DAY FOUR OF WASHINGTON STATE SIDE TRIP

Leaving the Season's Motel in Randle, WA we drove on west and south to Mt. St. Helens, the volcano that had erupted in 1980 destroying plant and tree life and restructuring the river and lake in the valley below.

These first pictures are from our trip to Oregon in 2005.

Since we did not have sun on our trip to Mt. St. Helens last Monday, I had to dig out the 2005 pictures so that you can see the crater and dome that is building inside of it, and so that you can compare the regrowth that is there in 2011.

I was so hoping that we could also compare the rebuilding of the dome inside the rim of the mountain but that was not to be done this trip, unfortunately, because of lack of visibility.

As we approached the top of the ridge where the Johnson Ridge Observatory is located, I began taking pictures of the valley where the river is reforging it's path through the ash and debris left behind after that volcanic explosion.

There are still many hillsides littered with fallen trees that were literally twisted from their roots

or burned by the explosion of hot ash.

Upon reaching the Observatory we met a couple, also full time travelers, who wanted their picture taken together. So we too advantage of their request and had them take ours also.

While looking down upon the valley from the Observatory deck, we could see that they are adding on to the facility. But they did not mention what they are building.

We went inside and listened to a Ranger tell about the process of the explosion with pictures. Very interesting!!

We also sat through their theatre movie which better shows the magnitude of the explosion. But there is nothing like the actual views of the valley that we had from the deck

as well as the view from the upper look-out.

The new growth is much in evidence now, and it is beautiful!!

The guide on the upper-trail said that there are at least 200 elk in the valley below that you could see if you had high powered binoculars. She said that they are slowly fertilizing the valley which helps with the re-growth. She also told us that it has been decided that the regrowth is better if let take it's natural course, rather than man replanting trees. You can see that from these following pictures. Enjoy!!

When leaving the upper look-out we decided to take the direct path clear down to the parking lot. The climb up was easier than the walk down, though.

It was pretty windy up there and the clouds and haze sure made the view less that we had hoped for, but it is still awesome!!

Driving away from the mountain, you could see miles and miles of new growth trees.

As we cross the Columbia River back into Portland OR, it was time to realize that the trip away from "home" was about over. It was very enjoyable as the weather was great and mostly sunny, and only a few sprinkles as we approached the river.

So back to reality and just one day of rest from all of the driving, before returning to work!!

Hope that you have enjoyed it as much as we did!!

DAY THREE OF WASHINGTON STATE SIDE TRIP

Leaving Yakima WA in the morning of day three, we traveled west into the forest and mountains with a goal of touring MT RAINIER. Before arriving at Mt. Rainier National Park, we came to the Clear Creek Falls overlook and stopped for a break. There are several falls along this creek and they are all lovely, as well at the valley with the lake at the end of it. We stayed on the White Pass Scenic Byway following the river that wound it's way along between the great volcanic giants of Washington, Mt. Adams, Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens. We know that the clouds might be rolling in before the day is over, so it is great to have these views with very little cloud cover. Such lovely views!! As we begin to wind around the mountains to go to Sunrise Ridge on the north east side of Mt. Rainier, we go though a tunnel. It is difficult to keep the different mountains straight in ones mind as the roads wind and the view angles change.

We wondered about the light green vertical stripes down the mountain. But after watching them for two days, we finally decided that it is newer growth. It makes for a lovely sight.

This lookout had great views and it was warm enough for our shorts even though we are at the elevations where snow is still very much in evidence.

We could see Mt. Rainier and noticed that clouds are becoming a denser cover!!

Finally arriving at Sunrise we checked out the gift shop and ate lunch first. On the way in for lunch we noticed them shoveling snow to uncover something. And they were quite comfortable in shirt sleeves.

Our hamburgs and fries were quite good and so was the view of the Lodge across the parking lot!!

Stepping outside we zoomed in on the mountain and were so glad that we were getting pictures before we lost sight of the mountain.

Mt. Rainier elevation is 14,410 ft, so we are probably at about 10 or 11k ft ourselves. This is the view behind the building we were in, and we could see people walking the trails up this mountain behind our building.

The wild flowers are abundant at this time of year in spite of the snow. As we left Sunrise Ridge we noticed the shale like surfaces on the sides of the mountains along the roads, interesting. We could see how it might be very easy to build walls with this.

When we arrived at Paradise Inn on the south side of Mt. Rainier,

we found the parking lot to be full and the road beyond the Inn as you head on down the other side of this mountain to be fully lined with cars. We forgot that it was Sunday and with good weather that it might be crowded with people. They sent us on down around a switch back road to their lower parking lot where we could take a shuttle back up to the Inn.

(notice the cars lined up along the hillside!) However, we found the views from the parking lot good for pictures also, so we did not bother going back on the shuttle. We really did not care to get trampled by people.

But the clouds are becoming darker and heavier. Notice the disturbance in the snow from the climbers and skiers. We also zoomed in on the glacier on this side of the mountain.

As we leave Mt. Rainier, we get away from the cloud cover and enjoy the very green forest and the many water fall and streams again.

We also found this gal stopped to enjoy the scenery from a lookout pull off.

This is the view that she is looking at:

And we go through another tunnel before coming into the valley and finding a motel for the night. It was a lot of driving so we were glad to call it a day. We will go on to Mt. St. Helens on our fourth day so check back in. I still have those pictures to re-size.