Another Labor Day Weekend Trip Through Oregon

Reno, Nevada to Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, Washington
August 29 to 31, 2008

Another holiday weekend and more places to explore in the Pacific Northwest with my travel partner Karen. Our goal for the weekend was Mount St. Helens with opportunities for other sites along the way.

Day 1 - Reno, Nevada to Bend, Oregon

The plan was to break the drive to Mount St. Helens into two days, and the first day of driving with an early, early start from Reno would take us to Bend, Oregon. As a precursor to the volcanic sites of Mount St. Helens, we explored the volcanic sites of Newberry National Volcanic Monument. We spent the afternoon checking out the monument, which is spread out on the lava lands south of Bend. Although we missed lots of other activities to do in the monument, we:

Where's the Mountain?

Mount Rainier National Park, Washington
August 31, 2010

I'm not having much luck seeing the great mountains of Washington.  Two years ago I traveled to southwest Washington to see Mount St. Helens and its exploded top. I got to see the bottom of the mountain, but the top of the mountain was engulfed by clouds.  The clouds opened up for only a couple of minutes as I was driving away, the Washington rainy weather spoiling my view and the trip.

So it was no surprise to me when the Washington rainy weather spoiled my trip to Mount Rainier National Park. Yep, I ran into the rain and clouds which obscured the mountain, even up close. Below is a photo of where Mount Rainier should be. I took the photo from the parking lot of the Paradise Visitor Center around midway up the mountain. There should be around 6,000 feet of mountain and 25 glaciers right in front of me, but all I saw was clouds. I will have to take the word of Washingtonians that there is a majestic mountain here at Mount Rainier National Park.

I did get to see lots and lots of trees in the park. I took a short hike to the Grove of the Patriarchs, a small ancient forest  of Western Red Cedars and Douglas Firs that are nearly a thousand years old.

Mount Rainier in the clouds

The Grove of the Patriarchs