Sunday, July 27, 2014 Mount St Helens

On a beautiful, sunny morning, we were off to Randle, Washington. As we drove south on US 97, looks are deceiving. It appears that we are going down, but actually are climbing from 1800 ft to 3000 ft! We passed over Blewett Pass again (4102 ft) and past the wind farm.  However, today the blades are not turning.
Once on Interstate 89, we found ourselves climbing. The first clue was a a large sign reading: "Prevent radiator boil-over, turn off air conditioning". The hills to the right are covered with brown scrub brush and to the left is a valley of green farms.

Next, there was evidence of a large wildfire for quite a stretch.

At 10:45, we got our first glimpse of snow-covered Mt Rainier.

At Yakima, we turned off onto Hwy 12 where there are many fruit warehouses.

The elevation at the start of the White Pass Byway was 1600 ft and the temp has risen to 30C.

         



               Passing by beautiful Rimrock Lake.........













We encountered a view of the road ahead along the edge of the mountain. Yikes!







At noon, we passed over the White Pass, elevation 4500 ft., then it was descending to 1000 ft as we arrived at the Shady Firs RV Park in Randle. Nice shady site below large fir trees, full hookups (50 amps), Wi-Fi AND cable TV for $18.00/night. Great deal!






After lunch, we set off for Mount Saint Helens. The first stop was at Bear Meadow viewpoint from where Gary Rosenquist accidentally captured photos of the eruption on May 18, 1980.





We arrived at Windy Ridge (4170 ft) and listened to an interpretive talk by a park ranger, explaining the events that took place.

Next, we climbed the 361 steps to the observation area

                                         View from the top.

Heading back down the steps.

On the road back down, the hillsides are littered with flattened trees from the eruption 34 years ago.






After a fascinating 136 km trip, we returned to the RV park.