Up early, quick pork chop omelet and we hit the road south. One stop in Packwood for a shower and another cup of coffee, looking at the chainsaw carvings throughout the town.
At Randall we met Forest Service Road 25 and slowly bumped and wound our way generally south, through the forests, to a side road up to Mount St. Helens. The road was really torn up, but it forced us to relax and listen to music as we drove.
It seemed like every pullout offered a different view of St. Helens, and as we moved south the fall colors deepened. Finally we made it to Carson, on the Columbia River, where we followed Highway 14 east. A couple miles along I noticed a pullout tucked in behind us on the left, and so I made the turn and parked. We hiked a short ways up Dog Creek to the waterfall and ate lunch, before heading east again to cross at Hood River. East on 84 now, we made great time over to 97 South towards Bend.
Near Shaniko we stopped along the road and stared. Across the rolloing grasslands you could see the entire volcanic chain lined up, from Rainier in the north to Three Sisters in the south.
We made it just south of Bend, to LaPine State Park, where we camped once again among the RVs. Dennis made pork chops and home made mac and cheese, and we hit the sack early.
Tuesday October 7th