Catching up: Toutle River RV Resort, Castle Rock WA, Mt. St. Helens: and Fog!!

Toutle River RV Resort

We spent September 4-6 at Toutle River RV Resort in Castle Rock, just off I-5. We liked the park. The sites were gravel, the roads paved, good places to walk the dogs, and our site, 177, had an open space on the passenger side to the next site, although there were not that many people in the park both times we were there. There are train tracks just beyond the north western boundary which caused the motor home to rock some....along with the whistles.... You'll see that the park is huge! There is a trail along the interstate to the Toutle River, which is a fun, even in the rain!

The Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument offers a wide range of experiences for visitors to enjoy on three sides of the mountain:  West, South and East. We chose our park so that we could access the Westside via Spirit Lake Memorial Highway (State Route 504) from Castle Rock at I-5. Our trip was 52 miles one way....and it was billed as offering views of the massive 1980 North Fork Toutle River landslide and mudflow that buried the previous highway and valley...we didn't see it....(more below!). Later, as we move up to Harmony Lakeside near Mossyrock, we will be able to access both Mt. Rainier and the East access to Mt. St. Helens. These RV parks worked for us. There are a few on 504 heading east, should a reader be interested in checking them out.

The State of Washington runs the Mt. St. Helens Visitor Center on 504 where we "saw" the results of the web cam (featured on the web link above to the National Volcanic Monument).  Mt. St. Helen's web cam showed---nothing! Fog was hiding the mountain! We were assured  that Johnston Ridge Visitor's Center was still open, but expect fog. So, we drove on, running in and out of fog most of the way, finding it "thicker" as we got closer!

 We did enjoy the drive...even tho' the fog was thick! We wanted to visit Johnston Ridge for the exhibits and the movie, especially the movie, as we were told by others that it was a must and we were not disappointed.

The picture of the jeep is parked at Johnston Ridge. Thankfully it was cool enough to leave the dogs in the car while we went inside!

The movie was spectacular! Except that when they raise the curtain to show the mountain, all we saw was fog!

We got our passports stamped, checked out all the exhibits, walked around some outside, then drove back.

Entering Johnston Ridge

A "compass":  illustrating the direction of the blast...

Outside Johnston Ridge

Hoffstadt Bluffs--NO FOG!

We DID find a very good place to eat, stopping on the way up for lunch, then on our return trip for

desert. Patty's Place, at 19 Mile House is on 504, 19 miles from Castle Rock. Do NOT take a snack with you! Stop by here for a delicious meal, then top it off with fresh homemade cobbler! Lindy had the elk burger and it was delicious! Mike had the halibut burger--delicious! On our return trip we had the mountain berry cobbler, of course with ice cream....! Very good! 

Stay tuned for we departed Toutle River September 7 a whole 39 miles up I-5 then east on US 12 to our next park. Our plan was to visit the East section of the Mt. St. Helens Volcanic Monument and the southern part of Mt. Rainier National Park. Next post!

Until then!
Roving Riders, Swirvin on down the road!