Moving on from the delights of Aberdeen, I'd asked a friend from Washington for coffee shop recommendations in her hometown of Olympia as we would be passing through, and was pointed towards Ember Goods. This cool coffee shop cum clothes and gifts store served very nice coffee, although I chose a Montana Gold Fog, essentially a tea steamer that both smelt and tasted delicious. Great local suggestion!
Warm and full, we drove on towards Mount Rainier, heading up and up with the roads becoming gradually snowier as we rose in altitude. By the time we reached the Visitors Centre, everything was covered in snow, and we felt thankful that the roads were well maintained enough to make it up there.
Taking one look at us, the Park Ranger at the information desk gave us a map of the two easiest walks, starting with the Nisqually View walk. This was really rather pleasant, traipsing through the snow and being offered spectacular views of Mount Rainier whenever we looked up.
The second of our two walks was the Falls walk, a bit more challenging given the slippy ice we had to clamber over to get down to the falls, but worth it for the view.
But the best was still to come, as we drove back down the Mountain and stopped at the Reflection Lake. The clear, still water of the lake reflected the trees around it, making it look just like a painting. Absolutely stunning, and probably the best thing we'd seen in Washington.
With a bit more energy in us yet, we did a couple more walks, first stopping at Box Canyon only to find the trail closed, and then to the Patriarchs trail, so called thanks to the ridiculously huge trees you can see as you walk along.
We decided to take a quick detour to some Hot Springs on the way out of the park, and this was probably a mistake as it took us a fair while to get there and then to walk to find them, which turned out to be a small swampy area with a few drifts of steam rising up. Hardly the deep bubbling springs we had imagined.
As a result of our various detours, we were late heading off in search of somewhere to stay for the night, although this did mean we drove along beside a glorious sunset. However, we soon grew into tired desperation and eventually just picked a random exit and said we would stay wherever we found. This turned out to be a pleasant, but overpriced, Travelodge beside a busy railway in Chehalis. But at least we had somewhere to stay.
I spotted a farm to table restaurant called Jeremy's across the road, and so this was where we headed for dinner. They had an interesting Make Your Own Pizza option which I went for, filling myself up very nicely before a much needed sleep.
The Holiday Inn provided breakfast for us, so we didn't have to venture out into Chehalis again, and instead packed our belongings and set the GPS for Mount St Helen's.
There were various viewpoints along the long drive to admire the snowy mountain with its impressive crevasse from the 1984 explosion. Also en route was Coldwater Lake, so we took a gentle stroll along its banks whilst being battered by the glacial winds.
Arriving at the Mount St Helen's Visitor Centre, we showed our Annual National Park pass for entry, and then wandered around the exhibits. I found the survival stories of those caught in the midst of the eruption particularly fascinating. Imagine being seemingly trapped in clouds of gas and ash and imminent doom, and somehow making it out alive to tell the tale. You know what, I'll pass on anything like that, thank you very much.
There was a boundary walk for us to take, offering spectacular views towards the mountain. To be quite honest, I'd thought that the Visitors Centre would actually be on Mount St Helen's, but I suppose then you wouldn't have got the view. Beyond the Boundary Walk was a dirt track Eruption Walk which took you slightly deeper into the valley, although became slightly treacherous as the track got icier.
The mornings events had made me more than a little hungry, so I was disappointed to find that the Visitors Centre didn't have any form of cafe or restaurant - what a missed business opportunity! We were told that the nearest eating establishment was 19 miles - did that mean 19 miles from where we were or at mile 19 along the road? It turned out to be the latter so we had a long and hungry drive until we reached the Fire Mountain Grill at Mile 19. Always one to attempt to try the local delicacies, I chose the Mountain Berry Cobbler (dessert for lunch, why not?) which was very good indeed.
And with that, it was time to say goodbye to Washington, at least for the time being. Back on the Interstate we got, and then pointed South to Portland.
I hope you enjoyed today's blog! I'll be uploading the rest of my West Coast USA adventures shortly, so make sure to stay tuned to my Twitter @CiarasCountry and feel free to drop me a message in the comments for any recommendations of where I should visit next!
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