After spending the night in the KOA in Warrenton, OR, we headed for Washington state, Mount St. Helens, and Mount Rainier Nat'l Park. First stop was the Silver Lake Visitor Center. Inside, visitors may enjoy a variety of interpretive displays that set the scene for all the visitor centers at Mount St. Helens. There are comprehensive presentations on the cultural and historical significance of the area, a chronology of events leading up to the volcanic blast on May 18, 1980, local geology, and the re-growth and recovery of the area in the years since the eruption. Displays include several interactive exhibits, life-size mannequins, a large, step-in model of the volcano and two working seismographs.
Click on thumbnails for larger view:
MOUNT ST. HELENS VISITOR CENTER at Silver Lake, Milepost 5, has been hosting visitors for 12 years and the first of the Forest Service centers to be built after the eruption. This center features the geologic and volcanic history of the northwest, early life in the area including native Americans, trappers, and miners. Exhibits on seismology and current conditions are also featured. This is a Washington State Park & Recreation Commission site and has its own fee, which can be included in a pass for the entire mountain area. It is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
We only went as far as the new 11-million dollar Coldwater Ridge Visitors Center where we toured the exhibits, had lunch, and took move photographs. The Saint Helens story: At 8:32 Sunday morning, May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted. Shaken by an earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale, the north face of this tall symmetrical mountain collapsed in a massive rock debris avalanche. In a few moments this slab of rock and ice slammed into Spirit Lake, crossed a ridge 1,300 feet high, and roared 14 miles down the Toutle River. Nearly 150 square miles of forest was blown over or left dead and standing. The eruption lasted 9 hours, but Mount St. Helens and the surrounding landscape were dramatically changed within moments. In 1982 the President and Congress created the 110,000-acre National Volcanic Monument for research, recreation, and education
Mount Rainier. In a land brimming with mountain streams and alpine lakes, Narada Falls stand out as spectacular. The falls are formed where the Paradise River cascades 168 feet off a ledge.
Even the briefest visit to Mount Rainier demands a walk through the subalpine and alpine meadows of Paradise or Sunrise, filled with wild asters, daisies, orchids, cinquefoil, and heather. Perhaps the most scenic of the many trails that begin at Paradise is Skyline Trail, which climbs through wildflower meadows and across snowfields and scree slopes to Panorama Point. Along the way, look for yellow glacier lilies, marsh marigolds, western anemones, and purple shooting stars.
Taking in the vast views from atop Rainier's summit cone has been a rite of passage for North American climbers for more than a century, and nearly 9,000 hopefuls attempt the peak each summer. About half make it — clearly, this is a climb that delivers more challenge than many people are prepared for. Most ascents begin at Paradise, and involve climbing across rocky slopes and up steep snowfields to the Camp Muir hut for a short night's sleep before an early morning assault on the peak itself. From Camp Muir, the route mounts the spires of Cathedral Rocks, crossing the upper crevasses of Ingraham Glacier, then climbs near-vertically up the summit snowfields to Columbia Crest, Mount Rainier's highest peak. For those not steeped in mountaineering experience and technical climbing skill, sign on with a mountaineering service.
Not all in Mt. Rainier National Park is of volcanic origin. Looking south from above the Henry M. Jackson Memorial Visitor Center are the glacier-carved peaks of the Tatoosh Range. These mountains are the eroded remnants of the Tatoosh Pluton, a 17 million year old Granodiorite that solidified deep in the crust well before volcanic activity associated with the Cascade Volcanoes began.
Skyline Trail - strenuous
Trailhead near Paradise Visitor Center; 5 miles round trip; half-day; 1,500-foot elevation gain. Leading up the west side of Alta Vista Ridge, the circle-loop trail offers spectacular views of Nisqually Glacier at Glacier Vista; Mounts Adams and Saint Helens at Panorama Point.
Almost to Panorama Point. The trail offers stunning displays of subalpine wildflowers, a close-up look at Mount Rainier and the Nisqually Glacier, and, on a clear day, views of Mount Baker and as far south as Oregon's Mount Hood.
Although thousands of people hike to Camp Muir each year, it is not for the inexperienced or novice hiker. This hike is long, arduous and potentially hazardous if the weather turns nasty. Mistakes in navigation when traveling to or from Camp Muir during storms or "white-outs" have resulted in lost climbers and hikers and occasional fatalities.
Hikers going to Camp Muir. The beginning of the climb in summer passes over steep, narrow, maintained trails. In early summer, the trails can be snow covered. At 10,000 ft., Camp Muir can offer a sense of accomplishment for day-hikers. For climbers, it is a prime staging site for those going to Mt. Rainier's summit.
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Return to West coast trip, 2001.
