June 22 -Day 6: Volcano Day

Today was a day to transition from Oregon to the Cascade Mountains of Washington and ride the volcanoes of Mt. Rainer and Mt. St. Helens. I left Pendleton Oregon about 6:30 and took mostly freeway to Yakima Washington.  The Yakima Valley is a region where many different fruits are raised: apples, peaches, apricots, grapes, and cherries to name a few.  There were some plants in the field I did not even recognize.  I was in search of cherries which are a favorite of mine.  After striking out at the first couple of places, I finely found some cherries to buy.  They make a great snack while traveling.

The next stop was the first volcano – Mount Rainer.  This was my first trip to Mount Rainer.  Unfortunately the top of the mountain was masked by the clouds but it was beautiful anyway. 

The second volcano to be ridden today was Mount. St. Helens.   The same story here, the top of the mountain was covered in clouds but it was still spectacular.  You can see from the photos (which are from the north side of mountain,) how this side of the mountain was basically blown away with the volcanic activity of 1980.  You can also see in a photo how the valley below is being transformed.  Experts are saying the valley is recovering much faster than expected.

Tomorrow I plan to ride around to the south side of mountain for another view.  Maybe the tops will be more cooperative then! I will also ride along the Columbia River Gorge on my way into Portland.

So far on the trip in 5 full days of riding, I have logged 2,878 miles or about 575 miles per day. I also think I have killed about 2 million bugs.  Look at the photos of the bike.  I have to clean the visor on the helmet at almost every gas stop.  I haven’t even attempted to clean the bike.