Windy Ridge: Mount St. Helens

I have been trying to go to the Windy Ridge side of Mount St. Helens for three summers now.  Last summer we took an emergency trip to Reno, Nevada to bring Erika back to Washington and the summer before that we were moving into our new house and didn't have a lot of time for daytrips around Washington.

I called mom and asked her if she wanted to go with me and she said yes.  Ben was still gone with the fires in southern Oregon.  July was the perfect time to go because the weather would be decent (I will not go to the mountains if the weather was going to be cloudy) and it worked out this year (even though this summer was a rough one for us).  We seriously have not been to this side of the mountain since the mid 1990's.  I am sure a lot has changed.  I got my stuff ready the night before and made sure to check and download all of the caches I wanted to get.  There was a virtual I really wanted to get and made sure I definitely had that one written down.

I got up at 9:00, packed up the stuff I would need, some snacks and drinks in the cooler and put it in the Escape since we were going to drive my vehicle down there.  I drove into Rainier, picked her up (thank goodness she was ready to go and I didn't have to wait for her) and took the backway to Hwy 12 via Hwy 702, into Eatonville, Hwy 7 and into Morton because we had to stop for gas in Yelm and Walmart for a few things since we got new phones (Galaxy 9+) last week.  We got onto Hwy 12 and we were pretty lucky...we didn't have to follow anyone for a while.  When we got to Randle, we turned onto the 131 and then onto NF25.  The last time mom and I were out here was November 2016 and we were trying to cross off some of the Rainier100 cache series while the weather was nice.  We went as far as the Iron Creek campground before we turned around.

NF25 is paved but it endures some pretty harsh weather throughout the year so there are spots where the road is pretty chunky in some areas so your really couldn't drive very fast.  The road wasn't super busy either which made it nice while driving even though it is a pretty windy road.  We were coming up on our turn, NF 99 to take us towards Windy Ridge.

In a few miles there was going to be a pullout for a first view at Mt. St. Helens and our first geocache of the day which happened to be an earthcache.  I'm On the Edge (GC7CV55) took us to the edge of the blast zone to where we had to answer a series of questions about destruction and rebuilding of an entire ecosystem.  We took our picture to verify we were there as well.

A little further up the road we made another pit stop at Meta Lake and Miner's Car.  I remember visiting these places in the mid 1990's.  I can't believe I haven't been up this way since.  We parked and got out.

Mom wanted to walk around the short interpretive loop and I said sure, let's go for it!  We read some of the signs as we walked past them.  I vaguely remember being here but once we got to the lake I definitely remember being here.  We came up on the small dock that gave you a great view of the lake.  The trees, plants and animals were still recovering almost 38 years later.  I walked along the cement sidewalk to an even better view.  Because this area is under snow most of the year; a lot of the water from the snowmelt had not evaporated yet.  There was still a lot of water on the walkways you had to avoid.

The water was so clean and clear.  You could see tiny fishes and frogs swimming around in it.  You also could feel the coolness and the warmness of the air because of the elevation we were at.  It is an unusual sensation and similar to when we were at Crater Lake last summer.  We spend a good half hour/45 minutes out here before we decided to go check out Miner's Car before heading to Windy Ridge.

Instead of driving, we decided to just walked there because it was a really short walk.

We had to wait our turn to read the informational sign because of the couple in front of us.  Once they left we had it all to ourselves.  It is really hard to imagine what this place looked like before the eruption since I didn't have the luxury of experiencing the area before it did (I wasn't born yet) but you could imagine though.  Lots of dense forests, creeks, forest roads, hiking trails, shade, animals running around...you probably couldn't see the mountain as easy as you can now.  We read the sign and it explained who's car this was.  They parked their car here and walked up to a mine that wasn't that far away from the car.  They thought they were safe from the mountain that morning.  They all died within seconds of the eruption.  As you can see the car endured a lot that day however, almost 40 years of weathering and people stealing parts off of it didn't help it either.

