The original plan was to meet my parents at Mt. St. Helens on July 1, but since the weather was pretty grey and drizzly we postponed that trip and went to Bonneville Dam instead.

The forecast for July 4 was much more promising, and when we awoke to mostly clear skies in Portland the biggest thing we were concerned about was a flood of other tourists on the holiday weekend.

Needless to say, the mountain and roads were not particularly crowded.

It was overcast as we toured the first visitors center, but we were optimistic that the morning clouds would burn off and the rest of the day would be clear.

As we ascended the Spirit Lake Highway, the clouds gave way to drizzle. By the time we reached Coldwater Lake, the drizzle was punctuated by occasional periods of fog. We ate our picnic lunch and enjoyed the parking lot view of the lake.

Undeterred, we continued toward the Johnston Ridge Observatory, so close to the crater that we couldn’t miss it. Confident that the mountain would finally reveal her majesty, we bounded out of the car. This is what we got:

Alison, Perrie and Peter enjoy the view of Mt. St. Helens from the Johnston Ridge Observatory July 4. (Photo by Matthew Ginn © 2010)

Having twice driven along WA-504 without seeing Mt. St. Helens, I’m starting to wonder if the mountain is just a myth on par with the moon landing.

Here are a couple of other photos from the drive up.