September 6, '14

Myrtle, Livy, and I am camping with my friend Cher down on the flanks of Mt. St. Helens.  We just spent two days on the north side, completely out of any internet or cell phone connection, so we are sitting in a parking lot next to I-5 to do a quick catch up before we head down to the south side of St. Helens for a few days.

We started the trip from my home in Duvall at about 9:30 am on Thursday and took some back highways down to catch I-5 in Tacoma.  By lunch we were at the hiway 504 turnoff.  After a quick lunch we headed up to our Kid Valley RV Camp to claim our reserved campsite, then drove up to the Johnson Observatory to see the results of the eruptions that began May 18, 1980.  We spent a couple of hours taking pictures, listening to ranger talks, and viewing the film about the eruption.  I noticed that the stream beds in the outflow plain below the caldera are deeper than they were 4 years ago, the last time I visited.

The calder from Johnson Observatory at 3 pm

The same view at 6 pm

The outflow plain where rocks, water, ash, and mud flowed out of the side of the mountain.

We could see a corner of Spirit Lake around to the north east, but only when the ranger pointed it out.  The floor of the lake is now 140 feet higher than it used to be.  the lake is half as deep and covers twice the area it covered before the eruption.

On Friday the 5th we drove part of the highway back toward Johnson Observatory and visited the visitor centers and overlooks.  We got some great views of the Toutle River valley and some interesting information about what happened and when.  We also did a little shopping--we were pretty restrained.

This looks down the Toutle River Valley.  The tree with the cones is a
 Noble Fir--thousands were planted within a few years following the eruption. 

Looking up the Toutle River Valley.  Over my shoulder you can see St Helens is
wearing a bit of thin cloud this morning.  Thanks for the picture, Cher!

A telephoto shot of the valley and mountain.  You can see that the river wanders all over the valley, changing channels frequently.

Friday night we ate dinner at Patty's Place, a great old log building in beautiful condition that is just a short walk from out RV park.  We sat on the back deck, looking out on the Toutle Valley at a bend in the river.  I only had my phone with me, so I'll have to email the picture to myself to get it into the blog--later.

Cher made her second full day of RVing with great delight.  She had we take a picture of her with her headlamp (flashlight that is attached to an elastic band around your head and sits in the middle of your forhead).  She is sending that picture to her folks, and I'm sure she won't let me have a copy--and I'm sure she'd kill me if I shared it!

As I said, today we are heading down I-5 to take hiway 503 to the south side of the mountain.  We will stay at Lone Fir RV Resort, where climbers register for the climb to the summit.  We will spend a couple of days exploring the Ape Cave lava tube and a lahar (mud-flow) overlook.  Then we are heading south down through the Cascades along Wind River to the Columbia River Gorge.  Hopefully we will be able to connect with the net again when we are out of the mountains.