When you think of mountains in Washington state, two iconic ones always come to mind: Mount Rainier and Mount Saint Helens, both volcanos.  I drove through dense and primordial forests to get to Mount Rainier first, and couldn’t help but remember that this is where all the Sasquatch sightings are supposed to take place.  Look at the height and density of the trees lining the road there…

I could certainly see how a mystery could lie hidden in these remote mountains.  It was peaceful and deep, and well as brooding and silent under the trees.

According to Wikipedia:  “Mount Rainier is the highest mountain of the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest, and the highest mountain in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a large active stratovolcano located 54 miles (87 km) south-southeast of Seattle. It is the most topographically prominent mountain in the contiguous United States and the Cascade Volcanic Arc, with a summit elevation of 14,411 ft (4,392 m).  Mt. Rainier is considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world, and it is on the Decade Volcano list. Because of its large amount of glacial ice, Mt. Rainier could potentially produce massive lahars that could threaten the entire Puyallup River valley, and poses a grave threat to sections of Seattle, a city of over 650,000 people with more than 3.7 million living in its metropolitan area.”

I’m not the spooky type, but this whole place just possessed a feeling of power.  This feeling is clearly why mountains are called ‘majestic.’

Without knowing much about the big fauna in the Pacific Northwest, including grizzly bears, cougars, wolves, and such, I’ve been a bit hesitant to wander off into the trees and mountains and spend a few nights on my own here, but I think I’ll have to give it a try soon anyway, even if it’s just on some of the more popular trails.  But the FJ has become quite the little mountain climber, and never lets me down — I suspect he’s having as much fun as I am!

After leaving the Mount Rainier National Forest, I looped south again and took the long road in to Mount Saint Helens, another large stratovolcano in the Cascade Range, that I assume most of you would have heard of due to its massive eruption in 1980.  Again, Wikipedia has some interesting information:  “Mount St. Helens is most notorious for its paroxysmic eruption on May 18, 1980, at 8:32 a.m. PDT, the deadliest and most economically destructive volcanic event in the history of the United States. Fifty-seven people were killed; 250 homes, 47 bridges, 15 miles (24 km) of railways, and 185 miles (298 km) of highway were destroyed. A massive debris avalanche triggered by an earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale caused an eruption that reduced the elevation of the mountain’s summit from 9,677 ft (2,950 m) to 8,363 ft (2,549 m), replacing it with a 1 mile (1.6 km) wide horseshoe-shaped crater. The debris avalanche was up to 0.7 cubic miles (2.9 km³) in volume. The Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument was created to preserve the volcano and allow for its aftermath to be scientifically studied.”

My goal was to visit this observatory and monument, but even from miles away, the ash cone dominated the landscape.

The observatory is located on Jackson Ridge, directly across from the point where the side of the mountain blew off and the mudslides descended in 1980.

My National Parks annual pass got me in for free (it’s more than paid for itself several times with the number of places it’s gotten me in!), and I was just in time to see the movie describing the events of that day, including video of the actual eruption.  The speed of both the shock wave and the debris field was incredible, about 300 mph for the shock wave, if I remember correctly, and the volume of material displaced was massive!  Then, when the movie ended, the screen lifted up and the curtains opened…. to this view!  Someone with the most wonderful sense of drama designed this presentation, and it was wonderful!!

The most recent activity here was in early 2008, when steam and lava were extruded from the volcano, but it eventually stopped again, and there’s been no threat since.  It was hugely impressive to be this close to an active volcano though!

As you can see, some vegetation has come back to the area, but few trees.  All the trees close to the mountain were literally ripped from the ground by the shock and debris waves, and even further way the forests were knocked flat.  You can see the fallen trees like matchsticks still on the neighboring mountains.

Wow.  Just wow.  I love mountains!!