Mount Adams and Mount St Helens

Mount St Helens – View from Johnston Ridge

Mount St Helens – Johnston Ridge

Johnston Ridge was named after David Johnston (December 18, 1949 – May 18, 1980) the volcanologist who died during the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington. Johnston perished while manning an observation post 6 miles away on the morning of May 18, 1980. He was the first to report the eruption, transmitting “Vancouver! Vancouver! This is it!” before he was swept away by a lateral blast. Johnston’s remains were never found, but state highway workers discovered remnants of his USGS trailer in 1993.

Mount St Helens

In my mind I was expecting more barren rock and dull scenery but I was pleasantly surprised. It was actually quite beautiful to see the snow on the mountain, the greenery and the gray rock landscape. But what amazed me more was to see the wildflowers in bloom. That was really beautiful and it reminded me that the Earth and Mother Nature always renews itself. What was once a scary, desolate and dangerous area is now quite pretty and lush in some areas.

Johnston Ridge is the observatory for Mount St Helens. We did not go into the observatory because the view was not much different from where we were prior at Loowit viewpoint, it is just a short walk from the viewpoint to the observatory. The viewpoint has a great view of Mount St. Helens and the surrounding area. There was a Ranger there talking about the Mountain and the Elk, that you could barely see in the valley but with his scope we saw them clearly. The drive up the mountain was really gorgeous and Marc did a pretty good job of cooperating with me by keeping his eyes on the road (kind of) around curves and low shoulders. I only had to yell at him once. In some spots there is no shoulder or rail just the cliff over the mountain. This is not to frighten anyone, it was actually pretty mild compared to some roads we have driven in the past.

Mount St Helens Wildflowers

Mount St Helens

A different view from Vista House, near Portland

View from Vista House, near Portland

Vista House, near Portland

Not too far of a drive east on the Old Columbia River Gorge Road to the Vista House at Crown Point. You can’t miss it from the road; it’s a lovely restored monumental style facility, a pretty big circular stone building with lots of windows and gorgeous views of the Columbia River Gorge. Ample parking, nothing to pay but they do take donations, no food or drink. This is run by the State Parks and Friends of Vista House and is open most days.

Coffee, Coffee, Coffee! – “The Elixir of Life” as Marc says – Nossa Familia, Pearl District, Portland

Here are some places to find heaven…

Great area of town to find a small but nice Coffee House. They boast a family owned business with very friendly baristas and the coffee was good however, Teri, the chai drinker gave her chai a really big thumbs down. So if you like coffee – nice little place. If you like chai, there’s another place down the way about 2 blocks away.