Mossyrock, Washington

August 3 - 7, 2008

We arrived at Mossyrock Park greeted by Joe, Kathy, Katie, Susan and Bob. It's a nice park; however, we were given a "buddy" sight and the guy next to us wasn't our buddy. We're so close we probably will be by the time we leave here on Thursday!!

(That's Joe, Kathy and Katie's rig on the left (although you can only see the truck), Susan and Bob's on the right and ours is across the street in the back.)

You may remember that we spent Ken's birthday pretty low-key with dinner out for the two of us. After our first dinner at Mossyrock everyone surprised Ken with "Happy Birthday" and a cake lit with 60 candles! Poor Katie almost singed her eyebrows carrying the cake out. Ken had more or less forgotten that rotten feeling of being 60, but was nicely reminded of it by this new acknowledgment. Isn't family support great!! Unfortunately I didn't have the camera with me.

Day one we decided to visit Mount St. Helens. On the way we noticed signs stating that the road to Windy Ridge (one of two viewing sites) was closed. We spoke to some locals who said that parts of the roadway had washed away from the snow they had had that winter. We were then given some erroneous information as to how to reach Johnston Ridge (the other viewing site) and ended up traveling just under 200 miles in 5 hours and thru at least 5 or 6 counties before deciding to give it up for the day. We did get a couple of "far-away" pictures. (We finally made it to Johnston Ridge on day three and what we saw was much more impressive - more later!)

Now you have to remember we are with Joe, Kathy and Katie. They can really keep you going.

The morning of day two we visited Northwest Trek Wildlife Park in Eatonville. You could walk the forested pathways to see cougars, bears, owls, wolves, etc. in large natural exhibits.

We then took a narrated tram tour through the park and saw a lot of animals in their somewhat natural environment. And, they are real...we saw our first moose. There were two yearlings (so their antlers weren't really developed yet) and we got so excited that none of the pictures we took came out clear enough to tell it's a real moose!!!

In addition, there are "trailside encounters" with some of the rangers of the park with mini lectures on the animals and their habits. There was a learning and activity center (filled with girl scouts so we kind of stayed away). All in all, a very nice place to spend a day.

However, again remember, we are with Joe, Kathy and Katie...so after lunch we took off to see Mount Rainier (all 14,410 feet of it with its 26 glaciers). We entered at the southwest corner of the Park at the Nisqually entrance (at 2,023 feet) and traveled to Paradise (5,400 feet). We started in dense forest and stopped first at Christine Falls. (Notice the stone bridge work.)

We also made a stop at Narada Falls where you had to take a short hike to enjoy the beauty of the falls. Going down wasn't so bad, but the coming back up had a few of us a little winded.

(I am close enough here that my hair is getting all wet!)

There were numerous pull-outs for viewing and we made most of them.

According to the brochure, active steam vents, periodic earth tremors and historic eruptions provide evidence that Mount Rainier is sleeping, not dead. Like Mount St. Helens and other Cascade Mountain volcanoes, Mount Rainier has the potential to erupt again at some unknown time.

We eventually made it to Paradise.

The highest spot you can reach by car in the Park is Sunrise at 6,400 feet. We were at 5,400 feet (had a little trouble catching our breath with any over-exertion -- like walking!) We returned by the same roadway to the Nisqually, downhill just under 3,400 feet...no wonder we had to stop to let Joe's brakes on the 83 Dodge Ram cool off a little!!!

Mount Rainier was truly a magnificent sight.

We stopped in Morton, Washington for a bit of dinner at a local cafe, where the meatloaf special left a lot to be desired. I mention this only because the meal was a far cry from those we had been having at the campsites when we took turns cooking up some wonderful meals!!

Day three began with some kayaking on Riffe Lake at Mossyrock. We felt bad for leaving Barney for so long the day before, we let him join in the fun (although I'm not yet sure if he likes kayaking or not!!)

After lunch we headed for Johnston Ridge to see Mount St. Helens. I have to say, to me, this was one of the most impressive sights of our trip. I guess that's because those in my generation remember the eruption on May 18, 1980 (hard to believe it was 28 years ago, huh?)

Compare this picture with that on day one. We were on the "other side" of the mountain and, except for the ash and lack of trees, it looked like any other mountain.

The trip there was fabulous with different viewpoints of the mountain, but when we reached the Johnston Ridge Visitor Center it was absolutely mind-numbing. Before I go any further I found a website with a "before" and "after" picture that really shows what happened that day.

Both of the pictures were taken from Johnston Ridge, just 5 miles northwest of the summit. It was here that U.S. Geological Survey vulcanologist, David Johnston, was taking measurements the morning of the 18th. At 8:32 a.m. (PST), Johnston radioed "Vancouver! Vancouver! This is it!", only moments before he was struck by the advancing wall of rock, ice and trees that swept laterally from the mountain at more than 500 miles per hour. His body has never been found. In May of 1997 the visitor's center at Johnston Ridge was built in his honor.

At 8:32 a.m. a 5.1 magnitude quake struck one mile below the mountain. While there had been literally hundreds of earthquakes at the mountain since March 20th, the unstable north face could not sustain another. Within moments the largest landslide in recorded history removed more than 1,300 feet from the summit and swept away almost the entire north side of the mountain. The elevation of the mountain dropped from 9,677 feet to its present day 8,363 feet. What was once the 9th highest peak in Washington state was suddenly reduced to the 30th highest peak. The intense high pressure/high temperature steam that escaped, instantly turned more than 70% of the snow and glacial ice on the mountain to water. This massive movement of rock, ash, water and downed trees swept into Spirit Lake and down the north fork of the Toutle River Valley at speeds in excess of 175 miles per hour.

We never got over to Spirit Lake (best viewed from Windy Ridge) but the north fork of the Toutle River Vally looked like a dried up riverbed with all the mud and debry left from the eruption.

You will note the "after" picture does not look like the pictures we took. Since the eruption snow and ice have accumulated in the crater (about 650 feet thick) forming North America's youngest glacier. At 0.4 square miles the glacier's area is 1/4 that of all the pre-1980 glaciers combined. In October of 2004 eruptive activity resumed with more than 1,000 small earthquakes per day and small steam and ash eruptions. A new lava dome rises through the Crater Glacier at a rate of one dump truck load per second. From 2004 to 2008 the quiet extrusion of semi-solid lava continues until it stopped in February 2008. During that time a total of 7 lava "spines" have formed, filling the crater with a 1,300 foot tall pile of fragmented rock (taller than the Empire State Building and 2/3 mile long by 1/3 mile wide).

Can you tell this really enthralls me? This is one place I would really like to return to and spend more time hiking the trails and seeing all the views. It's interesting to note that as of February of this year, Mount St. Helens is now "quiet"!!!

By the way, day three, August 6, 2008 was Joe and Kathy's 25th Wedding Anniversary!!! We celebrated (here, I should say they celebrated) with a kiss at Mount St. Helens and we celebrated with dinner at the Rose Tree Restaurant in Castle Rock.

August 6, 2008 is also Jen's 32nd birthday. When I called her that day she wished me a happy 33rd anniversary as a mom. What a great trip that has been. Thank you, Jen, Peter, Sarah and Jodie. I love you all. And, Happy Birthday, Jen! Wish you were here or we were there!!!