johnboystravelblog

After I visited Mt. Rainier on Wednesday I got back on the scenic east-to-west road I had used to get there and continued on west to Enumclaw (NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne’s hometown. Congrats, Kasey, of your big win at the Brickyard last Sunday!).  As I started driving north toward the scenic road which would take me back east to Wenatchee I saw this sign and had to go check it out.

I turned and started driving down the road to get to the Park.  I didn’t see any more signs for a while go I asked Google (I have a button on my phone which lets me ask Google to look things up for me, similar to Siri and Alexa on other platforms) to tell me how to get to the Park. She (I haven’t given her a name) has a charming British accent and came back with the response “Here is some information on Flaming Geezer State Park” which I thought was hysterical (but I imagine that is a very different kind of park altogether….).

Sure enough, the Park was another mile or two down the road.  When I saw there was a $10 entrance fee I wondered exactly what I would be seeing, so when I got to the entrance I asked the young lady what a flaming geyser is.  She explained that there is methane coming up out of the ground which creates a flame above the surface.  I asked if it was something better seen at night and she said no, you can clearly see it during the day.  So I ponied up my ten bucks and went in to take a look.

I’ll keep you in suspense and post pictures tomorrow.  There was also a “bubbling geyser” a short walk away from the flaming geyser (no extra charge!).  No cheating now.   Don’t get ahead of me and look it up online, children.

This was also taken on Monday on my way to Wenatchee using my new camera.  I was going to post a comparison photo with one taken using my cell phone camera but suffice it to say that from now on I will just use the best picture I have available.

As I pulled in to the adjacent parking lot I noticed the gazebo and large gap below and to the left of it.  There is a walkway which juts out from the gazebo and over the gap to the vertical rock on the left to allow people to look down in to the canyon.  If you have good eyes you can see the metal fence which borders the walkway.  I’m afraid of heights and didn’t go out there.

As I was driving south of Omak, Washington on my way from Idaho to Wenatchee on Monday I saw this group of satellite dishes on the top of a hill about a quarter mile off the highway.  Those of you that know of my connection to, and fascination with, radio telescopes know that I’d be all over this….

These were taken with my Canon camera given the distance from the road.

This is the former ComSat Earth Station, now owned by US Electrodynamics Corporation.  These are very similar in appearance to telescopes at the radio astronomy observatory near my mother’s hometown in West Virginia.  ComSat is short for Communications Satellite.  These dishes are receivers which collect signals from satellites orbiting the earth.  Most of these are “fixed”, meaning the don’t move and only point at one source (the same way a DirecTV or Dish Network satellite dish attached to your house lets you watch tv).  The largest dish you see can be moved (remotely, with a series of motors) to point at different sources the way most radio telescopes do.

There are more than 50 dishes at this location which receive communications and other data for a variety of companies and agencies. TV video feeds, radio and computer data, etc. all flow through here.  These dishes also collect signals from GPS (Global Positioning Satellites) which help air traffic controllers track aircraft.  This facility also provides data to the Department of Defense (and probably other, undisclosed agencies).  There are Earth Stations like this all over the world.  It is a private facility and not open to the public.  The dishes and receivers can be operated remotely and the facility itself is probably only manned by maintenance and security personnel.

Those of you who travel up and down Route 81 in western Virginia probably have seen the telephone Earth Station next to the highway near the Mt. Jackson/Bayse exit.  Those much larger dishes (probably 4-5 times the size of the largest one you see here) are for companies like AT&T and Verizon to support their telephone and data systems.

Most of us have probably seen hurricane evacuation route signs.  These caught my attention as I was driving around the area.

If Mount Rainier ever decides to blow it’s top (it is an active stratovolcano) I think it will be “Goodnight, Irene”.

I approached Mount Saint Helens from the north (it is the side of the mountain which blew out).  I was SO BUMMED to find out that both the Windy Ridge overlook and another popular viewing point are temporarily closed (inaccessible due to current road conditions).  When I get back to Durham I need to find the pictures I took here years ago.  I thought I’d come across them when I started going through and getting rid of stuff in anticipation of moving (which I have decided not to do for the time being).

The mountain erupted May 18, 1980, directly killing 57 people.  The blast created a shock wave which was estimated to have reached 680 degrees Fahrenheit and had a ground speed of 200 mph.  A local lodge owner’s body was found under hundreds of feet of rock, ash and debris.  One photographer’s body was found shielding his camera, so the pictures he had taken were retrievable.  Another photographer, Gary Rosenquist, took the, now famous, sequence photos of the eruption that morning.  He was spared because the topography deflected the blast, though not by much, from where he was taking pictures.

The mountain’s peak was at 9,677 feet elevation before the eruption. The current elevation is 8,366 feet.

What appears to be smoke on the outside of the rim is actually a cloud.  Some of the smoke inside the rim may be from the mountain itself.  Mount Saint Helens is still considered an active stratovolcano.

I came across this on my way up to Mount Saint Helen’s.  There is a stream under all those logs which apparently eroded the bank.  Trees fall down go boom.  I wonder if there was anyone here to hear it? Otherwise it made no noise!

These were taken near the town of Eatonville which is about 20 miles west of the mountain.  The top picture was taken with my cell phone camera (at maximum zoom, I believe).  The bottom one was taken with the Canon.

This is from the south side of the mountain.  You are seeing one of the “reflecting lakes” which, under calm conditions, will render a mirror image of the mountain.  There was a breeze today so the ripples on the lake spoiled that potential shot (still a pretty picture, though).  I wanted you to know I at least made the effort.

I’m sure you can find good mirror image pictures of the mountain online.

This morning I stopped in again at Mount Rainier, this time entering the Park from the south.  It’s hard to take a bad picture here unless the sun is behind your target.  I specifically timed my placement both days so the sun would be behind me.

The low clouds are a common sight around these tall mountains.  I saw clouds at about this height most of the day in other parts of the state as well.  I was very fortunate yesterday to have had a completely clear day.

I went back through Yakima Canyon again this morning and found the eagle at the same place.  This time she was looking towards me (for some reason female animals tend to want to show me their backside. Was it something I said?…).