Tower Rock NF Campground, Randle, WA, to Hoquiam River RV Park, Hoquiam, WA:  Spent the last 9 days in beautiful Gifford Pinchot National Forest.  Our campground was small--22 sites--and very pretty.  Lots of large Douglas firs in here--one which rivals the giant redwoods in California.  We were here to explore Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, and environs.

Mt. St. Helens:  This was a very interesting learning experience for us.  Mt. St. Helens was what they call a dry eruption.  No lava, but tons of rock, dirt, and extremely hot gasses.  And it was a side blast.  The north side of the mountain started developing a bulge which grew at the rate of an average 5 feet per day.  It had bulged out 400 feet just before it blew.  The geologists expected an upward, lava event.  So they declared an evacuation zone of 5 miles.  This thing blew 17 miles laterally, snapping huge, old growth trees and depositing up to 600 feet of ash and rocks in the Toutle River valley.  Spirit Lake sits at the foot of the mountain and as a result of the blast it now sits 200 feet higher because of all the stuff that sits at the bottom of the lake--mainly trees.  It's bigger now because it was "bumped up" 200 feet, but shallower.  A man by the name of Harry Truman owned at lodge on the lake but refused to leave.  He and the lodge are now under 200 feet of ash, rock, and other debris.  57 people lost their lives.  And there are many stories of people in the blast zone who miraculously survived.

This is a picture of a picture and not very clear, but this is Mt. St. Helens before the blast.

This is a picture taken after the blast.  The surrounding mountains in the blast zone which were covered in a lush conifer forest were blasted down to bare rock.

Spirit Lake with lots of floating logs.  

And we noticed when we were up there a second time, a new bulge is forming in the crater.  And steam was coming out.  Yikes!

Mt. Rainier:  This place was magical.  Mountains covered in firs as far as the eye can see, beautiful waterfalls crashing down lofty mountains, pristine streams, wild flowers in abundance, alpine meadows—and in the center of it all, beautiful and majestic, glacier-topped Mt. Rainier.  We stopped at every viewing spot possible and eventually made it up to Paradise Inn, the lodge in the shadow of Mt. Rainier.  We had planned to eat there, but the restaurant didn’t open for dinner until 5:30.  There is a paved pathway leading up the mountain from the Visitor Center and Paradise Inn that goes through alpine meadows of great beauty.   Since we’re starting to feel the effects of the altitude, we didn’t even attempt this.

Beautiful wildflowers!

Paradise Lodge and Inn.

In the center of it all--beautiful Mt. Rainier.

We went back to Mt. Rainier a couple of days later and hiked the Grove of the Patriarchs Trail.

These two are over 1000 years old!  The trees, that is.

We drove in to Randle from our campground several times to have breakfast or dinner at our favorite restaurant, Tall Timbers.  One morning we ran into these two--Danna and her beautiful husky/wolf mix dog, Arou.  

Danna and her dog, Arou.

Arou--husky/wolf mix.