We decided to go exploring around Mt St Helens, but we never did see the mountain! However, the day was wonderful in spite of the cool, foggy conditions in the higher elevations. The visitors centers were interesting and informative, the scenery that did open up to us was amazing, and then there's always the bonus of good company (ourselves!). Mt St Helens hid continuously beneath a thick layer of clouds, but we knew it was there somewhere!
A rare event: Ken had the camera in his pocket and decided to take a picture of me...checking out the statue of a man replanting the forest after the 1980 eruption. I wasn't expecting that one.
Ken enjoys the telescope overlooking an area where the Toutle River flooded. We stopped here twice. The first time was so foggy that we played "peek a boo" with the scenery below. After getting kicked out (yes, they told us it was time to leave!) we drove farther up the St Helens Memorial Highway hoping for a glimpse of the mountain itself. We stopped at a few other viewpoints to see what color the cloud layer was, then eventually came back down to this point again. The clouds had lifted, so we parked outside of the visitor center lot and hiked back in to the telescopes. By golly, this time we could actually see the valley!
It must have been a terrifying thing to see the river with all the mud and debris sweep through here. I wonder if anyone actually did see it? Most people were probably experiencing the devastation in the lower areas.
The Toutle River flowing toward the west. Check out those heavy clouds. (Nope, it didn't rain while we were there.)
This is what we should have been able to see. (Photo from another website). We drove up almost to this point (Johnston's Ridge), but St Helens was still hiding from us. It's okay. We knew she was there.
This photo has nothing to do with the St Helens trip, but it is what we did at the end of the day. Why? Well, we had the tent sent out to replace the broken zipper. Since we are going to be using it again soon, we decided to set it up in the basement to check out the repair job. (Excellent, by the way!) Also, we purchased two twin size air mattresses and were curious to see if they would fit inside the tent. (They do!) Then, since it was looking so cozy, we decided to have a sleepout in our basement, in the tent! I have to say, two air mattresses are better than one for a couple. We had the equivelent of a King size bed, but with separate air chambers for added comfort. I can hardly wait to go camping again. :)
3 comments:
Your sleepout sure gave me a chuckle! And kudos to Ken for wearing WHITE socks for your outing. I've never been to the viewpoints for Mt. St. Helens - gorgeous. We'll have to go sometime.
I love that third picture from the bottom. So pretty.
Ever since we went camping, arora has been fascinated with tents. We bought her a little kids one and she plays with it every day. I bet she would have loved your camp out.
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