In track four you'll hear the occasional thumps, splats, and smacks of a rather poorly placed backpack. Oops. Lesson learned.
Two years later, in November 2019 I returned for another night of hiking and recording. This time I made sure to avoid the splats and smacks on backpacks. It didn't hurt, too, that I had much longer cables and could rest farther down the tunnel and around a bend than I could previously.
