RR: Eruption!



R

Ride-A-Lot

Guest
I was in Seattle for a convention I am running and I had a day to play.
Originally, I didn't think I would have the opportunity to ride, but
the weather was so beautiful I rented a bike. So along with the car and
bike rented for the day, I headed to my original quest, Mount Saint
Helens. I don't know why, but I am facinated by the fact that there is
an active volcano on the mainland USA. I had no idea of trails or
anything else, I just thought I'd wing it. Things were pretty fogged in
until I reached the 3000' plateau and then it was bright sun and blue
skies. I reached the Coldwater Ridge observatory at around 12:00. This
is as close as they will let you go (8 1/2 miles from the crater. It as
absolutely overwhelming to see what happened after the 1980 blast. An
entire river was basically destroyed and is now covered in 150' of ash.
Add that to the 1000' of mountain that was blown away laterally, and
it is truly an awesome display of power. After speaking with the forest
people, they informed me that all trails we closed. Bummer! But I
remember seeing some campers pulling off onto a logging road about 1/2
mile up from the center. I parked the car on the fire road and set my
eyes on what appeared to be some overgrown double track. I climbed it
until the top of the ridge which afforded me the highest vantage point
anyone can get of the mountain. Here are the pics of an active volcano.

http://www.pchospital.net/vol1.jpg
http://www.pchospital.net/vol2.jpg
http://www.pchospital.net/vol3.jpg

I guess it was about a mile up. Not exactly an epic, but I was happy.
So I tore down what I had climbed, after spending quite a bit of time
taking it all in, Two and a half hours to be exact.

On the way back, I took the scenic route down route 7 back to seattle.
This brought me within a few miles of Mount Rainier, another Volcano. I
took a logging road up about 1.5 miles with the bike and shot a few of
these:

http://www.pchospital.net/vol4.jpg

Although it wasn't a lot of riding, the scenery was incredibly powerful
and left me with an amazing high.

I should have been a geologist.

--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws
 
"Ride-A-Lot" <"mitchel[nospam]"@schnauzers.ws> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I was in Seattle for a convention I am running and I had a day to play.
> Originally, I didn't think I would have the opportunity to ride, but
> the weather was so beautiful I rented a bike. So along with the car and
> bike rented for the day, I headed to my original quest, Mount Saint
> Helens. I don't know why, but I am facinated by the fact that there is
> an active volcano on the mainland USA. I had no idea of trails or
> anything else, I just thought I'd wing it. Things were pretty fogged in
> until I reached the 3000' plateau and then it was bright sun and blue
> skies. I reached the Coldwater Ridge observatory at around 12:00. This
> is as close as they will let you go (8 1/2 miles from the crater. It as
> absolutely overwhelming to see what happened after the 1980 blast. An
> entire river was basically destroyed and is now covered in 150' of ash.
> Add that to the 1000' of mountain that was blown away laterally, and
> it is truly an awesome display of power. After speaking with the forest
> people, they informed me that all trails we closed. Bummer! But I
> remember seeing some campers pulling off onto a logging road about 1/2
> mile up from the center. I parked the car on the fire road and set my
> eyes on what appeared to be some overgrown double track. I climbed it
> until the top of the ridge which afforded me the highest vantage point
> anyone can get of the mountain. Here are the pics of an active volcano.
>
> http://www.pchospital.net/vol1.jpg
> http://www.pchospital.net/vol2.jpg
> http://www.pchospital.net/vol3.jpg
>

Excellent, thanks.

Steve.
 
"Ride-A-Lot" <"mitchel[nospam]"@schnauzers.ws> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I was in Seattle for a convention I am running and I had a day to play.
>Originally, I didn't think I would have the opportunity to ride, but the
>weather was so beautiful I rented a bike. So along with the car and bike
>rented for the day, I headed to my original quest, Mount Saint Helens. I
>don't know why, but I am facinated by the fact that there is an active
>volcano on the mainland USA. I had no idea of trails or anything else, I
>just thought I'd wing it. Things were pretty fogged in until I reached the
>3000' plateau and then it was bright sun and blue skies. I reached the
>Coldwater Ridge observatory at around 12:00. This is as close as they will
>let you go (8 1/2 miles from the crater. It as absolutely overwhelming to
>see what happened after the 1980 blast. An entire river was basically
>destroyed and is now covered in 150' of ash. Add that to the 1000' of
>mountain that was blown away laterally, and it is truly an awesome display
>of power. After speaking with the forest people, they informed me that all
>trails we closed. Bummer! But I remember seeing some campers pulling off
>onto a logging road about 1/2 mile up from the center. I parked the car on
>the fire road and set my eyes on what appeared to be some overgrown double
>track. I climbed it until the top of the ridge which afforded me the
>highest vantage point anyone can get of the mountain. Here are the pics of
>an active volcano.
>
> http://www.pchospital.net/vol1.jpg
> http://www.pchospital.net/vol2.jpg
> http://www.pchospital.net/vol3.jpg
>
> I guess it was about a mile up. Not exactly an epic, but I was happy. So
> I tore down what I had climbed, after spending quite a bit of time taking
> it all in, Two and a half hours to be exact.
>
> On the way back, I took the scenic route down route 7 back to seattle.
> This brought me within a few miles of Mount Rainier, another Volcano. I
> took a logging road up about 1.5 miles with the bike and shot a few of
> these:
>
> http://www.pchospital.net/vol4.jpg
>
> Although it wasn't a lot of riding, the scenery was incredibly powerful
> and left me with an amazing high.
>
> I should have been a geologist.
>
> --
> o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
> www.schnauzers.ws

Awesome, and I never get tired of that. My parents live an hour from Mt.
St. Helens, and we have family reunions at Mt. Rainier every now and then.
Glad you got to ride a little bit, too.

paladin
 
Ride-A-Lot" <"mitchel[nospam] wrote:

After speaking with the forest people,
> they informed me that all trails we closed. Bummer!


