Rob made us breakfast – bacon, eggs and toast. All perfectly cooked just like dad.
Upon looking at the maps we concluded that we were too far from Mt St Helens to approach it from the west, so we decided to drive in from the northeast. We crossed the Columbia on a toll bridge and drove west along the northern shore. From there we had a spectacular view of Mt Hood. There is still a lot of snow on it. We turned north and followed some forest roads towards Mt St Helens. We got spectacular views of the mountain as we got closer. We discovered that the road we had hoped to drive was closed due to damage and snow. As an alternative we headed for a lava tube. I did not think anything could compete with the ones we had seen at Craters of the Moon, but this was incredible. We descended into the tube and opted for the difficult route. A 1 ¼ mile hike up the tube – did not sound too long! It was windy and cold – we had forgotten our sweaters as the temperatures in the gorge were hitting 75 F. The temperature in the tube was 42 F, before adding in the effect of wind chill. The darkness was quite scary but the tube was really big. We had hired a lantern and flashlight so we were able to illuminate our walking area quite well. We had to scramble over many rock falls and climb a lava wall. Sometimes the tube narrowed to a couple of feet and the wind howled through the confined area. That was really cold! We walked and scrambled for almost 2 hours before we emerged into the warmth of the forest. The smell was delightful as there were many flowers on the forest floor. We were really proud of ourselves for enduring the cold and dark for so long.
We then explored a forest where a lava flow showed tree molds. This occurs when the lava flows into a forest and surrounds a tree. The tree is incinerated but by then the lava has cooled sufficiently forming a mold of the trunk. We could look down 5ft into the mould - the depth of the lava flow. We also saw a mold from a fallen tree – incredible that we could see this 12000 years after the event.
We headed back to the campground via the ice cream shop, where we also had some fish and chips.Once we were home we went down to the railway tracks to flatten a penny and explore the riverbank. We are all exhausted.
Upon looking at the maps we concluded that we were too far from Mt St Helens to approach it from the west, so we decided to drive in from the northeast. We crossed the Columbia on a toll bridge and drove west along the northern shore. From there we had a spectacular view of Mt Hood. There is still a lot of snow on it. We turned north and followed some forest roads towards Mt St Helens. We got spectacular views of the mountain as we got closer. We discovered that the road we had hoped to drive was closed due to damage and snow. As an alternative we headed for a lava tube. I did not think anything could compete with the ones we had seen at Craters of the Moon, but this was incredible. We descended into the tube and opted for the difficult route. A 1 ¼ mile hike up the tube – did not sound too long! It was windy and cold – we had forgotten our sweaters as the temperatures in the gorge were hitting 75 F. The temperature in the tube was 42 F, before adding in the effect of wind chill. The darkness was quite scary but the tube was really big. We had hired a lantern and flashlight so we were able to illuminate our walking area quite well. We had to scramble over many rock falls and climb a lava wall. Sometimes the tube narrowed to a couple of feet and the wind howled through the confined area. That was really cold! We walked and scrambled for almost 2 hours before we emerged into the warmth of the forest. The smell was delightful as there were many flowers on the forest floor. We were really proud of ourselves for enduring the cold and dark for so long.
We then explored a forest where a lava flow showed tree molds. This occurs when the lava flows into a forest and surrounds a tree. The tree is incinerated but by then the lava has cooled sufficiently forming a mold of the trunk. We could look down 5ft into the mould - the depth of the lava flow. We also saw a mold from a fallen tree – incredible that we could see this 12000 years after the event.
We headed back to the campground via the ice cream shop, where we also had some fish and chips.Once we were home we went down to the railway tracks to flatten a penny and explore the riverbank. We are all exhausted.
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