Mt. Ranier & Mt. St. Helen

       Mt. Ranier

Our home for four nights is Packwood, WA, that is within six miles of the entrance to Mt. Ranier National Park, which was established in 1899.  The first day we spent on the Mount Rainier Loop.  We witnessed old-growth temperate rainforests, quite a few gorgeous waterfalls and impressive vistas.  The loop is 78 miles and they 
suggest allowing 4-5 hours.  We were gone from the rig 7 hours enjoying them all.  

Slumbering volcano Mt. Rainier is the highest and iciest volcano in the lower 48 states, standing at 14,410 feet and capped by 25 glaciers.  The most recent documented eruption occurred during the early to mid-1800s.  It is part of the Ring of Fire, a string of volcanic ranges that almost circles the Pacific Ocean.  It is also the tallest mountain in the Northwest.  It is very often shrouded in clouds but today was our lucky day as the sun was shining and the weather ranged anywhere from the mid- 50s to the mid-70s  (Thirty miles south as the crow flies is Mt. St. Helens at 8,363 feet, an active volcano). 

Christine Falls

First we enjoyed Christine Falls and then we hiked down to Narada Falls.  Both were beautiful and at Narada we could feel the mist.  Another tailgate lunch was enjoyed in the parking lot.  We then went to the Paradise parking area that unfortunately was full, but we still enjoyed the view.  Many stops at viewing points were made and many pictures were taken.  We stopped at Reflection Lake followed by driving through Stevens Canyon, then stopped at Box Canyon where the water flowing through the canyon was 180 feet below us.  Grove of the Patriarchs was our next hike.  It was a magical place where we saw towering Douglas firs, Western red cedars and many other types of trees, some more than 25 feet in circumference and over 1,000 years old.  It was a long, but very enjoyable day with perfect weather.

Narada Falls

Reflection Lake

Enjoying the Great Outdoors

Mt. Ranier starting to cloud over

Grove of the Patriarchs

Grove of the Patriarchs

Glad Mike had Wheaties for breakfast

Judy's favorite bridge crossing

Mt. St. Helen

The next day we headed to Windy Ridge Loop, taking state roads and forest roads.  These roads are in dire need of repair as there are many, many dips and in some places it looks like the road is ready to fall off the sides of the mountains.  Although the speed limit is 35 mph and, in some places it shows to slow down to 20 mph, these dips can really surprise you and do damage to your vehicle.  Many are by the edge of the road and it looks as though hitting one hard enough could throw you over the edge.  Not a pretty thought!

Mt. St. Helen

Our destination was Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument.  It was another beautiful day of sunshine and we could see three mountains from Windy Ridge, (Mt. Jackson, Mt. Hood, and Mt. St. Helen) all being active volcanoes in the Cascades Mountains.  We experienced the contrast between the lush old-growth forest we saw yesterday and today saw the blown-down forest that the eruption of Mt. St. Helens caused in 1980.  This fall will mark the 10^th anniversary of Mt. St. Helens’ dramatic 2004 reawakening.  In September/October of that year, after an 18-year period of quiescence, the volcano rumbled to life producing thousands of earthquakes (more than 1,000 small ones a day) and small steam and ash eruptions that captured the attention of thousands of visitors and millions of TV viewers around the world.  The three and one-half year-long eruption piled up millions of cubic yards of lava in a 1,300 foot tall lava dome, growing continuously at a rate of more than a dump truck load of lava per second!

Blown Portion of Mt. St. Helen 

Over the past three decades, the blast-shattered forests north of the volcano have developed into one of the most diverse and productive ecosystems in the Pacific Northwest.  We saw unbelievable amounts of fallen trees that died from the heat of the eruption in 1980.  They lay there like toothpicks and one has to remind oneself that they are full sized trees.  We saw beautiful white, yellow, orange and purple wildflowers growing all over to make it even more dramatic and beautiful.  There are many trees growing in the area but they are not yet full grown and that will probably take another long time. 

We listened to an excellent talk a park ranger gave about eruption at 12:30 and we found it to be very interesting (some of the information is shared above!)  He had some pictures of the area of before and after the big eruption of 1980, which of course brought it all ‘to life!’ .

Burned trees among new growth

Trees lying like pick-up sticks from the blast

Trees lying like pick-up sticks from the blast

Trees lying like pick-up sticks from the blast

Spirit Lake Log Mat

We saw three helicopters going into the area over Spirit Lake from our lunch stop and later found out they are working on putting instruments down into Mt. St. Helens for learning about what’s happening more than a mile into the volcano.  Spirit Lake’s location is much higher than before 1980 and its surface is twice as large.  There are homes, etc., buried below the lake’s former location due to the mud slide from the mountain’s eruption. It was astonishing to see all the trees in Spirit Lake referred to as an immense log mat, resembling a giant logging operation.  On the hillsides the trees are all lying parallel to each other.  The force of the blast was estimated to be traveling about 500 miles per hour.  

Spirit Lake Log Mat

Spirit Lake Log Mat

Another fun day exploring nature and beauty.  We were gone four and a half hours today.  Now to unwind, relax and enjoy chicken Mike will be grilling.

Our last day here we headed to Mt. Ranier National Park again, taking a different ‘loop.’   We walked around a small lake and enjoyed the wildflowers and seeing tadpoles in the lake.  From one vantage point there was an opening in the trees and we could see Mt. Rainier.  After the walk by the lake (name unknown!) we tailgated again in the parking lot.

Another lucky day of gorgeous sites and wonderful weather…… this morning it was 65 when we left and it got as high as 83 during the day.  Today was a short day; we were only gone three and a half hours.  Back at the trailer we turned the air conditioner on and took short naps.  What a life! 

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