Mount Saint Helens

The eruption of Mt. Saint Helens celebrated its 30th anniversary on May 18. I love visiting Mt Saint Helens, and hearing all the coverage inspired us to take a quick weekend trip up there.

It was great.

We rented a small cabin in the woods, the nearest lodge facilities to the mountain. It had some lovely hiking trails to explore on the property.



My sweet boy coming back to deliver a great walking stick that he found.



There really wasn't a shortage of great walking sticks.



Some of us may have found it a challenge to keep our feet dry with all the possiblities for exploration. But fortunately our cabin had a toasty heater for warming up soggy toes (and drying out soggy pants and shoes.)



A porch swing makes a pretty good place for bedtime stories.



Especially when you can get all bundled up in a quilt.



And while it was still fairly light when he went to bed, Soren insisted that he couldn't see very well in the cabin...which meant he got to play with the candle lantern.





The road up to Mt Saint Helens has 4, count 'em, four visitor centers.



But we are totally suckers for visitor centers and so we stopped at each one. So much fascinating history there. And spectacular views.



And fun stuff to do, like fly your helicopter over the forests.



Or see how you measure up to a bear!



Or an what it feels like to have an eagle's grip.



Even though it was late May, there was snow as we drove higher. Hm, what could he be plotting?



I guess we could have seen this coming, eh?



Hiking, sticks, lanterns, cabins, and snow...it would be hard to beat a weekend trip to Mount Saint Helens.