Day 10 - The Dalles, OR to Mt. Rainier, Washington

We had breakfast at the hotel and were off by 7:30am. We topped off the bikes with gas and went across the Columbia river back into Washington to Pick up the Columbia Gorge scenic byway where we left off yesterday. We followed the Columbia River on the Washington side for about an hour. The wind coming down the gorge was making the river very choppy with plenty of white caps. The road offered beautiful scenes of cliffs, rolling hills, and the river. We even spotted a few Bald Eagles.

We crossed back over to Oregon via the Bridge of the Gods. We then followed I-84 for a few miles before exiting onto US30 for our first stop of the day at Multnomah Falls. We walked up to the bridge and took a few pictures. Very pretty.

Back on the bikes, we continued west on I-84 into Portland and then north on I-5 towards Seattle. Traffic was the heaviest we had scene since Columbus Ohio back on day 1.

We stopped for fuel and picnic items just before we turned of I-5 to head east towards our next stop, Mount St. Helens National Monument. As we approached the mountain, we encountered very heavy low clouds. We weren’t sure if we would be able to see the mountain. As we crested a ridge, the clouds parted, the sun broke through and we were able to see the mountain (what is left of it). We stopped at Clearwater Lake for a picnic in the shadow of the active volcano. Clearwater Lake was formed by the major eruption on May 20, 1980.

There was a gathering of Fieros. Some of these 30 plus year old cars were in decent condition. These are pretty rare so we were excited to see so many in one location.

After lunch, we continued the remaining 7 or so miles to the Johnston Ridge Observatory. From there we walked around a bit for some pictures and toured the visitor center to learn more about the eruption 39 years ago.

The ridge was named after an observer that was killed during the eruption. He was stationed on this ridge when the eruption occurred. It took 90 seconds for the initial blast wave to hit the ridge. It was traveling over 500 mph.

The two white/grey mounds at large pieces of the mountain that were hurled in the air several miles when the volcano blew.

The level of destruction is difficult to comprehend. Seeing the mountain in person helps to put the scale in perspective but it is still difficult to wrap our heads around it.

We left St. Helens and continued north to Mt. Rainier NP. Along the way we spotted this big bull watching over his ladies.

We arrived at our lodge (the National Park Inn) at around 5:30pm.

Michele was ready for dinner so she made reservations for a 6:15pm dinner. Rob barely had enough time to clean the bike and wash up in time.

After dinner Rob and Jerry scouted out a location for some starry sky pictures. They found a great spot away from the Inn and the roadway with an unimpeded view of Mt. Rainier.

We returned to the lodge and sat out on the porch and watched the sun set and skies grow darker until the stars were brightly shining, around 9:30pm. We all walked out to our photo spot and Rob managed to snap a few pictures before the clouds rolled in and blanketed the sky obscuring both the mountains and the stars. You can see the mountain in the below pictures as well as the Milkyway core cluster of stars. Amazing.

Tomorrow we will explore the park a bit and hope to see more of the mountain.