Almost to the sea

June 17--Hoquiam, WA

After I had posted last night, Nell decided she wanted to play. So I got the feather-wand out for a while, and she attacked it until Puck woke up, found there was fun going on without him, and crashed the game. So I played with him a while, and tired them both out.

I slept well (interesting dreams of Mythbusters, after falling asleep to that show last night), and woke up around 5:30am. I wanted to get a fairly early start, in case there was a chance of seeing Mt. St. Helens. I fed the cats and loitered until around 7:20, to give them time to digest, then headed up the hill.

The weather had not improved. It was cloudy and drizzly, although occasionally the clouds would lighten enough to give me hope. I found I could have slept later, as nothing opened until 9am. So I stopped at a bridge overlook (which at the moment was mostly overlooking fog) to eat some tuna salad for breakfast (hey, protein's good to start the day). I didn't know if I wanted to drive the remaining 22 miles or so to the Johnston observatory, because I doubted that I could see anything. So I backtracked to the county visitor's center, which had very little of interest other than a collection of newspaper articles. Plus a memorial grove to those who were killed by the volcano, which was nice. There was also a good view of the Toutle river, running through the black volcanic mud of the valley--yes, it's still very visible.

At this point I thought, well, what the hell, maybe we'll be above the clouds, so I set off to the observatory. It was worth it just for the landscape, which ranged from nearly undisturbed forest to very few trees and a stream running through a valley choked with huge burnt-black tree trunks. I got to the observatory and---nothing. Fog and cloud. Which is a bummer, because most of the pictures I've seen show a spectacular view of the crater from there.

So I drove (carefully) back down the mountain, and headed back through Toledo (to take pictures that I neglected to take before), and then drove through the country for a while before construction forced me back on the Interstate. I got diesel and lunch in Chehalis, and then drove to Tenino, to Wolf Haven.

Janis and her family had been here before and raved about it, so I decided to stop. It's a sanctuary for former-pet wolves that can no longer be handled by their owners, as well as part of a breeding program for endangered red wolves and Mexican gray wolves. I got there about 45 minutes before the tour left, so I walked through the wolf prairie/graveyard, left a rock with our dogs' names at the wolf cairn, and then went back to the RV and read a bit and clipped the cat's nails (hey, we had time) and gave them hairball treats. I had let them out, since I figured we'd be here a while, and they rather like having the day broken like that, I think.

There were five of us on the tour, and I'm not sure but that I knew more about wolves than the tour guide did. But we did see several wolves, including one that had just caught a crow and was busy playing with/killing it (the remaining crows were all circling and raising hell above the trees, to no avail), as well as a red wolf (which I'd seen in South Carolina, which impressed the guide), a Mexican gray wolf (which impressed hell out of me--they are REALLY rare) and some coyotes. Also a bunny or two, but I don't think they count. It is indeed a very nice sanctuary, with pair-housing of wolves and nice big pens for them.

We then headed toward Elma, where I intended to stay. Except when we got there, the entire campground had been rented by a group. Since I was tired and the options were slim, this did not make me happy. However, I drove on to Hoquiam, and am now in a nice little RV camp next to the river. The lady at the desk was great--we got into a discussion about books, and I swapped two of my read ones for new books. I'm also going to fill up with water here at least halfway, since I'm going to be at Kalaloch the next few days and I don't know the water quality there (here it's chlorinated, which is good, but it's also tasty). I won't have power there either, so it should be more of a boondocking experience. However, I have to say, I'm happy here with my Internet and my electricity and the cable TV. I have found that I'm not huge on "roughing it", but Kalaloch is gorgeous enough that it's worth it.