2019 Summer Road Trip II (7/31/19)

So here I am in Port Angeles, WA. I was here a few years ago on that trip from Silver City, NM in the Toyota. I had delivered my friend's dog, Snoopers, to his wife in Sequim, WA. And being in Sequim then, Port Angeles is only the next town over, and that's when I spent a week or so here in the Olympic NF. It's beautiful. The ride from the Metolius River campground was sort of mind-blowing. Crossing the Columbia River into Washington, and then riding the north shore of the Columbia River

 Here's a shot of what I believe to be Mt. Hood. This is as I approached the Deschutes River in northern Oregon.

 After crossing the Columbia River at The Dalles, I traveled west on Hwy 14 and came upon a festival of windsurfers and kite-boarders. It was exciting to watch these people catch the strong breezes and actually lift off of the water and into the air. I asked about the conditioning involved in becoming a kite-boarder, and was told that these athletes are in truly exceptional condition. It was a spectacle.

This is a video of the kite-boarders, though the ending is a little sloppy. : (

 This is looking east from Hwy 14 on the Columbia River Gorge.

 Blown down trees from the Mt. St. Helens eruption nearly 40 years ago. I read that the USFS cleared most of the downed trees to help prevent the spread of disease. The onset of recovery from the devastating blow was immediate.

Here's the present view of Mt. St. Helens from the entrance to the national monument.

The video to the right is from Paradise Creek CG. This was a beautiful campground just north of the Columbia River Gorge.