Mt. St. Helens and Recent Fun

I have for you photos from the Mt. St. Helens hike that Sarah, Seth, and I did with Dad while he was here.  It was not too long, but kind of a bear.  After you break out of the woods, it's a scramble up volcanic rock (which is really really sharp) and then a trudge up a steep slope of little rocks and volcanic ash, during which you usually slide back down about half as far as you move up each step.  But the reward is worth it.  When you get to the top you're peering into the mouth of a half demolished volcano, rimmed with glacier ice, and full of steamy vents.

Sarah climbing up the boulder fields

Sarah and Dad take a breather on the way up

Finally at the top!  You can see the rim behind Sarah and Dad, and the ice clinging to the inside of it.  The panorama function on my camera did something odd to the horizon though...

View of Rainier from the top.  The lake pictured didn't exist before the eruption; it has filled in since.  The debris that you can see on the left side of the lake are all trees, uprooted during the eruption.

Into the crater

Vents

Part Two

The past couple of weeks Seth has been learning to surf with our friend Lenny, whose trip to Mexico has been postponed as his traveling partner decided to record an album "real quick" before they go.  But, this is good for us as Lenny has lived around here all his life, and has plenty of free time right now to take us on adventures.  

Surfboards in the van

Seth with his board

Seth and Lenny almost colliding, but looking very cool doing it, al least.

The cove where said surfing took place.  Not a bad spot to spend an afternoon.

We camped that night a short hike from the beach at Ecola State Park

One last photo of the rocks, the next morning on our way out.  The surf was really weak, so we convinced Lenny to take us mushroom hunting instead.  Seth and I have gone out once or twice on our own, to no avail.  But Lenny promised that he knew a spot...

He wasn't lying either.  These are Chantrelles: extremely tasty if you've never had them (not cheap either, they usually fetch $10 a pound).  We took home about three pounds of mushrooms or so.

        

Some neat looking but not necessarily edible mushrooms that I took pictures of to identify later.

Oyster mushrooms ready to cook up at home.  These and the chantrelles are the only two varieties that we found that day (both were delicious!).  Crimini mushrooms also grow around here, and I'm really hoping to find some on my next hunt, although they are much sought after and a little harder to find.