They just reopened Ape Canyon and one other.

>
>>
> I should have been a geologist.

It's a great hobby, real geology jobs are very hard to come by - I shoud
know, I'm married to a geologist. Next time you are out west, there is a
great series of guide books called "roadside geology" that are a lot of fun,
they give you the geological skinny mile by mile. Also, if you can ever
get over to the east side of the park, Windy Ridge, it's very different. The
forest hasn't been cleaned up by the logging companies; it's been left au
naturel to recover on it's own.

penny
 
Ride-A-Lot" <"mitchel[nospam] wrote:
> I was in Seattle for a convention I am running and I had a day to
> play. Originally, I didn't think I would have the opportunity to
> ride, but the weather was so beautiful I rented a bike. So along
> with the car and bike rented for the day, I headed to my original
> quest, Mount Saint Helens. I don't know why, but I am facinated by
> the fact that there is an active volcano on the mainland USA. I had
> no idea of trails or anything else, I just thought I'd wing it.
> Things were pretty fogged in until I reached the 3000' plateau and
> then it was bright sun and blue skies. I reached the Coldwater Ridge
> observatory at around 12:00. This is as close as they will let you
> go (8 1/2 miles from the crater. It as absolutely overwhelming to
> see what happened after the 1980 blast. An entire river was
> basically destroyed and is now covered in 150' of ash. Add that to
> the 1000' of mountain that was blown away laterally, and
> it is truly an awesome display of power. After speaking with the
> forest people, they informed me that all trails we closed. Bummer!
> But I remember seeing some campers pulling off onto a logging road
> about 1/2 mile up from the center. I parked the car on the fire road
> and set my eyes on what appeared to be some overgrown double track.
> I climbed it until the top of the ridge which afforded me the highest
> vantage point anyone can get of the mountain. Here are the pics of
> an active volcano.
>
> http://www.pchospital.net/vol1.jpg
> http://www.pchospital.net/vol2.jpg
> http://www.pchospital.net/vol3.jpg

Any chance of lower res but less compressed pics? Can't make out shite on my
PC at 1280 by something.
 
Ride-A-Lot <"mitchel[nospam]"@schnauzers.ws> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> I was in Seattle for a convention I am running and I had a day to play.
> Originally, I didn't think I would have the opportunity to ride, but
> the weather was so beautiful I rented a bike. So along with the car and
> bike rented for the day, I headed to my original quest, Mount Saint
> Helens.


<snip everything worthwhile>


> I should have been a geologist.

I just ran a test of my brain.
I am infamous for my lack of memory. Birthdays, faces, appointments,
girlfriend's names, the 90's.
Without having heard it in at least a decade, I tried to remember VH
"Eruption" from the first note to the last. It tore through my head
like a Ceti eel, tone and pitch and distortion perfect. I'm cruising
through the album right now. It's like alzheimers -- can't recall what
I had for breakfast, but 20 years ago is crystal clear.
/s "Now all my flavors are
guarantEEE-eee-eee-EEE-eee-eee-EEE-eee,eee-eee, eeeeeeeehhhhhd...."
 
Doki wrote:
> Ride-A-Lot" <"mitchel[nospam] wrote:
>
>>I was in Seattle for a convention I am running and I had a day to
>> play. Originally, I didn't think I would have the opportunity to
>>ride, but the weather was so beautiful I rented a bike. So along
>>with the car and bike rented for the day, I headed to my original
>>quest, Mount Saint Helens. I don't know why, but I am facinated by
>>the fact that there is an active volcano on the mainland USA. I had
>>no idea of trails or anything else, I just thought I'd wing it.
>>Things were pretty fogged in until I reached the 3000' plateau and
>>then it was bright sun and blue skies. I reached the Coldwater Ridge
>>observatory at around 12:00. This is as close as they will let you
>>go (8 1/2 miles from the crater. It as absolutely overwhelming to
>>see what happened after the 1980 blast. An entire river was
>> basically destroyed and is now covered in 150' of ash. Add that to
>>the 1000' of mountain that was blown away laterally, and
>>it is truly an awesome display of power. After speaking with the
>>forest people, they informed me that all trails we closed. Bummer!
>>But I remember seeing some campers pulling off onto a logging road
>>about 1/2 mile up from the center. I parked the car on the fire road
>>and set my eyes on what appeared to be some overgrown double track.
>>I climbed it until the top of the ridge which afforded me the highest
>>vantage point anyone can get of the mountain. Here are the pics of
>>an active volcano.
>>
>>http://www.pchospital.net/vol1.jpg
>>http://www.pchospital.net/vol2.jpg
>>http://www.pchospital.net/vol3.jpg
>
>
> Any chance of lower res but less compressed pics? Can't make out shite on my
> PC at 1280 by something.
>
>

I'll be putting them on my website in 800x600 soon. I'll send a message
when they are up.

--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom Back