DAY 43 - 44 MOUNT ST. HELEN, WASHINGTON

DAY 43 - MONDAY

JULY 30, 2012

Monday was a travel day, beginning at 10:42 AM.

By 11:21 AM, we passed through Rochester, WA,

 so fast all we saw was a Post Office and a Middle School. 

On the "outskirts of Town" 

there was a Lumber Yard with extremely long.

 skinned trees. 

A log truck pulled out from the lumber yard,

and was in front of us for the next 40 miles.

Our destination was only a 66 mile distance,

so we arrived at the KOA in Castle Rock, Washington by 12:15 PM.

We had a great BLT Salad at Burger King, and then

drove to Mount St. Helen's Visitor Center.

We paid $5 each for this State of Washington operated facility.

While there we viewed a 17 minute video telling us about the June 12, 1980,

Eruption.  It was a powerful story.

A layer of Clouds hid a full view of Mount St. Helen from us.

When we stopped to take wildflower pictures,

the Cloud descended upon us,

so we opted to turn around and wait until tomorrow

to climb to our final destination of the 

Johnston Ridge Observatory.

  All total, today, we drove 71 miles round trip in our

quest to see Mount St. Helen.

  The road twists and curves for 50 miles to the top, and we stopped

short at the Forest Viewing Center,

 with 19 more miles to get to the top.

FOXGLOVE

DAY 44 - TUESDAY

JULY 31, 2012

Today, we took time to go into Castle Rock and found a Barber/Hair Salon

where we both had our hair cut.  While in town, we took a picture of a Mural

of Mount St. Helen's before the Eruption.

PEPER'S was a great choice where we had

Taco Salads.  Russ enjoyed his in a Corn Shell, and

Rita had hers in a salad bowl.

At 2 PM, we started up Rt. 504 from Peper's to drive the 50 miles to

Johnston Ridge Observatory.  We had our first view of

Mount St. Helen's by 2:20 PM,

This view was taken when we still

had 46 miles to go, 

 to the top.

We stopped to take more pictures

when we had driven another 31 miles.

The flowers in the foreground are

INDIAN PAINTBRUSH

and DAISYS.

RUSS and RITA

at JOHNSTON RIDGE OBSERVATORY

which is opposite Mount St. Helen's

and was approximately seven miles

across from it.

The devastation of the Eruption

effected 230 square miles, so

we could see up close what

was left after the lava covered

the area, and destroyed the

forest.

The closest image I could get of

what is left on the Face.

The seven miles span between

Mount St. Helen and where

we were, is still a GREY,

lifeless stretch.

This reforestration by Weyerhauser

was planted in 1983.  At various

points in our 54 mile

return trip,

we saw signs indicating

the date of replanting and

the expected harvest dates.

It appears that it takes 45 years

to reach maturity, since those

planted in 1983 were scheduled

for harvest in 2028.

One last note:

Our National Parks Pass was useful today

at the Mount St. Helen's National Volcanic Monument/Museum.

Otherwise, it would have cost us $8 each.