Photos:Green valley: The mountain behind that you can't see is Mt. St. Helens. The green area is the ash field below the crater. We could see elk there! David and James: Entering the Johnston Ridge Observatory. "Black Mountain" is what we could see of Mt. St. Helens. The lake photo is Coldwater Lake - formed after the 1980 eruption. Bridge: New bridge built after 1980. Mud flows destroyed the original one. Muddy field is where the mud flows went through a valley. Elk also live here now. "Pig in the Blanket" would be Chrissy who is cold here! Yellow plant is Scotch Broom. It's considered a nuisance here.
We got up late...it's raining, cold, wet, and the furnace is on. Off from Portland to Washington and closer to our goal of seeing the last of the 48 states we haven't seen yet.
We cross into Washington State at 11:15 a.m. Weather hasn't improved here! We pull into the campground, but it's closed! Nothing on their website indicated it wasn't open or even that it wasn't completed yet. Seems they can't get permits from the county completed. They're right on the Toutle River near the mountain. So.....we get a couple of recommendations on area spots to camp. We decide on Silver Lake RV Resort.
What comes to mind when you think resort? Fish camp didn't come to mind! No cable, little TV, a view of the lake when you walked down there, no wi-fi.....not a resort in my mind, but still a nice, quiet place.
We get set up and head out for the loop on WA 504. We're on Spirit Lake Road, but because of the blast, the road no longer goes to Spirit Lake. Harry Truman who died in the blast had a resort on Spirit Lake. It filled in with trees blown from the mountain, but has been making a comeback. Hope we get to see it!
We passed through the town of Toutle - saw a sign for "Best Burgers in Town." It was the ONLY place for burgers in town!
It's about a 50 mile drive up to the Johnston Observatory and takes a winding road filled with logging trucks. It's still drizzly and some of the pullouts have no view, but the ones you can see are spectacular. When we get to the top, we can't see the crater for the fog and it's moving in. We talked to a volunteer ranger and he explained the crater was a good eight inches above where we could see. The snow in the parking lot has some of the walkways closed. The snow must be 10' to 12' high in places. It's the wettest winter they've had in some time.
We go inside and they have some remarkable displays. Then it was time for the movie. It opens with the final words of Scientist Johnston (Observatory and Ridge are named for him). You hear him yell, "Vancouver, Vancouver...this is it!" The film was outstanding. When the movie was over, a sign come on telling us to remain seated. The screen and the curtain rose to show us a great view of the crater.....but, all we saw was white! The fog had completely moved in and covered it and where we had been standing.
We shopped a little and then headed back down the mountain to the campground. We passed "bigfoot" exhibits and saw houses partially buried in ash. We're on the road where the damage was done.
Fed the ducks at the campground, had dinner, and started reading a book about Mt. St. Helens. Early evening! Tomorrow we'll take WA 504 toward Spirit Lake.
See ya down the road!
Jenny :)
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