The Mountaineer 59 
dark stoneware, covered with little stalactites. In places the 
roof has fallen in and the danger of falling rock from the roof 
is the only one in exploring the tunnel. 
This cave was first discovered by Ole Peterson while hunt- 
ing in 1895. 
Wells, 
On the south are round caves, some in a slanting direction 
eradually tapering to a point which, like the well holes, were 
formed by the molten lava flowing around fallen or standing 
trees that were destroyed by heat or decay. The perfect form 
of the bark in many of the well holes fixes the manner of their 
formation beyond doubt. Evidently, St. Helens had bad spells 
long after its first formation. 
Age. 
Its age is shown by the botanical and geological evidences 
in sight. Its flora is scant, in fact, mere nothing; yet as time 
goes on it will be different. The soil is yet to be formed, being 
now only coarse decomposed pumice and rock formation, not 
yet dense enough to hold moisture. Trees growing near the 
4,000 foot elevation are mere shrubs, fifty years’ time being 
necessary for one to reach a three and a half inch diameter 
at the base. 
Away from the base of the mountain at an elevation of 
3,000 to 5,000 feet, the yellow cedar is found in common with 
the tree formation of Western Washington, with the excep- 
tion of the white bark pine. 
This year the huckleberry crop was prodigious, some of 
them equal in size to small cherries and the woods blue and 
black with them. 
Return Routes. 
One could cross or go around Spirit Lake going north, 
thence on a trail now open over Mary’s Peak divide; thence 
down Green River to the Soda Springs; thence to mouth of 
said river where the trail connects with the road to Castle 
Rock. Or one could go out via South Toutle River, due west 
from the mountain, connecting with the ingoing road forty 
miles from the mountain or via Vancouver to Portland and 
thence home. 
