The Mt St Helens Adventure Tour from Portland

Great experience. Not much to say but it was what my wife and I needed. We totally would not do that drive ourselves.

My one-star rating is due to the way the owner of the company Marcus spoke to me prior to the tour, hung up on me after repeated attempts to get a few simple questions answered, and ignored my question once I arrived at the pickup destination. The trip itself was awesome. Our guide Brittany was great! The tour was well worth the expense, although it's tough to know my money in lining the pockets of a business owner who treats his clients the way I was treated. I reached out to try to discuss a pickup point other than downtown Portland as it is dangerous to leave your car there and to be a single female walking around after dark (we didn't arrive back from the trip until after dark). I was also trying to avoid the extra expense of taking an Uber to the meeting destination. When texting me, Marcus the owner, seemed to be confused about what I was trying to accomplish so I asked him to call me. (After rereading the initial message I sent through Viator I noted a typo and it could have been confusing so I thought a call would be helpful). He called, but the call did not go well. My goal was to ask if I could meet at a place that would be safe to leave my vehicle along the route the van would take to drive to the mountain. While attempting to speak, Marcus kept cutting me off. I was never allowed to finish a sentence. I don't think he ever understood I was trying to find an alternate meeting spot to leave my car. When I mentioned I didn't understand why they wouldn't pick me up in Hillsboro he said it would add 1-2 hours to the driver's trip. That is simply not true, it's a 20-minute drive from my complex to the downtown meeting spot. As the attempted conversation went on he seemed to get more frustrated and at one point shouted at me "I am f*cking working 100 hours a week and have a god d*mn baby here". After that explosion, I asked him to stop swearing at me. At another point, he stated, "I am concerned about my driver having to spend 13 hours with you". I asked why he would say something like that to a customer. I am sure the driver would share that we had a great day, she was kind and gave me referrals for other things to do while I am in town. When she dropped me off she remarked "it was nice to spend the day with you" and I tipped her well. Marcus ended up hanging up on me while I was in mid-sentence saying "I've been excited for this trip since I book it and I am simply"... that's when he hung up. I was never able to make clear to Marcus I was willing to drive or meet the van at a safe location to leave my vehicle. Ultimately I had to take an Uber which added $40 to the cost of the excursion that day. After our call, I then spent the next few hours deciding if I wanted this horrible exchange to stop me from taking the trip. I also kept looking to see if he might cancel it on me. I decided the trip was worth taking. It was a hard decision to make as my money is going to him. Marcus never called to apologize for his outburst, swearing at me and for hanging up on me. I was only given an address to meet at, it was a hotel. There were no instructions as to where to meet, ie: lobby, outside etc. When I arrived at the hotel I text to let him know I was there and asked specifically where we were to meet, but that text was ignored. Paying for my Uber might be a nice gesture or an olive branch for enduring his abuse, but I'm not counting on it.

Brittany wonderfully guided us to an extraordinary set of cave experiences and views! Epic tour! Cave exploration is a unique way to bond with friends and family, and we loved it. The views atop the 400+ staircase was breathtaking.