Hello Washington and Mt. St. Helens

To end a glorious month in Oregon, we spent a few days on the beach, taking it all in. We really enjoyed watching the wildlife right on the beach...the puffins, the bald eagles...and just watching the waves crash against the rocks. The wind did not ruin our days at the beach thanks to that great purchase we made at Costco! Since we didn't want to rip the tent, we didn't put any chairs IN it, but Tom parked his chair right in front of the tent and he was totally protected from the wind. I'd say the average temperature was 55-60, without the cold wind. What a difference the tent made! Allowed us to spend hours at the beach:)

enjoying a beach read on the kindle

just about finished with my "Haystack Rock" scarf

enjoying the waves crashing

hard to believe that rock is just loaded with wildlife

the wind made for some choppy water

Moving on to the state of Washington, our destination was actually on the border of Washington and Oregon next to the Columbia River. I do mean NEXT to the Columbia River!! WOW!! Our campsite is just lovely. Our new front yard looks directly onto the river, where we can watch the osprey dive for fish and freight ships float by soundlessly. The sunsets are pretty nice too!

my favorite sign when traveling in the RV

bridge to Washington

Washington! Where logging is a big industry

check the port by the bridge...lots of logs!

driving over the bridge

aahhhhh!

relaxing after a nice drive 

some great views here!

ready to chill out

so pretty...right in front of our campsite

there is a small beach you can't see from this angle

view from my "office"

Our first excursion in Washington was a trip to Mt. St. Helens. We can actually see it from the other side of the campground. For more information, click here and here. There were several visitor information centers, and we stopped at all of them. We even saw a peregrine falcon and its nest behind the first visitor center we stopped in. The story of Mt. St. Helens is fascinating and I am in awe at how ferocious mother nature can be and the massive changes that can occur in such a short amount of time.

Mt. St. Helens is an active volcano in the Cascade Mountain Range. Its well known (at least for us older folks!) for the violent eruption in 1980. There actually was a series of events: an couple of earthquakes triggered a landslide of half the top of the mountain and a resulting debris avalanche, which traveled at 150 mph and covered everything in its path. The winds generated were so strong that trees and everything in the path were literally "blasted" away. This is the "blast zone". You can still see the remains of tree trunks that were splintered, but the rest of the tree is long gone and blown down stream of the wind. Some trees nearby that were not in the blast zone or in the avalanche path just died from all the heat generated. After a couple of earthquakes that collapsed the mountaintop, steam started escaping and eventually magma and ash.The ash plume reached 16 miles high, moving eastward at 60mph. Ash was found in Idaho a few hours later! Cars and surfaces were covered with it. It is the most destructive and deadly volcanic eruption in the history of the United States. If you were alive in 1980, you probably remember this catastrophic event!

Before

After

peregrine falcon at the Visitor Center

peregrine falcon's nest

way up behind the visitor center

part of the "blast area"

there she is now

Our next stop was the Forest Learning Center, which had great views of the path the mountain debris took. There were some interesting displays, and of course a movie that was very informational. The area outside of the visitor center was so pretty, with the wildflowers in bloom. There were several overlooks to view down into the blast zone. Apparently, it is a large elk viewing area now, but we did not see any from any of the viewpoints. One of the signs said the elk are most likely in the surrounding woods having their babies at this time of year. Anyway, it was a pretty spot....a good place for our picnic lunch.

great views and good spot for our picnic lunch

another view

and another view

everything was covered by the debris avalanche and volcanic ash

summer is here

goes for miles

i don't see any elk down there

Andrew.... you should be here!

that's biology!

 There are several turnouts along the drive that afford different views of the mountain, what is left of it, and the surrounding land. Very pretty. Again, makes you respect the force of nature. WOW it can be powerful!

still miles away from Mt. St. Helens and you can see how the flow traveled

lakes were formed with the upheavals

this is Castle Lake

very nice view

getting closer now

the views were excellent from this turnout

Can you imagine? Half that mountain blew off

it is amazing

hummocks from the eruption

the top of the crater

another view

the wildflowers were gorgeous...especially among the dead trees from the blast

 The final destination on our tour of Mt. St. Helens was the Johnston Ridge Observatory. The visitor center was very interesting, with the movie being a real highlight! What a great movie (I say that a lot, and I am very sincere about that....the movies are usually really good!). The end of the movie was spectacular-just sayin'!

We talked with the ranger for a few minutes to get the low down on some of the hikes that would be appropriate for me us and anything that we would need to be aware of, such as bears wildlife in the park or trail ledges conditions. With that information, we took a 3 mi RT right from the visitor center. We were advised to turn around at Devil's elbow (where the trail narrows, curves and has a sheer drop with not railings). Okay then. The trail was great...offering great views of the crater, and the side of the mountain that basically blew off. Amazing views. Some good exercise too, especially going back UP the trail. Whew!

checking out the view

Mount Adams?  not sure, but its pretty!

view from the visitor center

tree stumps left from the blast

peaceful now...this minute at least

that's the hike we are going on - the "Boundary Trail"

ready Susie?

not bad...no cliff edges:)

the view was great

the environment changed dramatically from that day in 1980

good view of the crater

There is no way I can sit on that bench and look out

exceptional views

amazing

heading down the trail

the trail has exceptional views of both sides

looking right into the crater area

close up

can't get lost on this trail (or can I?)

dead trees from the heat of the blast

glorious color

 Another hike the ranger had recommended to us was the Hummocks Trail, about a 3 miler which went through the hummocks. Duh. There were several ponds and lakes formed due to the volcanic activity, and much of the hike was through new forest and lots of green. Very refreshing and shady on a hot sunny day.

there are only 2 other cars in the parking lot

a hummock

great views here too

up and down and through the hummocks

we have a nice view

lots of ponds and lakes formed from the eruption

hidden ponds everywhere

the trail has a lot of shade....sweet!

through the hummocks

our "north star" on this hike

okay...starting the loop now

hard to see the 3-D where the crater is and the mountain blew off

aahhh....cool here!

enjoying the shady parts of the trail

very peaceful trail with lots of special little ponds and ecosystems

right along another pond

a view of a hummock

check that out...the flow of the mountain went there

you can see the route the flow went

pretty-on the other side of a beaver dam

supposed to be a huge beaver dam here

is that it...on the right among the reeds?

interesting

aahhh...there it is! in the next pond over!

we didn't see any beavers though

Driving back out of the park at the end of a wonderful day, I finally got a picture of the evergreen trees. It was so weird, at various points it almost looked like you could see pixels instead of the actual trees. Its just the way the branches are....but it was a strange. I sort of captured it here in these pictures below.

woah...is my vision blurry?

need more pixels???  hahaha....no....this is how it really looks