Day 3 Mount St. Helens, Washington

After a quick stop at a mechanics shop and picking up some people that missed the initial flight out, the group split in half to do food shopping and walk around Portland. We packed into the car there after and drove several hours to Mt. St. Helens. With a heavy set sky we took a small hike to get a crappy view of the Volcano. Still with the heavy clouds you got to see the devastating effects the eruption had on the landscape and the vast size of this volcano, a real humbling experience.

Mt Saint Helens, right before the clouds opened up

Soon the clouds opened up on us and there with the onslaught of rain we learned a little about the environmental impact of the eruption. (the Nitrous-di-oxide effects on the local vegetation dying from the bottom up and inside out, the deterioration of ozone and the pyroclastic flow covering leaves and clogging the stomata and killing off the plants over time.) we walked back to the cars and made a wet drive to our campsite. We set up camp in the rain and most of us just crashed without dinner.

A wet but beautiful morning out west

Things to Note:

• Expect plenty of rain
• Setting up camp is something that you are only good at with practice, so if you dont camp, expect to have a wet night. And dont be the one that sleeps near the walls of the tent, your guaranteed to get wet.
• while you might want a postcard view of everywhere you go, realize it is nature and something it just doesnt want to work for you. Take what you can and make the best of it.