a day for mountains

Thursday I woke up to something I haven't for a while - blue skies. Matt called half way through the day to remind me this wasn't something to be wasted, so I hit the road in search of some mountains.

The Cascades are mountains that extend from Northern California up to British Columbia. The Pacific Ring of Fire are the mountains that are potentially active volcanoes, and the mountains closest to this portion of WA. 

First up, an hour and a half away, was Mt St Helen's.

Prior to it's eruption in 1980, Mt St Helen's stood at 9677 ft.  The top of the mountain blew off leaving it at 8365 ft and with a mile wide crater. 

Beyond Mt St Helen's, in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, you can see Mt Adams. 

See it there on the left? ^^  It looks small, but at 12,276 ft, it is the second tallest mountain in WA. 

Driving about an hour North on windy state routes brought me to Mt Rainier National Park. 

While the park was beautiful, I learned that the closest you can get to the mountain, is not the best view.  In order to regard it's magnificence in full, you have to gain distance.

At a massive 14,411, Mt Rainier is the tallest mountain in WA and considered one of the most dangerous stratovolcanoes. The crazy thing about Rainier is that it is visible almost everywhere.  I drove away from the park, disappointed that I didn't get a great view.  As I drove, I would simply look to the side, or in my rear view mirror and practically scream at this monstrous white volcano just sitting there. 

 Can you imagine if that was your backyard??

This is just a pretty lake..

Bad picture above, but look at this one..