GREETINGS FROM TROUTDALE,
Oregon (OR), USA
Yes, state number 28 today ! But really only briefly at this stage. Our major venture into Oregon is later in the trip. This is the gateway to the next stage of our trip to head east tomorrow – oh, and it has Outlet Stores !
Ashford WA to Troutdale OR
Unfortunately today was another day of seeing only half the mountain due to the weather.
We woke a couple of times last night to the sound of heavy rain – I think we have done our drought breaking trick as everyone seems very pleased to be getting rain after such a dry spell !
This morning the rain had stopped and there were even glimpses of blue sky down the road when we were packing the car so we set off to see how the day would pan out. However it was very, very windy.
The Jeep is a bit of a “gas guzzler” although to be fair there was a lot of mountain climbing yesterday. We stopped in a little town called Mineral to fill up with gas and then headed to our first stop for the day – Johnson Ridge Observatory just under Mount St Helens.
The countryside was again lush forest. And with the wind, the road was often covered with leaves and branches – it was turning from Summer to Fall right in front of us !
Tree snapped in 2 from the blast of the eruption
With the wind howling the weather changed rapidly – one minute it was sunny and the sky relatively clear then the next minute the clouds rolled in and the rain came. Adrienne was reading from her guide book as we drove the road into Mount St Helens and it became clear that it was going to be unlikely that we actually saw the mountain. As we drove along, Adrienne would say ” as you get to such and such point, you will get a good view now of the mountain” – and as we got to that point the mountain was hidden behind the swirling cloud.
As you drive along the road you reach a point marked as the edge of the blast zone. It is now 35 years since the eruption and much has been done to regenerate the forests. But you can tell the “new” forests as they are much smaller trees than we had been seeing. As you get closer to the volcano, the regrowth is more sparse and the hills are dotted with blackened stumps where the original trees had been destroyed.
Cloud around Mount St Helens
When we arrived at the Observatory visitor centre, it was reasonably clear but the clouds were around the top of the mountain. But the wind was still howling – so much so that it was nearly “two steps forward get blown three steps back” ! We both commented that we couldn’t remember being in wind so strong. And the temperature had dropped dramatically – similar to the drop we experienced at Mt Rainier. So it was out with the coats and rain jackets !
We made it to the visitor centre and managed to snap a couple of shots of what part of the mountain (and cloud) we could see and then retreated inside as the next rain shower arrived. And the weather forecast sign on the front door confirmed our feeling about the wind. It read “Today – very, very, very, very windy ! Expect gusts of 50-60 mph”.
We looked around the visitor centre which had some excellent exhibits about the volcano eruption and some of the personal stories of the events and even a huge tree trunk which was literally snapped in two with the force.
When we left the visitor centre we had a tail wind to get back to the carpark so we were there in an instant ! And so was the rain again. It followed us a fair way back along the road and almost to the highway we would join to head south toward Oregon.
Washington State exhibit complex
Just before the highway, we stopped at the Washington State exhibit for Mount St Helens which deals more with the history of the area rather than the geology covered by the other. With the sun out again we got a nice shot back toward Mount St Helens – but it was still hiding under cloud.
Then just before we hit the Interstate, we stopped at a Subway for lunch before hitting I5 and heading south. We reached Troutdale about 2.30pm and Adrienne assured me the hotel wouldn’t be ready yet so a stop at Walmart and the Outlet Centre would surely fill in time. Adrienne bought her years
View back to Mount St Helens – under the cloud !
supply of cosmetics at Walmart – amongst a few other bits – and we managed to get Liam some Converse shoes he was after – in fact 2 pairs for the same price as 1 at home, even with the exchange rate !
Not many photos today I’m afraid as the weather was pretty bleak and didn’t allow too many opportunities.
But just to back track to Seattle. Many of you would find it hard to believe that I actually saw the view from the top of the Space Needle. Well here is the proof !
If it doesn’t show up below click here