Day 3

Day three was just crazy. Way too much to see. We first went along the Columbia River Gorge. We saw waterfalls there and visited the Vista House. We hiked to a few of the waterfalls, which ended up being way too much walking. If I ever go back I want to spend a whole day hiking there.

Next was Mount St. Helens. We went up the less traveled East side of the mountain. We saw a few Elk on the way up. I didn't get any pictures, they moved behind the bushes too quick. We made our way up to St. Helens and stopped everywhere we could. The road wasn't open all the way into the East side. It stopped at that first viewing point. It was still a neat experience. The pine trees seem never ending and cover every space as they go up the mountain and into the valleys below.

The last place to see this day was Mount Rainier National Park. The drive into the park is beautiful. Cliffs on the side drop deep with a river at the bottom. The road weaves through the mountains (reminds me of home). There was one place where the trees were snapped off and all around this river. We believe this much be a place where an avalanche occurred. There was also a river near the end of the park that can only be described as massive during the winter months. I can hardly imagine the small river we saw flooding those river banks. And, it was at this point that I became extremely happy that I had decided to get a National Parks Pass. The whole time we were driving today it was overcast. It rained very little and it kept the temperatures down during our hikes. But, it was foggy at Mount Rainier. We went through the whole park and never caught a glimpse of the top of the mountain. So, next week we are going back to another portion of the park and hopefully we will actually see it next time.

That night we decided to drive to Bellingham, which is about 60 miles away from the US/Canada border.