Oregon Trip - Back Home Via Washington & Mount St. Helen's

We drove through the Mount St. Helen's National Park but Mount St. Helen's was shrouded in clouds that day.


So...we drove to the Ape Caves and explored them. I love going through caves. These were lava caves so we could easily stand up in them. It was quite a long distance to hike a round trip so we just explored the first tunnel to our hearts' content.



When you are in the caves it is dark. If you turn out all your flashlights it is so dark that you can't even see your hand in front of your face.

We stopped for lunch in the middle of the park and went for a short hike to a small river...

...interesting vegetation...



...and a spectacular waterfall. It was an fabulous jewel right in the middle of the national park.



We then headed up towards Yakima and enjoyed watching as the scenery changed from treed mountains to more desert terrain.



In Yakima we stayed at a hotel and each had our own rooms with HOT showers.


Here we are packing up. David, the master packer, is at work.


We finally did see Mt. St. Helen's on our way out of Yakima - so I thought I'd better take a picture of it.