September 28, 2009 – West Side of Mount Saint Helens

We woke early, packed a lunch and off we went.  It was a little cloudy and we hoped to see everything before the rain started.

Here is the Toutle River Valley – this is where the river of mud and ash came thru on that fateful day:

  This bridge was reconstructed after the blast.  This area is also at the edge of the blast zone.   Most of the area here is owned by Weyerhaeuser Company (logging) and they suffered massive losses.  But their recovery of the forest has also helped the animal habitats recover.  At this point we are 14.8 miles from the crater:

Castle Lake - created by the blast:

The mountain is in the clouds – :-((:

Coldwater Lake – also created by the blast.  We were here in 1995 and what a difference!  There was very little vegetation then.  We had lunch then took the trail by the lake.

The high walls by the river is a combination of the mud, ash, and parts of the mountain.

The view from Loowit Point:

And the view from Johnson Ridge Observatory.  When the mountain slid, all that dirt, etc. rolled down the valley and up and over this point – can you imagine:

More views from the observatory:

We spent some time in the observatory, taking in the exhibits and the movie – WOW!  This happened on May 18, 1980.  The first time I was here was in September of that year.  I could not get near the area but was able to see some of the blast zone with the trees down and where some of the mud flow happened.  Andy and I were here in 1995 and it was great to see some of the areas opening up.  This time, we were able to see even more and it was good to see everything coming back.

The good thing about this blast is that scientists have and are learning how to predict when a volcano will happen – which is critical with the number of active volcano’s around the Pacific.

What a great trip!!  The rain did not start until we were almost home.

I now have Andy’s cold and not feeling well – :-((( - so we will see what happens tomorrow.

September 27, 2009 – Travel to Seaquest State Park and Mount Saint Helens

Our travels today took us to Seaquest State Park which is on the west side of Mount Saint Helens.  Once we set up we went to the visitor center.  Here is a view of Mt. St. Helens from the center – that is Spirit Lake in front of the mountain:

They had a trail  that took us around the wetlands:

Back at the motorhome, we enjoyed our site, the sun, and the campfire.  Our site:

The big trees are here too.

Tomorrow we are taking the road to Johnson Ridge Observatory in Mount Saint Helens National Monument.

Stats for today:

Miles Traveled:  75 miles

Routes Traveled:

Washington:  US-12; I-5; WA-503

September 26, 2009 - The Grove of the Patriarchs (And My Computer)

I woke this morning, turned on the computer, had lines all over the place, and after the intro screen – nothing!!  So I went thru the diagnostics which told me it was the video card.  Now I just had this card replaced in April so you know I was not a happy camper.  I called Dell and was on the phone for two hours.  The first technician told me it wasn’t the video card but a software issue and I would need to restore it to the original (2006!!!).  I was not willing to do that since I was sure it was the video card so he put me on hold and disappeared.  After 20 minutes, I called again, went thru everything AGAIN (why don’t they believe me??) and he says it is the software.  I totally disagree but at this time, MAYBE, they might be right.  So EVERYTHING is WIPED off my hard drive and we do a restore from 2006 (we did earlier restores and that did not work so he wanted me back to the beginning).  After we do all that and do the start up again, SAME THING HAPPENS.  So now, the technician feels it is the VIDEO CARD – NO S—T!   And now I have a computer that is not working with a bad video card and I am back to the original software from 2006 when I first got it…  All my programs and settings – GONE – because I (and the computer diagnostics which ALSO said it was the Video Card) was not believed – can you tell I am TICKED!!!

Now here is the situation with Dell.  They will come and fix and they tell you it will be within 5 days.  When this happened before, we were traveling and when we got to Everett, I called with the case number, etc.  and had to go thru EVERYTHING again and THEN had to wait over two weeks for a part.  So I told them I was in Everett and hopefully the part will be there when I get back.

Enough!

After I calmed down and had lunch, we traveled to Mount Rainier National Park and did The Grove of the Patriarchs Trail – wait until you see these trees.

 

This area is also part rainforest and we saw moss growing on many of the trees and bushes – not only here but in the National Forest.  How about this moss:

Andy on the trail.  We took pictures of each other just to show how large the trees are:

One of the rivers – in the deeper area, the water is a turquoise blue:

I am standing by the root of a downed tree:

Andy on the trail:

Look at how small I am – LOL:

Andy in front of those two Douglas firs.

This is a cedar and it is HUGH!!!

One of the downed trees.  Here is where one of the branches was cut – interesting design:

It was an amazing trail!!

This is our last night here and we had our final campfire and were joined by our neighbors – what a nice time!!

September 22, 2009 – The East Side of Mt. St. Helens

Our travels today took us to the east side of Mt. St. Helens. We took Forest Road 25 thru parts of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. We also checked out some of the other side forest roads – the trees are incredible!! Imagine pine and spruce, at least 50 feet tall, some with moss at the lower elevations and everything so quiet – WOW!

We turned on Forest Road 99 towards Mount St. Helens. Here is the map of the area we toured:

A view of Mount Rainer, which is only 35 miles from Mount St. Helens, as the crow flies:

And our first view of Mount St. Helens:

The smoke you see is actually dust clouds blowing off the mountain. At this point, we are 11 miles from the mountain and Bear Meadow is in the foreground. This is where those photographs of the mountain were taken when it first exploded. This is from the sign here:

As we drove further on 99, the lush forest ends abruptly:

A decision was made to let part of this forest come back naturally and another part to be logged and replanted. Here is the area that was replanted:

Our next stop was Spirit Lake:

I hope you were able to read the above – the lake level is now 200 feet higher than before the volcano erupted – WOW!

Yes, those are logs still in the water from 1980. When the avalanche surged into Spirit Lake, huge waves sloshed 800 feet up the surrounding hillsides, sweeping trees and debris into the lake – just imagine!!

And a final look at the mountain:

We had lunch at one of the pullouts with a great view of the Cascade Range and then headed back. And finished the evening with another great campfire – :-)