We walked back to the Escape and followed the road closer to Mt. St. Helens. Two winters ago I read two books called Path of Destruction:  Eyewitness Chronicles of Mt. St. Helens and Eruption:  The Untold Stories of Mt. St. Helens.  Both were really awesome books and I couldn't put them down.  They talked about a lot of the activities on the north and northeast part of the mountain...the part we were in.  They also discussed the stories of everyone who survived and who also thought they were safe where they were that morning.  A lot of them had to go beyond their capabilities to survive that day.  It just fascinates me to no end.  I love this stuff and part of me wishes I was alive to see the eruption.

We stopped at the Smith Creek Viewpoint to use the restrooms and to check out the informational maps inside.  There wasn't much to look at and I was disappointed.  I would have liked to take one of the signs home though.

We stopped briefly and pulled over to check out Spirit Lake.  When we stopped our phones blew up!  Usually when we were out in the mountains our phones didn't work so it was very surprising when I got text messages and mom was getting phone calls.  The phone call was from Doug and he was upset we didn't ask him to go to Mt. St. Helens with us.  We just didn't think they would have gotten up in time to meet us out there since they were coming from north of Seattle.  They would have had to come down the night before.  It didn't mater because he and Jenn were on their way to Vantage to see the horses because she wanted to see them.

We made it to the Windy Ridge Viewpoint, found a parking spot and knew we had to pay a $5 recreation fee since I didn't get one before we left.  I didn't bring any cash on me so I had to write out a check instead.  I shoved it in the envelope and dumped it in the slot.  We sat in the Escape, ate our lunches, put our shoes on and made our way up the 368 step sand ladder.  It was a half a mile and we gained 200 feet in elevation as we went up.  We had to stop a few times to catch our breath because that mountain elevation will get ya.

We spent a good hour up on the ridge overlooking Spirt Lake and a view of the crater.  While we were up there I took the time to reflect on everything that has happened since January.  This year was especially difficult and it was about to get painful because Grammie wasn't improving.  It was literally breaking my heart.  I also sat there looking at this amazing geology.  The sheer fact that this mountain did so much destruction in such a little amount of time; but no matter how devastating it was it still is recovering with time.

We walked back down the sand ladder and did the virtual cache, Mount Saint Helens - Windy Ridge (GC5097) by the edge of the parking lot.

We walked by a group of Canadians visiting the mountain and they asked us a few questions.  I answered them the best I could, they thanked me and went on their way to their next adventure in Washington.

We both decided it was probably time to head back towards Hwy 12.  We meandered our way down FS99 and onto FS25.  Mom saw a sign that said Iron Creek Falls so we stopped and hiked the 500 feet in. There were also a few sets of people, their dogs and kids also enjoying the falls and river on this hot summer day.  I took my shoes off and waded across the river to the other side.  That side gave a better view of the falls.

Mom asked me if I knew of any other places out this way that had falls.  All I could remember off Hwy 12 was Cowlitz Creek Falls.  We got back into the Escape and followed FS25 back to the main Hwy in Randle.  I had to stop one more time at the Iron Creek Campgrounds for Berner on the Loose (GC4GEXC).  I basically had to guess where it was because my phone reshuffled itself so I didn't have a clear view on this cache since I didn't have service here  I used my car GPS to get me as close as I could and then used the hint I wrote down to find it.  Victory was mine after checking a few places along the trail.

We got back to Hwy 12 and headed towards Cowlitz Creek Falls.  We followed the signs off of Kiona and made it to the campground.  Once we got to the parking lot and the boat launch we really didn't know where to go so we asked someone if they knew about any falls here.  No one seemed to know.  There was no falls here.  Why do they call it Cowlitz Creek Falls if there aren't any falls.  So misleading.

We got back into the Escape and headed back to the highway.  Mom saw a lavender farm, Cowlitz Falls Lavender Company that was founded in 2014, on the way and wanted to stop.  We really didn't have anywhere else to go that day so I said sure.  We followed  the signs to the back of the building and parked.  We got out and we were instantly welcomed to the farm.  We looked at their products that they make there on site.  That included hand lotions, soaps, essential oils, edible lavender and lavender starts for your own garden.  She explained the different kinds of lavender in the rows, handed us a basket and some shears and told us to have fun.

