We have been gone
for just two weeks. Today we began our drive home – heading south. We will see
how long it takes!
Today we visited Mt
Rainier National Park. There are several ways to approach the park from
Seattle. We had both been to the south entrance, so we decided to approach from
the east. We drove up the road to Sunrise Point, which is one of the highest
spots you can go by car. Unfortunately, the clouds were hanging low over the
mountain, and we never really saw it completely. However, it was still a
beautiful spot and very crowded. We toured the visitor’s center, got my
passport stamp, and walked the mile and a half Sunrise Nature Trail. I tried to
learn the names of all the flowers - but I think I have already forgotten most
of them. There were 5 kinds of purple ones, 1 red, 3 yellow, and maybe 4 white
(guess what they were).
When we left it was
so foggy that it was almost like rain. It was time for a campground with a
shower, so we stopped in Packwood WA to do laundry and take showers.
On Monday, we
decided to tour Mt St. Helen National Volcanic Monument. Neither of us had been
there before, but we thought the more interesting approach would be from the
east. So, we wended our way down the east side and then took FR 99 up to the
Windy Ridge view point. There were several problems with this choice! First of
all, the roads were terrible, windy and bumpy, so it took forever to get there.
Then we chose the side where there were no visitor services, so we did not get
much information and no passport stamp.
The road started
out going through a second or third growth pine forest. We eventually came to
the area where the trees had been toppled and scorched by the blast. We could
see the north side of the mountain where the blast occurred and see the hole it
had made. This was in 1980, so nature and man have had over thirty years to do
some repair work. Much of the dead wood was eventually removed because forest
rangers were worried about fire and insect infestation. They replanted much of
the forest and nature also replanted a lot, so it really looked pretty good.
We got to the
Spirit Lake overlook and that was pretty amazing. The lake was vaporized by the
blast and filled with trees and debris. It has come back and there is now a
lake on top of 240 feet of volcanic debris. A section of the lake is still
covered with logs which are gradually sinking into the water.
We also saw another
spot where a couple had left their car and walked a mile into their cabin. They
had been told the blast would probably not come into that area. But it did and
they were killed. The car was blasted and is still there as a memorial to them.
We decided that was
enough driving for the day, and spent the night in Vancouver WA.
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