Columbia River Gorge

to

Tacoma, WA

Mile 5200 to  mile 5980

Wp 64  to   wp 82

  So, here we are , at the end of May, all roads should be open right??? There can't be any snow still blocking roads. Wrong!! We set off from the Columbia Gorge headed for Mt St Helens via some back country mountain roads. Everything was going fine till we chose to ignore a 'Closed Road' sign & go that way anyway. It really was closed a few miles up the road. Really should not ignore signs like that when you are 55' long. That is all I'll say about it.

  We saw Mt St Helens the last time in the area but the weather was not great so it was worth a second look. This time we had great weather when we drove up.

  Next stop from St Helens was Mt Rainier & another sign which was ignored. This one at the entrance to a CG which warned anything longer than 32' not to enter. We did. Enter that is. Again, the sign was right. The twists & turns in the CG road are very very tight for a 55'er. Nevertheless we shoehorned ourselves into what has to be one of the most beautiful riverside campsites ever. Well worth the effort to get in there. Especially nice since we were there midweek days & the CG was nowhere near full.

  From Rainier it was a short hop to Olympia, WA to see friends Len & Pat whom we met on our last Alaskan jaunt for a few days sightsee in the Olympia area.

  Next was another short hop to just south of Seattle. We had been at this SP, Dash Point, before but last time we never did get into downtown Seattle. In 5 days there we did the main touristy things before turning east.

If there is a flower around Carolyn will get a shot of it.

The CG below Mt St Helens

Mt St Helens. For point of reference, from the ridge where the wisp of cloud is 

to the  ridge on the opposite side of the crater is one mile. 

A helicopter flying in the crater would be a mere dot to the naked eye.

The lake shore center is the furthest of lava flow from the volcano. wp69

We could not ask for a better day to be here

Spirit Lake. It has been over 20 years since the eruption. From a distance things are looking desolate but at a close look it is amazing how much life has returned.

  

River behind campsite, Mt Rainier. Camp La Wis Wis. wp 71

The jumble of trees is the result of an avalanche 

possibly as recent as last winter wp 71

Backed in with literally an inch to spare. 

Camp la Wis Wis, Mt Rainier, WA wp 71

Mt Rainier, WA. wp 72

Even the canvas cleared the tree next to it with inches to spare.

The smell of the pines & sound of the river are never to be forgotten.

32' sign or not we will go back.

Len, Pat & Carolyn

Mt Rainier

Mt Rainier area tunnel

One of many delicate waterfalls right next to the road

Spring & early summer are best time to visit the mountains. 

Rivers & waterfalls are are at their best from the snowmelt.

February? Nope. June in WA. wp 73

Campsite, Dash Point, SP, WA.  wp 82

A bit noisy being only a few miles off the end of Seattles very busy airport.