Mom and I picked a row and she asked how we were suppose to cut it.  I have some experience cutting lavender so I told her where to cut the bundle.  She cut quite a few pieces and shoved them in her basket and then asked me if that was enough.  I didn't know how much she wanted so I asked her if she thought it was enough.  She said sure.  We went back to the building to pay for stuff.  We saw the essential oils and decided to buy some for grandma.  We thanked the family and drove back to Hwy 12.

I wanted to stop at one more cache called Surprise! (GC5WG73) because it had several favorite points.  When we got closer I noticed that it could be a guard rail cache and I was disappointed.  However, when I got out to actually find the cache I was indeed surprised.  The container is what made it worthwhile sort of like a surprise snake that comes out of those joke plastic cylinder containers.

I put it back and got back in the Escape.  It was getting about that time and mom mentioned she was hungry and wanted Papa Pete's in Centralia.  We were about an hour out of Centralia.  I texted my friend Liz to see what she was doing and if she wanted to meet us at the pizza place in about and hour.  She was happy to see the invite but sadly she couldn't make it there due to her kids sports.  I said since I was in the area I thought I would invite her out if she could but I would see her anyway at work on Monday.

We usually got the same thing when we went to Papa Pete's, pepperoni and black olives, a side salad to share and some drinks.  We got the large size so we could bring home leftovers.  We ate and chatted about some of the upcoming events.  We had a trip to the southeast planned for the end of next month.

I dropped mom off in Rainier and then headed to my house for a quick second to change.  I had promised my HR people at work that I would come to Joe's off site karaoke retirement party at Emperor's Palace.  I basically went to support Joe because I do not sing in front of people.  I hung out with his sons, Nick and Chris, for a little while since I basically grew up with them.  It was fun to catch up with them for a while.  I stayed for about two hours visiting with the other HR people until I got tired.  I thanked them for inviting me out.

I went home, got cleaned up, chilled a bit watching Netflix, talked to Ben for awhile and then went to bed shortly after that.  Today was a long but fun day.

Next Adventure:  Mobilization:  The Dalles and Taylor Creek Wildfires in Oregon

Ecuador Day 12: Early Morning Flight back to the States via El Salvador, Los Angeles and Finally Home

We had the front desk call us around 2:30 a.m.  I felt like crap and wanted to sleep longer then I realized I was going back to the US and my own bed and motivated me to get ready to go.  I was so done with traveling at this point.  I've been on way too many airplanes, been around way too many germs, got sick (which I still have a cough from) and been around way too many people.  I was done.

I got changed, did my bathroom stuff, made sure I didn't leave anything in the bathroom, packed my bag with the stuff I wouldn't need on the plane, checked my bed, under the bed, the table tops and the bedside table to double check I didn't leave anything behind.  Mom was getting all of her stuff ready as well.  We didn't want to be the people holding up anyone.

We went downstairs, checked out, gave them back the room cards and waited for Amy, Beth and Kaitlin and our taxi to come.  I found out two more of our volunteers were also staying at the hotel as well and had almost identical flights back to the US.  Amy, Beth and Kaitlin were late coming down so the two ladies took our taxi.  Amy was so upset because she specifically called for that cab to come get us.  I honestly didn't know if it was theirs or ours because they also could have called a cab for themselves.  The hotel got us two more because we all were not going to fit inside of just one with all of our bags.

About five minutes later we were on our way to the airport.  At this point every minute counted.  We paid the taxi driver, made sure all of our bags were out and we went inside to find our line.  Our line was really long and I actually was worried we might not get a spot on the plane.  When we got closer to the roped off area of the line, some guy cut in front of everyone and some lady really didn't like it.  She called over some security guy and turns out the guy was waiting in the wrong line and wasted all that time.  Karma.

When we finally got to the desk to check in, we gave her our passports, we checked in our bags this time and hoped that we received them when we got to Seattle.  She gave us our tickets and we were literally the last ones on the plane to El Salvador.  We went through security, which took a little while, walked to our gate and got on quickly.  We found out seats and got situated.  Everything since 2:30 a.m. seemed very rushed.  Our plane left late because of the ticketing delay.  Mom sat behind me.  I watched Gifted and ate breakfast on our way to El Salvador which was almost a 3 hour flight.

