Sea Otter Diary - 28 July

Volcanoes in the mist

We had planned to go with DH to Mount St Helens, but he is busy moving a sofa for a friend, so its just me and DS. It's cloudy and grey, so we can't see much in the distance, but still we can see the effect of the blast - trees are missing, the valley bottom is full of mud. We arrive at the Johnston Ridge visitor centre and watch a USGS scientist presenting some results on measurements of the Cascade mountains. Then we stay in the theatre to watch a presentation of the explosion. The film ends, and the screen rises and the curtain opens to reveal a window looking out on a grey mist.

We wander around a bit, look at the exhibits, and wander up the tracks. The cloud isn't budging, if anything it is getting worse.

Then we drive off to the Coldwater Lake visitor centre. Here they concentrate on the biology of the place, and how animals and plants are recovering after the eruption. A few ground squirrels are seen running around. We wait and hope for the clouds to lift, but they don't - they just give us tantalising views of the mud-filled valley bottom. Eventually we give up and head home.

Since we are passing through Tacoma, we stop and phone DH. No answer. We stop in Tacoma and phone again. Still no answer. So we give up and head back to Seattle. From there we phone him and it turns out we just missed him.

DS and I go to a veggie restaurant for dinner - spring rolls and tacos. Then back at Dave's I pack everything into my bags ready for the journey to Alaska tomorrow. I've added new boots and a bunch of DV tapes to my luggage. It all just about goes in. I read a few more stories about the US in a Bill Bryson book and go to sleep.

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