There's some smoke around Mt. St. Helens-- The wildfires aren't close, but they are sending some smoke our way. We're looking east up the Toutle River Valley. Before the mountain exploded the river was hundreds of feet below where it is now.

 

All by myself...

 

It's a lot easier to be calm in the forest...

 

Come in! You are welcome...

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It's all a bit confusing, isn't it...

 

A lonely ranch house...

 

Take a deep breath. Enjoy the quiet...

 

It's a little bit cooler in the woods...

 

Tigger's not doing so well--- he hasn't heard from Pooh, Piglet, and Eeyore for a very long time. But the flowers help.

 

If you're a young tree, it's nice to have an old stump to lean on...

 

Long gone--- I miss the log train.

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More from Johnston Ridge...

 

From the opposite direction on Johnston Ridge, Mt. St. Helens rises above the Toutle Valley...

 

Wildflowers on Johnston Ridge, with Minnie Peak in the background, and Coldwater Peak in the spotlight on the right.

 

1662 has places to go...

 

Stumped...

 

All that, and still not a drop of rain...

 

Don't Panic-- It's just one leaf!

 

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The old barn near Olequa Crossing...

 

Glad to be... a bee!

 

Nature paints in broad strokes...

 

Just a hint of color change in the wetlands...

 

Let's go home...

 

Dancing light and shadow...

 

A good time for reflecion...

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Dreaming of fishing? Or perhaps fishing for dreams...

 

New plants growing out of a dead log, surrounded by a reflected sky...

 

Indian Paintbrush, nature's best strokes...

 

Maybe he went this way...

 

Really! That's the way I saw the rabbit run!

 

Searching the skies...

 

Life is so much better when you have someone to play with...

 

From sea to shining sea... Happy Birthday America!

 

Foxglove set off by the afternoon sun as the weather is back to normal July---

 

Red!

 

A place to sit for a while...

 

A Sleepin' Bee...

 

Good as gold...

 

A tiny wildflower-- just a bit bigger than a quarter...

 

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Looking west on the Columbia River, about 30 miles closer to the ocean than where we live.

 

Unsettled skies...

 

Almost like a kaleidoscope...

 

Johnston Ridge just before sunset. The wildflowers are exploding among the remains of the trees that were blown down when the mountain erupted 41 years ago.

 

Wildflowers!!

 

It's too darn hot!!

 

Just a wild rose saying hello...

 

Grass can be beautiful!

 

Surrounded by trees dancing in the breeze...

 

A lot of the snow is gone as we look into the mouth of the volcano. Distance and scale are misleading--the canyons in the 41 year old mudflow are quite large and are miles away. In the foreground the wild flowers are beginning their show. The two red ones are Indian Paintbrush.

 

A very long time ago, this part of the wetlands walk was a log train right of way. Now it's a wonderful place to take a walk in the sunlight.