Hikes with Bella

Because of the high snow pack at higher elevations, we went on a nice river walk in the eastern Olympics. The first few miles of the Duckabush River are in the Olympic National Forest so Bella got to stretch her paws too! The hike began on an old road, but then descends to a nice stretch along the river. We then got some vertical elevation in going up Big Hump. Not much in the way of views (clouds and trees), but the blooming Rhodies more than made up for it!

Distance: 8 miles
Vertical: 1,500 ft


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We're not sure what happened to the photos, but during our trip south to Mt St Helens Sara and I decided to scout out the area where Bella had been picked up by animal control 4 plus years ago. Our adoption paperwork for Bella indicated that she had been picked up on Jones Road by Lewis County Animal Control. We found Jones Road on the map, and after a few missed turns found the road just outside of the town of Winlock. Bella was not with us, which was ok with me because I feared that she'd recognize the area, jump out of our car at 40 mph, and run into the arms of her former owner crying on the front porch of a beautiful farmstead. Anyway, that didn't happen, and it was odd to think of our dog being a stray somewhere on this road. Was she picked up at one of the rural houses or farms on the road? Was she found at the end of the road, where it turns into a gravel road and enters forest land? We'll never know. Stupid dog doesn't talk, and all the Lewis County Animal Control sheet said was that Bella was "good/sweet"...

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Mt Adams beyond Spirit Lake

The only other time I had been to Mt St Helens was a cloudy and rainy day with no views of the crater. With our impending move to the East Coast, and the continued volcanic activity at Helens, Sara and I decided that we needed to make time to get down there. We did the tourist thing at the Johnston Ridge Observatory then headed down the Boundary Trail for better views of the crater. The weather was sunny, snow was mostly gone from the trail, and the crowds thinned out 1/4 mile from the visitor's center. We saw a couple of rockfalls from the crater that kicked up some ash plumes, and ended at a spot with a view of the crater and Spirit Lake.

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