Finally made the trip to Mt. St. Helens. The magnitude of the initial eruption and blast area just cannot be captured in a photo. But as can be seen, still not much growing a few miles from the summit.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Mt. St. Helens
Finally made the trip to Mt. St. Helens. The magnitude of the initial eruption and blast area just cannot be captured in a photo. But as can be seen, still not much growing a few miles from the summit.
Mt. St. Helens
A closer look at the lava dome which is, as you can see, still active. The dome has been growing steadily since the initial blast in 1980.
Mt. St. Helens
A look more to the left of the summit and the blast area. That is dust in the center of this photo due to wind gusts.
Mt. St. Helens
Above is the valley floor that provided the pathway for debris flows after the eruption. Interestingly, although unable to be seen are Roosevelt Elk that now inhabit the old debris flow area. A small stream also flows through the area as well.
Mt. St. Helens
The above photo was taken at a rest area about half way up the mountain (still about 19 miles away) but does show the reforestation efforts over the last 20 yrs. All trees were individually planted.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Mt. Rainier Nat'l Park
On our way out of the park heading east we came upon the Cowlitz river (named after the Indian tribe for this area). Thought this stop was worth a photo.
Mt. Rainier Nat'l Park
After just coming through the "rock" tunnel the view of this river was to the left of this bridge.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Mt. Rainier Nat'l Park
A pic of the visitor center. Even has a very nice full service restaurant. Just up the road the National Park Service is building a new visitor center with multiple structures. Just have to wait another year before they open.
Mt. Rainier Nat'l Park
A look inside the 2nd floor observation area. This is a 360 degree room and has several telescopes for visitors to take a look around.
Mt. Rainier Nat'l Park
A look from the visitor center parking lot (approx 6,000 ft) at the eastern mountain range.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Mt. Rainier Nat'l Park
This waterfall flows right next to the roadway and continues as noted in the next photo.
Mt. Rainier Nat'l Park
There are a number of waterfalls throughout the park but thought this one would make a nice photo.
Mt. Rainier Nat'l Park
Hard to imagine that this wash was a raging river 9 months ago. The stream is now a collection of mud and minerals coming down from the mountain.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Mt. Rainier Nat'l Park
Finally made the trip to Mt. Rainier. What a beautiful park this is. Have posted a couple photo's but will be posting a few more as our web connection allows. In a couple months this mountain will be completely white as the normal snow accumulation exceeds 800 inches per year.
Mt. Rainier Nat'l Park
A closer view of the summit. Although unable to be seen, there were a number of hikers making their way to the top.
Friday, August 24, 2007
Lake Mayfield RV Resort
Well, we have arrived at our latest RV resort which is about 220 mi south of Anacortes. This is a full service park that includes a nice marina. We are located between Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens so hope to have some photo's as we get to those areas.
The web link at our location is very very slow. Will try to post the photo's as our connection allows.
Lake Mayfield RV Resort
Yes, that is a lighthouse (albeit a miniture replica) on a small adjacent island (called Adventure Island) used for tent camping.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Fidalgo Bay RV
Thought a pic of our RV site that is right on Fidalgo Bay would be better than writing about it.
We will be here a few more days before starting our journey southward.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Deception Pass State Park
After taking pic's of the pass and bridge, thought a visit to the adjacent state park would be a good day visit. The above was taken on a path overlooking the west facing beaches of this park.
The Strait of Juan de Fuca is at the top of this photo (about 10 miles away).
Deception Pass State Park
On one of the trails east of the park took this pic looking north. The pass is to the left about 200 yds.
Deception Pass State Park
A better look at the actual pass and bridge overhead. I would add that this photo was taken during high tide and current going from left to right was traveling about 25 mph.
Anacortes, Wa
Since it will be some time before we will be coming back to this area, thought a few pictures of the town would give an idea of how it looks. The above is the Anacortes harbor area with some of the San Juan Islands in the background. Lots of tourist business in the summer, but things really slows down once the wet season begins (usually around Oct/Nov). Some of the Canadian islands are just a few miles away.
Anacortes, Wa
While looking around the town, came upon this historical museum, the W.T.Preston. This vessel is what is called a steam powered "snag boat". There were about 5-6 of these vessels made in the mid 19th century but this is the only one left. They were assigned the task of clearing the waterways around the northwest as the logging industry had virtually jammed all of the rivers with logging debris making navigation (even by small boats) impossible.
Anacortes, Wa
Looking at the bow, those cranes could lift any tree and/or trunks that were blocking or floating in the waterways without much difficulty.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Deception Pass/Anacortes, Wa
Having left Sequim, Wa we arrived at the upper Washington peninsula - Anacortes. This is located within the San Juan Islands group and is just a short distance from the Canadian mainland. While on a day trip south from Anacortes we came upon Deception Pass.
The above plaque provides the information as to how this waterway pass came about its name.
Deception Pass/Anacortes, Wa
Looking east toward the northern shore of Whidbey Island. The pass is just to the right of this photo.
Deception Pass/Anacortes, Wa
A look at Deception Pass (the waterway) and the bridge connecting Whidbey Island.
Deception Pass/Anacortes, Wa
The above pic was taken looking east toward the bridge over Deception Pass.
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Dungeness Wildlife refuge
Before leaving the western peninsula of Washington took a day trip to the Dungeness Wildlife Refuge/Spit area which is a fairly popular tourist destination. The spit area is just a very long sand bar on the southern shore of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Various species of birds inhabit this part of the coastline throughout the four seasons.
Dungeness Wildlife refuge
A clearer view of the spit. Not much out there except for a Coast Guard lighthouse at the end (which is about 5 miles away).
Dungeness Wildlife refuge
Plenty of wood debris along the Dungeness Spit so thought I would add a couple photo's of "wood art".
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