Went on a road trip last weekend here in Wa., Ended up at Mt St. Helens via Windy Ridge road, one of my all time favourite motorcycle roads. Started from Seattle early, it was to be a long day in the car.

Our Bichon, Riley, loves to hang his head out the window, so I got him some "Doggles" for corneal protection. Plus, he's extra cool when he wears them..

The top of Chinook pass, near Mt. Ranier, looking east toward Yakima.

Same pic, canine removed...

Just inside the Mt.Ranier park road, there's a stand of old-growth douglas firs and cedars. Protected from fire by being on a small island midstream, this " Grove of the Patriarchs " provokes reverence at it's massive and ancient presence...some of the trees are >1000 years old.

Damn treehuggers!!

There were boardwalks in place to prevent compaction of the root beds of these monoliths by the foot traffic. Surreal, prehistoric things.

Chillin' in the river...

This big hunk of rock is Mount Adams. I climbed this thing Thursday and Friday, this pic was taken Saturday from Mount St. Helens. Odd to look up to the 12,276 ft summit and think that I'd been there just 24 hours earlier. Took the Southern route up, which is basically the right side of the mountain in this photo. The "step" just below halfway up is known as the "Lunch Counter", a popular camp stop before fighting your way to the summit. The lower false summit is known as Pikers Peak, it takes over an hour to reach the true summit from there. Long, hard, loose scree, glaciers,high altitude, ice, it was a great trip. At the top, Ranier, Helens, Hood, and Bachelor all poked through the haze, an impressive vista.Unfortunately I lost my camera while glissading down a snowfield, but my climbing partner will send me a disc of her shots, which I'll post here. Stay tuned.

Looking into Helen's crater. The lava dome is growing impressively, steaming and smoking constantly.

All that's left of Spirit Lake, a small corner of the once massive lake ( drowned by the indignity of having a mountainside slide into it ). You can see the huge logjam of dead, decomposing timber floating on the surface. The theory is the "tidal wave" washed up the surrounding hillsides, tearing timber off the slopes. Theres a lot of wood down there, I once saw a show where they were salvaging waterlogged, sunken timber from the lakebeds of rivers ...maybe I'll set up my own boutique timber business.... Bob's Volcanic Lumber, INC. when they all finally sink.

Why I like this road on the motorcycle. Still a surreal landscape, new pavement, little traffic, great twists and turns.

Deadwood and destruction, even many years later.

One of the once ash-choked valleys, shielded from the blast. Recovering. Still evidence of recent slides on the left, though.

The mountain, the dead trees, an eagle. Life finds a way.

Random shot that turned out ok. Or so I like to think.