Moving on… after camping at Mount Rainier we headed further south into the Gilford Pinchot National Forest. This is a beautiful area of twisty two-lane roads and deep forest that surrounds Mount Saint Helens. We’d be spending three nights total here, two nights at the Iron Creek Campground at the north side and then a third night at Moss Creek Campground at the south side.

The primary goal while here was to visit Windy Ridge overlooking Mount Saint Helens. This is, I think, the closest approach to the crater you can get to on a paved road. None of us had been before, and I wanted to scout it out before taking the motorcycle up there. It’s reputed to be a very technical windy road and that proved to be very true!

Words can’t really describe the scene as you travel out to Windy Ridge. It takes a while to get there along twisty roads as you climb up in elevation. You do need a Forest Pass here and there is a small giftshop and grill you can stop at on the way where you can purchase one. There are numerous turn outs and overlooks all along your path, including plenty of opportunities for hiking. If you visit Washington and have time, it’s definately worth the trip… even over visiting Mount Rainier in my opinion.

Moss Creek was our last camp site on this trip and much further south along the border with Oregon. We really lucked out here. The campground was nearly deserted the night we stayed and we got a prime site right beside the creek. It was very peaceful listening to the water at night and we spent a lot of time wading and playing at the creek, as well as hiking the trail that ran alongside it. The water was frigid, but that didn’t prevent any of us from dipping our feet into it… for short periods any way!

The camping phase of our vacation now complete, we broke camp one last time and piled into the Jeep to head across the Columbia River to The Dalles, OR for an overnight stay at a motel with a pool before exploring the area and heading home. But that will be in the final post of the series.

See more photos from Gilford Pinchot National Forest on Flickr!