Volcanoes

So far in our Northwest Adventure, we had seen two major volcanoes: Mt. Shasta and Crater Lake. Over the next couple days we got to see two more. One a desolate mountain devastated by a recent eruption and the other a beautiful mountain top, covered in snow and hidden behind clouds.

But first we made the short trip across the bridge from Portland, OR to Vancouver, WA. While Portland has its own weird sensibility, one it is actively embracing like a teenager who just discovered Nirvana, tattoos, and PBR, Vancouver is like Portland's nice older brother who has a real job and likes to drink coffee while watching the rain. We visited Vancouver's land bridge, walked around its modest downtown, and bought groceries before heading up to Mt. St. Helens.

Bigfoot!

The Johnston Ridge Observatory is about an hour off I-5, but it is definitely worth it. While there's a great visitor's center just a couple miles from the highway, the Johnston Ridge Observatory is just 5 miles from the volcano itself. I mean, really, just click here and look at these pictures. It's so close, I was just a bit worried about another eruption. What's great is that inside there's a big map of the area with little lights which show where the last eruption went and how it completely wiped out the ridge I was currently standing on. The whole place is a bit surreal and the views are unique.

Johnston Ridge Observatory

Unfortunately, the clouds surrounding Mt. St. Helens stubbornly covered the peak so we never got a fully exposed view of the mountain, but we'll go back again some day. Hopefully it'll still be there.

After another pleasant stay at a KOA, we left Mt. St. Helens for Mt. Rainier. I was looking forward to the flower-covered fields of Paradise with views of the snow-capped, 14,411 ft. mammoth, Mt. Rainier. For weeks I had been reading about all the different trails I could go on from the visitor center at Paradise. I was so excited to see the wildflowers and hike on the trails! But it seems we came a month too soon. The entire mountain was covered with snow from about 4,000 ft. up, meaning the fields at Paradise were blanketed with snow instead of colorful wildflowers. For a guy from California's central valley where June meant 100 degree weather, this was a bit of a surprise. I had been enjoying the 70 degree weather of the Pacific Northwest, but I didn't realize it would still be snowing, even on the mountains.

Visitor Center at Paradise

Taking a good, hard look at the snow

I was disappointed. When we got to the Henry M. Jackson Visitor Center at Paradise, Mt. Rainier was completely hidden behind clouds. It was raining so we went inside and ate lunch, hoping the weather would clear up soon. Instead, the rain turned to snow and we went down the mountain. Despite my disappointment, the whole area was still beautiful and Erinn led us to the Grove of the Patriarchs, a quick hike on a loop trail just off Stevens Canyon Road, southeast of Mt. Rainier. On the way down, a bear popped its head up on the road, took a little jog alongside the cars ahead of us, and sauntered off the road, back into the trees. That bear's quick little visit definitely brought our spirits up!

The Grove of the Patriarchs is a fun, short hike with a little suspension bridge that takes you across the clear blue waters of the Ohanapecosh River and into the Patriarch Loop. The trees are big, old, mossy, and beautiful. A good stop even if you're tired and bummed about the snow.

After the Patriarchs, it was still early, so we took our chances and went back up to Paradise, hoping for a better look at the peak. Eventually, the clouds did clear up enough that we could see the top of the mountain, if only for a moment. After that, we called it a day and went back down the mountain to the city of Yakima where we picked up french fries and Gluten-free burgers at Red Robin and watched The Mummy back at our hotel.

A moment of blue sky behind Mt. Rainier

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Bend and Portland

The next couple of days we spent in Portland, our drive first taking us through the town of Bend and along the south side of Mt. Hood. It's a beautiful drive and Bend is a nice little town to stop and have a sandwich. We went to downtown Bend and ate our lunch at Drake Park, which runs alongside the Deschutes River. Erinn and I were both impressed with Bend, its nice little downtown, beautiful park, and views of the nearby Oregon mountains. Drake Park has a big sloping lawn and a path next to the river with ducks swimming nearby, ready to gobble up your leftovers.

Forest Park, Portland, OR

Portland was a little different though. I have to admit my expectations were a little strange having been influenced partly by friends who lived there and partly by the TV show Portlandia. We were expecting nature, eccentricity, a cool downtown, and a small-town feel with big-city amenities. And while real Portland wasn't that far off, it still didn't click with us like I thought it would.

That being said, Portland has many beautiful parks, most notably Forest Park. It's a huge, 5,000 acre park covered in forest just a few miles from downtown Portland. Well worth a visit and a hike.

Downtown Portland is home to many tasty restaurants, food carts, and Powell's Books, a used and new book store that covers an entire city block.

Stonehenge at The Maryhill

Our favorite part of our Portland experience had to be the waterfalls. Take Hwy 30 East from Portland and about in about half an hour, take exit 28 for Historic Columbia River Highway. You'll come across other beautiful waterfalls and hikes along this route, which runs directly alongside Hwy 30. We stopped at Wahclella Falls, Horsetail Falls, and Multnomah Falls. As usual, none of our pictures captured the beautiful waterfalls or the hikes to them. The Wahclella Falls hike is a good one. Not very long and mostly level with lots of great views along the way. We also went a bit past that and saw the full-size replica of Stonehenge (See Above). A bit random, but interesting.

Next we were off to Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier before stopping to spend time with family in Seattle.

Wahclella Falls

Multnomah Falls

Mountains and Craters

I-5 through most of California is not the most scenic route. From the bottom of the San Joaquin Valley in the south all the way up to Redding in the north, this stretch of the I-5 is more than 450 miles of California's hot central valley. California is such a huge state! It has its charms from time to time, with acres of farmland and distant mountains along the east and west. But it's mostly a straight line with little to mark your progress except cows, rest stops, and a Starbucks every now and then.

Once you make it to Redding, the landscape changes quite a bit. You can see Mt. Shasta in the distance and the drive through the mountains by Shasta Lake is beautiful. Mt. Shasta itself is impressive and gives you something to look at while you fill up your gas tank in the small town of Weed.

Mt. Shasta

For us, Mt. Shasta is where we left I-5 and headed north up highway 97 toward Klamath Falls, OR. Eventually, this is where we'd set up camp (KOA - Klamath Falls), but first we made a quick (2.5 hr roundtrip) detour to see Crater Lake.

The drive from Klamath Falls to Crater Lake is very pretty. The highway goes alongside Upper Klamath Lake, through a few farms, and then up the side of a mountain; all of it green and the last part covered in pine trees. It's a beautiful drive which ends in a breathtaking view of Crater Lake.

Crater Lake is the result of the eruption of Mount Mazama about 7,700 years ago, which left a 2,000 ft. caldera that filled with water from rain and snow. It's a very unique lake and the views from the rim of the caldera have no comparison. Definitely a trip worth taking.

We walked along the rim trail for a while, trying not to get our feet wet in the snow, which was melting in the warm weather, causing puddles and mud everywhere. We didn't stay long and went back to set up camp and eat a tasty dinner before settling in for the night.

One interesting bit about our trip up north was the noticeable change in sunrise and sunset. It was June so I was used to long, sunny days, but further north the days are even longer. So when we finished dinner and started preparing for bed around 9pm, it was still light outside. But Erinn and I just played some card games for a while and went to bed early.