I Don't Sleep On Planes

Leaving Seattle, we flew between Mt. Rainier and Mt St Helens. It was the best visibility of the whole trip and I can finally appreciate how really high Rainier is. We were climbing through 15,000 feet when the co-pilot came over the intercom to draw our attention to the massive snow capped peak. We’ll save some time on our next trip to get up close and personal with more of this natural beauty. That trip, only in the talking stages, already sounds like another full agenda. Our itinerary for Friday was to travel from Seattle to Dallas to Los Angeles to Lihue. Yes, I know, that’s not a direct route. We were at the Los Angeles Airport about to embark upon the third and final leg of our trip to Lihue, Kauai when the lady at the counter made an announcement about being way oversold and they needed volunteers to give up their seats. We’ve done this in the past. It’s called a bump. The airlines takes your seats, puts you on the next flight to your destination and gives you some sort of compensation. Here’s what we got: They put us on the next flight to Honolulu which was leaving in five minutes, gave us an $800 travel credit good for a year, put us up in a hotel in Honolulu for the night, gave us a $20 dinner credit, a $10 breakfast credit and booked us on a plane to Lihue for early the next morning. So, here I sit, very early on Saturday morning in the Honolulu airport waiting for our flight to Lihue. We haven’t had more than a few hours sleep over the past 24, traveled thousands of miles crammed into a space smaller than a phone booth and we’ve been eating airport food . It’s hard to say which has bothered me more but I keep telling myself the perks were worth it. Carl has found a used newspaper to browse while I tap out the keys to keep everyone updated. When we finally arrive in Lihue, there are issues still facing us. Where is our luggage and will our rental car still be available? I have to say that it’s much easier to find a place that you only visit every other year during daylight hours.

Flown Coup

We hit the pavement one last time to find those elusive eagles. It didn’t happen but it certainly wasn’t for lack of trying on our hosts’ part. We did see a couple way off in the distance perched on a rock during low tide or riding the air currents high over our head. I’ll just have to return in January for the first of the salmon runs on the nearby rivers. Then we headed to an area called Whatcum Falls, a nearby park and green space, in the middle of town. There is a lovely stone bridge over the creek which drains the Whatcum Lake reservoir. Sadly, at the end of our week’s stay in Bellingham, we had two minor casualties, my camera and my husband both were injured during a fall into Whatcum Creek. My new Nikon D200 has been ordered from my local photography shop back home. The staff at the Foto Factory are great and will be shipping it to me from more than 3,000 miles away. I’ll have that new camera in a day or two but my husbands’ shin and knee will take a week or more to heal.

Invisible Peaks

The northwest portion of Washington boasts some impressive mountains, Rainier, Hood, St Helens, Adams, Baker, most of them volcanic. My dad kept telling us that we should be seeing these snow capped peaks during the first few days of our trip but the weather and low ceilings kept them hidden. Tuesday evening we got our first real look at Rainier, all 14,000 plus feet of it. We were more than 60 miles away and still it dominated the skyline. This morning, however, was a time to enjoy the beauty of the Hood Canal and Walker Mountain. The Hood Canal is not really a canal because it is closed at one end. Still, it’s narrow enough so that you can enjoy the beauty of both shorelines in many places. A low fog bank helped to increase the early morning “moody” atmosphere for my camera. After leaving the canal, Adena transformed the car into a billy goat and we climbed up the narrow and steep four mile road to the overlook on Walker Mountain. From there we had a great view of Rainier to the south and Baker and Shuksan to the north. We arrived back in Bellingham just in time to visit the local microbrewery to sample the good stuff. Then it was back to my dad’s house to do some laundry and start packing. Thursday is a get away day for us.

Emotions Run High

This was a very special and emotion packed day. We were headed to Mt. St Helens and, finally, the sun was out. Even the few clouds in the area gave way. As we approached the blast area, the signs began to read “monument”. This entire area is not a state park or national forest any more. In fact, more than 27 years later much of the area is still buried under many feet of ash, pumice and mud. We arrived at Johnston Ridge Observatory which is approximately five miles from the mountain. The ridge got it’s name from a vulcanologist named David Johnston who was checking instruments on the morning of May 18, 1980 when the entire side of the mountain was jarred loose by a 5.1 magnitude earthquake which triggered the ultimate eruption. He died just seconds after alerting Vancouver about the eruption. From the Observatory, we looked directly into the horseshoe shaped crater formed by the blast. A new lava dome called “the Bulge” is forming and scientists believe this new dome may eventually replace the more than 2,000 vertical feet that was dislodged with the blast. The area before us was almost completely devoid of life. Not a single tree remained. Behind us was evidence of what was once a lush old growth forest that spread out over rugged terrain for more than 17 miles; all gone in seconds. The trees were either incinerated, uprooted or flattened by the pyroclastic flow. Huge stumps and pieces of two foot diameter logs still remain. It was truly an awe inspiring landscape. David Johnston wasn’t the only person to loose his life that day. In all, twenty two people were lost. It could have been much worse. A light plume of steam came from the top of the bulge; evidence that St Helens is still uneasy and should be respected. Click here for an up to date web cam image taken from Johnston Ridge.

Misty Mountains

After traveling for hours, we arrived at the base of Mt Rainier and drove higher and higher through old growth forests and past pristine waterfalls only to stop amongst thick stands of moss draped trees which created a canopy for the lush ferns growing at their feet. The sun played with us most of the way to where we were headed; a place called and aptly named Paradise, the highest drivable point on the mountain. We stopped at a trail crossing for the Nisqualy River, a fast moving glacial runoff which had a log bridge place over one of the narrow channels. We could hear boulders being tossed about in the milky green water just below our feet. When we finally arrived at Paradise, the mountain seemed to be playing cat and mouse with us. First we could see the lower slopes and then they disappeared in the mist. The decision was made to wait a bit in hopes the weather would clear but a few minutes later, the clouds rolled in and visibility was dropped to about 50 feet. We knew the mountain had won and we descended through Stevens Pass and on to our hotel for the night.

Rainy Days And Sundays...

Our hosts, Dad and Adena, drove to every spot they could think of to satisfy my request for eagles, but to no avail. We did see ruggedly handsome coastlines and mist shrouded old growth forests but the eagles kept to their airy realm. Oh, we did see one or two high above our heads but not one single bird came within the reach of my camera's lens. We had to satisfy ourselves with a couple of blue herons in the marshy areas off Samish Island. Then, we walked along lush wooded paths down to a rock strewn beach with massive hunks of driftwood. We'll keep looking for the elusive prize.

Cross This Off My List

The shear power of these marine mammals is difficult to explain. They move through the waters off San Juan Island like a warm knife through butter. The orca watch we went on was totally successful. We had the pleasure of seeing members from two of the three resident pods, more than forty killer whales in all. And, in the distance, most likely, was the third. I'll have one or two images in production when we return home. We could see lots of activity, whales spy hopping and breaching, near other boats. Other highlights of the trip included a sighting of a beautiful mature bald eagle high up in a tree, impressive specimens of the red barked Madrona trees and harbor seals "sunning" themselves on a rocky shoreline. The joke's on them because we didn't see the sun for the first three days of our visit to Bellingham, WA. That didn't stop us from enjoying the company we were with and I got to scratch another item off my list; to see wild orcas at play. I hope I can do this again real soon.