The flight was very turbulent as we were getting closer to El Salvador.  During our descent, as we got past the clouds, we could see how rainy it was.  The country was very green and it would be cool someday to actually explore it.  We arrived in El Salvador late and we immediately had to get off the plane (which we had to walk the tarmac in the rain), run through the corridor, after finding out our gate, Gate 10, (because it wasn't on our ticket), rush though security (had to take off our shoes and I had to debag my laptop).  They were boarding everyone and we were a few of the last passengers on the flight.  We all sat together in the middle of the plane.  This plane was one of the bigger air busses so a lot of people were going back to the US.  We all sat in the row that didn't have screens for movies.  We got lucky because no one else got to watch movies either.  They made an announcement stating that they were having technical difficulties with the media onboard and none of the screens were going to work the duration of the flight.  Of course it would be for the longest portion of our flight back to the US.

I got my notebook out and wrote some stuff down in it.  We were served some food and drinks but we mostly slept during this leg of our flight.  I am so glad I bought that blanket because it came in handy while I was sleeping.  I was freezing.  The 5 and a half hour flight was grueling.  I so wanted to be in the US because it meant one step closer to home, food, shower and bed.  Just before our descent the flight attendants brought around a declaration document that we had to fill out.  It was basically who we were, where we were coming from and going to, what we were bringing into the country and how much it was worth and gave them back to them.

When they said we were on our final descent into LAX I got so excited I wanted to be there already.  We touched down, slowed our momentum and made the journey to our gate to get off.  I turned my phone off of airplane mode.  It has been on airplane mode for 12 days.  I was surprised that I only got one text message that entire time and it was from Grammie who said, "yea you are coming home!  I am so glad, seems like you have been gone a long time.  You helped a lot of people!  Had a lot of adventures!  Anxious to hear your stories.  Love ya bunches!"

I could not wait to get off the plane and through security and customs so we could eat before the next plane ride.  We had no idea how long it would actually take but we were glad we had that 2 hour plus cushion.

We had to wait in a huge line just to go through customs.  Once we got through the line and to the actual customs area downstairs, we went to a kiosk to put in our information, it scanned our passport and took your picture.  You were to keep that when you saw one of the officials to go over it with you and welcome you back to the US.  That part didn't take that long.  When it was my turn, I walked up to the official and handed him my documents.  He did some stuff on his computer, handed me back my passport and told me "welcome home!"  I was sure happy to hear those words.

Next step was to get our tickets for Seattle and go through security.  I swear we walked a mile to the ticket office.  I was so hungry I started to get hangry.  Every tiny thing bothered me and we were running out of time.  I did not want to stay here any longer than I had to.  Luckily, the ticket line moved faster than the customs line did.  We walked, what seemed like another mile, to security and waited in line there.  I kept checking the time.  I really wanted some time to get some food before we got on the plane.  I was getting really antsy.

We finally got to the end of the security line and I took off my shoes and took the laptop out of the bag.  I was scanned and then on the other side they took the tub with my computer for further scanning.  I was so upset.  I had to wait at least ten minutes and those were a long ten minutes when you are hangry.  The security worker told me that they needed to check my computer for residue and took it to a station and rubbed it down with a cloth and then stuck the cloth into a machine to tell them if it was dangerous or explosive.  My computer was negative for everything.  They handed me back my stuff, I threw on my shoes, stuffed my laptop into my bag and started looking for food on the other side.

I bought a turkey sandwich and Doritos at one store and found a place that sold Pepsi.  I was so excited to eat this food it was literally killing me.  Between airplane food, snacks, Cliff Bars and the food we ate in Ecuador I was so ready for this turkey sandwich, chips and soda.  I found a place to sit and I nommed so hard.  I heard that our flight was going to start boarding soon so I walked to where Mom, Beth, Kaitlin and Amy were sitting and ate the rest of my food.  A few minutes later our airline started boarding.  I've never flown Virgin Airlines before and it was so colorful inside.  I sat next to mom and she gave me the window seat.  We took off shortly after.

I dinked around with the screen and watched an episode of Family Guy then decided to write in my travel journal for a while.  About halfway through the flight they served us cinnamon biscuit cookies and drinks. The ride was pretty uneventful and there wasn't any turbulence which was nice.  I looked out the window several times when we would pass the recognizable landmarks like Mount Shasta, Hood and Rainier.  A few minutes later we were into our descent into Seattle.  I was super stoked!

