The following pictures were taken July 7 at Mount Saint Helens National Volcanic Monument. We stayed at the Blue Heron Inn, which was very nice. We weren't really looking forward to it. Neither of us had ever stayed at a B&B, and it seemed a bit formal/stuffy/whatever to us. It wasn't. It was very relaxed, and the people who ran it couldn't have been nicer. It was very expensive. There aren't many lodging options in the area, so if you go, you might want to consider staying on the interstate in Castle Rock.

Mount St. Helens was my favorite part of the vacation. Unfortunately, we didn't have nearly enough time to see everything. The monument is split into two parts: a north part and a south part. Unfortunately, to get from one part to the other requires going back to the interstate. I need to go back!

Here are a few pics of the volcano itself.
The Volcano's west side taken from the Blue Heron's parking lot.
The Volcano's south side. From this parking lot, there's a hiking trail all the way to the top of the volcano.
Looking into the volcano from the Johnston's Ridge Observatory.
A closer look.
Another volcanic Cascade peak (I'm not sure which one) taken from the south side of Mount St. Helens.

Where ever I go, I like to take wild flower pictures. There aren't a lot of wild flowers around Mount St. Helens. Volcanic soil is lacking in nitrogen. These flowers can pull nitrogen from the air, so they were the first to come back to the mountain.

I don't have nearly enough pictures of the area. We only had one full day here, and spent two hours of it getting from the north part of the park to the south part of the park.

Check out the Mount St. Helens Volcano Cam!

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