Overnight Ride to Mt. St. Helens, Mt.
Adams & Mt. Rainier
- Seattle, WA to Goldendale, WA and back
- 522 miles
- Monday & Tuesday, July 22 - 23
- (Click
on map to view the entire route)
 The
ride to Windy Ridge in the Mt. St. Helens National
Volcanic Monument is very
possibly the finest ride in Washington State; the forests, the
twisty roads, the volcanoes and the blast zone are as good as it
gets. (Click
on the photo to get a full view of Mt. St. Helens' shattered cone)
Spirit Lake, once a postcard perfect scene,
is still, after 20 plus years, a desolate
 landscape.
The volcano exploded to the north and as the lake lies
directly north of the cone, it took the full brunt of the blast. The lake is still filled
with debris and the ridges are devoid of any substantial
vegetation.
(Click
on the photo to get a full view of Spirit Lake) After
descending from Windy Ridge, we continue south and east through
the forest, skirting
Mt. Adams while we head for the town of Trout Lake. The twisties
seem to go on for hours and we see no one else on the road for a
long time. We gas up and take a break in Trout Lake and then head
south for the Columbia Gorge. From there, we
head upstream to the town of
Goldendale where we spend the evening eating good Mexican food and
drinking microbrews. The next morning,
we head north through Satus Pass and over the Toppenish Ridge to
Yakima. From there, we head up Hwy 410 to Chinook Pass. After
the hot,arid climate east of the Cascades,
it's fun to climb back up into the fir forests and to find snow on
the ground  up
at Chinook Pass. (Click
on the photo to see a shot of Hwy 410) We
motor down into the White River valley between the crest of the
Cascades and Mt. Rainier on our way back to Seattle. We stop for
the obligatory espresso at Wapati Woolies in Greenwater, WA, a
great end to yet another fine tour of the Pacific Northwest. (Click
on the photo to see the Harleys amidst the snow)
Our Tucson brothers leave for home the next
day and ride from Seattle to LA in less than 24 hours on their H-D
Road Kings. These guys are real Iron Butt material!
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