We touched down and we were welcomed into Seattle earlier than our arrival time.  We made sure to grab all of our stuff and got off the plane.  We were finally home!  We went to our baggage claim carousel and hoped our stuff made it as well.  After a few minutes of waiting we saw our bags.  We grabbed them and got the heck out of there.  Beth's husband came and got her while we added a new passenger, Dr. Harris.

We waited for our shuttle which came within ten minutes and we were on our way back to Amy's SUV in the Ajax parking lot.

We arrived at the lot, got out with our bags and got into the SUV.  One more step closer to home!!  I called Ben to let him know that we are heading towards Lacey, we were going to meet up with Dr. Harris's husband at the Walmart in Hawks Prairie.  I also had Ben come get mom and I.  During the ride home, Dr. Harris asked us about our experiences in Ecuador, what were the things that went well and what are the things that could go better next time.  It was interesting to hear what people had to say.

Ben let me know he was on his way to Walmart as we got closer to Lacey.  Traffic wasn't that bad, which always surprises me, during this time of the evening during the week...especially on a Monday.  When we got there, Dr. Harris's husband and kids and just gotten out of the store so we got to meet them all.  After a couple conversations and some goodbye's, Amy was on her way home with Kaitlin, Dr. Harris and her family were on their way home and Ben picked us up and drove us closer to the store because mom needed a few things.  I bought pizza because I wanted pizza.

We had to drive out to Rainier to drop mom off, said hi to dad and headed home as soon as possible.  I wanted some pizza, a shower, my clothes clean and bed.  I was going to take a coma.  We got home after 7.  I brought all my stuff in, threw the pizza in the oven, peeled my clothes off, showered, put clean clothes on, all while the pizza was cooking so it would be done when I got out, stuffed my clothes in the washer, sat down and ate pizza.  We watched TV as we ate.  The clothes got done shortly after so I threw them in the dryer.  I unpacked the rest of my bag and set everything on the table for when I go through it the next day since I took the day off from work.

Around 10 p.m. I went to bed and didn't wake up until almost noon the next day.  Wow what a trip!  The next planned trip is scheduled for May 2018 but I can't go until May 2019 when our side trip will be Machu Picchu in Peru!

Next Adventure:  Pumpkin Carving Game Night

Ecuador Day 5: Heading Back to Ecuador, Guayaquil and Sorting Supplies

We all got up around 7 and started to get ready and pack our stuff.  Jose was coming to get us in his truck at 9:00 a.m. I got myself out of bed...I was feeling the full rampage of my cold now even with the potent South American drugs, yes they are more potent than our drugs in the US.  I moved slower than usual.  I repacked my backpack again so everything would fit.  My poor Cougar bag was getting beat up because it was too heavy with all the stuff I brought to do on the plane along with my laptop.

I ate some of the bread and bananas that were left in the kitchen from yesterday.  I needed something before we went to the airport.  I brought all my stuff down and piled it near the door so I didn't have to climb up the narrow steep stairs again.  While everyone else was getting their stuff ready I took some pictures of our Air BnB.

Jose arrived promptly at 9 a.m. and we piled our bags into the back of the truck and jumped in.  I am glad we had this connection with Alex because it definitely made our stay in the Galapagos much more efficient and we were able to do more with our time.  

We drove the 20 miles to the canal where Jose dropped us off.  We noticed that this side of the island gets the sun and the other side is like being at home in Washington.  What a drag!  We paid him and he helped us get our bags out of the truck.  We thanked him for a wonderful time in the Galapagos and we appreciated his time he spent driving us around.  We got on the next water taxi to get us across the canal and we got to watch blue-footed boobies dive for fish near the boat.  It was fun to see.  About halfway through, they send the money collector around for a dollar.  I gave them one of my Ecuadorian dollars I received while shopping yesterday.

When we got across the canal, we grabbed our bags and missed the first bus, but we sent Kaitlin and Beth ahead so they could get in line for us at the airport plus Kaitlin lost her travel document.  We waited about 15 minutes until the next bus arrived but couldn't leave until it was full.  We had to wait until the next set of passengers got off the taxi and sandwiched themselves onto the bus. 

