Road Trip Day 5: Portland to Mt. St. Helens to Stevenson, Washington
We made a short excursion to Mt. St. Helens on this day, then checked in at the rustic Scamania Lodge in Stevenson, Washington.
It's hard to believe, but in the May 19, 1980 eruption the volcanic mountain lost more than 1,300 feet (or 400 meters) of height. Looking at it today, its majesty seems to be timeless, but we know that this look is deceiving.
(Click on each image to see the high-resolution version)
Nature does a fine job of reclaiming the ash-covered slopes. Many flowers were in bloom on this day, such as these Indian Paintbrushes.
Later we took Washington State Highway 14 to go along the northern side of the Columbia River Gorge to reach Stevenson. We stopped at Cape Horn to take in the magnificent view of the gorge, on this (for me) rare partly sunny day.
But as far as bird photography, the highlight actually did not arrive until we checked into the lodge. There, I saw my first Red-breasted Sapsucker and saw it drilling evenly spaced holes on the bark of an aspen tree to get at the sweet sap.
Other wildlife, such as this dragonfly, also did not escape my attention.
And the few pairs of nesting Tree Swallows rounded up this day for me.
Mt. St. Helens
Mt. St. Helens
Mt. St. Helens
Indian Paintbrush
Columbia River Gorge
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Dragonfly
Tree Swallow
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