Mt. St. Helens, WA

From Packwood, we drove about 40 miles to the East side of Mt. St. Helens. While the volcano erupted in 1980, the area is still visaby marked. We saw what looked like steam still escaping from St. Helens. From single St. Helens viewpoints, we could see four separate snow-capped mountains; St. Helens, Rainier, Hood and Adams.

Northwestern Exposure

Tame elk are in residence and abundant around the Packwood RV Park.

Cowlitz River Behind Packwood RV Park

Behind our RV Park is a small airport and a river.

Walupt Lake, Gifford Pinchot Nat'l Forest

Yesterday we rode about 90 miles of dirt roads within the forest. Arttached is one of two lakes that we visited. We are looking forward to exploring more roads in the forest over the next few days.

More Mt. Rainier, WA

After a trip to Seattle to purchase a helmet camera and dirt bike GPS, we returned to Packwood, WA at the base of Mt. Rainier. As I type, I see 4 elk about 100 feet from our RV. Yesterday we explored parts of Mt. Rainier via Jeep and today we will ride through Gifford Pinchot Nat'l Forest on our dirt bikes. We hope to also visit Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument while staying in Packwood, WA. Packwood, WA is one of the most beautiful places we've visited so far.

Mt. Rainier, WA

Yesterday we enjoyed a beautiful ride in the mountains from Yakima to Packwood, WA. We stayed at an RV Park six miles from the entrance to Rainier Nat'l Park. Packwood is a tiny mountain town with a great view of Mt. Rainier. The RV Park was more of a campground with 150 foot tall pines, 5 or more feet in diameter. I hope we can return here to explore the Nat'l Forest on our dirt bikes.

Road to Yakima, WA

Yesterday we drove from Baker City, OR to Yakima, WA. On the way, we saw numerous wineries and other crops along the road and, in the distance, Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helen's. We plan to visit some Yakima wineries tomorrow then leave for Mt. Rainier.