We got to the airport in less than 10 minutes.  We grabbed our bags and went inside the airport and looked for Kaitlin and Beth.  We hopped in line with them and Kaitlin informed us that they were going to let her go back to Ecuador without the paper she lost.  We went through customs, got our tickets, had our bags scanned and waited at the gate until it was time for our flight back to Guayaquil.

We walked out to our TAME plane, found our seats, put our bags in the overhead compartments, sat and relaxed.  I got to sit by my mom on the way back.  Most of the time we shut our eyes and took mini naps throughout the flight.  The flight attendants handed out sandwiches, chips and drinks again even though this was a short flight.  The nice thing about these international flight is no matter how short the plan ride was, we actually got food instead of just snacks.

This plane ride wasn't as turbulent as the flight over to the Galapagos.  When I wasn't napping I was writing in my travel journal.  Before we knew it we were descending into Guayaquil again.  The weather looked decent. 

We grabbed our bags and went into the airport to wait for the people who were suppose to pick us up.  We weren't sure what they looked like but we knew they were relatives of Dr. Harris.  We had no way of contacting them so we just hung out until someone walked up to us.  We went into the pharmacy to buy more cold medicine which they sell pills with separate ingredients.  For example, we had to buy a decongestant and a fever reducer because they didn't come together like our pills do here in the states.  And like I said earlier, they are more potent too.

Within a half hour of us arriving two older people came up to us and asked if we were here for the dental humanitarian project and we said yes...plus we were wearing our blue shirts so we stood out.  It was Dr. Harris's aunt and uncle and they were helping shuttle people to the apartment in the city.  Her other aunt, Edna was also shuttling people to the apartment.  Amy, my mom and I rode with the aunt and uncle and Beth and Kaitlin rode with Edna.

The city was insane.  I bet if I lived here and knew where I was going I could adapt.  It would take some time to get used to it but once I did better watch out!  It took probably a good 45 minutes to get to the apartment which was above a Chinese restaurant up several flights of stairs.  I knew the stairs were going to be a problem toting our luggage and supplies up and down in the next few days.

When we walked upstairs we were immersed in hospitality and conversation.  We met everyone and the owner of the apartment, Maritza.  They showed us where we could put our stuff and which rooms were available to us to sleep in.  Mom immediately found her bed, changed her clothes and laid down.  Her cold was kicking her butt.  The rest of us sat down at the table while we were served chicken and rice...almost like we had no choice, we were GOING to eat it.  Haha!

The rest of the late afternoon and early evening more people arrived.  As more people arrived the apartment got smaller and smaller.  I just chilled and listened to the people chat about where they were from, their experiences and their adventures so far since they got to Ecuador.  I guess two of them, both from Washington State and about my age, were on a flight down here from Atlanta and their plane got stuck in a thunderstorm and they thought they were going to die but the pilot was skilled enough to keep the plane and the passengers safe.

Most of the people in the city could not afford internet so the city provides it but only for 45 minutes at a time.  I got frustrated when my phone would time out.  We had to be out on the deck for the strongest signal.  It was spotty inside the apartment.

Four people staying at the apartment were suppose to arrive after midnight, that included Dr. Smith and his son, Thomas.  Then we heard about Dr. Harris and her flight companion's unfortunate flight experience.  They missed their flight and had to come in tomorrow evening.  Dr. Harris's mom, Myrna took charge and had us all help her get a little organized for tomorrow's site, Monte en Senai.

I was so tired and my cold was kicking my butt.  I took a shower, got ready for bed and was glad I was not one of the people coming in after midnight because they kinda ran out of comfy beds.  By the time everyone was finally in the apartment there were almost 20 people crammed up in there.  I had a hard time sleeping because I was not used to sleeping with just one pillow so I had to cram some of my clothes underneath it to get comfortable, the Chinese food smell got to me after a while, it was warm then cold then warm again, I am so glad I brought my ear plugs and it was hard just sleeping with a sheet.  Eventually I did fall asleep because I knew the next day was going to be a very busy, long, hot and humbling day.

Next Adventure:  Ecuador Day 6: Our First Volunteer Gig in Monte en Senai