This Memorial Day weekend, we decided to take a couple of trips to see volcanos.  We started after Carolynn got off of work on Friday, and made a run down the coast on 101 (see previous post about they Byway).

This post is going to be a long one, with a lot of pictures.

The first place we visited is Crater Lake.  We originally planned on going to the southern entrance, because they usually don’t have the northern entrance open until June.  Thankfully, Carolynn checked their site as we approached from the north, and changed a 40 mile loop to a 3 mile quick jaunt, as they had just opened the north entrance the day before.

Snow fall each year at Crater Lake averages 43 FEET.  When we got there, they had an average of 23 inches left.  Some places less, some places more.

But the crater is amazing.  The color is amazing, and if anyone has the opportunity to visit, I would highly recommend it.

In the main caldera are two other calderas.  One is underwater, and not visible. The other is an island that can be explored during the summer months by a boat tour.

The crowds began to grow, and so we left.  But it is a place that we will be returning to when the snow is gone.

After leaving, we made a quick stop to see Watson Falls on the way back to Seaside.

Sunday we took as a lazy day and went to the beach.

Monday started another trip, this time to the northeast in to Washington State.

Mount St Helens is viewable from places near Seaside, so we decided to get a close look.  Unfortunately, due to snow, most of the roads are still closed (who knew!).  But we still were able to get to a single overlook.

After us finding we could not get to the mountain, we decided to go exploring for waterfalls.

We then headed to the Ape Caves, which is an old lava tube.

Hard to take pictures in pitch black, but it was a really cool experience.

Since we were thwarted by snow and hungry, we decided to head back to Seaside.  After a bite to eat in Cougar, WA, we made it home around 6 PM.

All in all, a very nice weekend.  We will be back to both places.