Ape Cave, Lava Canyon, Cougar and Yale

The last leg of Hwy 25 (DH4) from Ape Cave and Lava Canyon to Yale was a marathon.  Man-made Swift Reservoir fairly glistened on my left as I zigged and zagged merrily making for gas and lunch.  More windy road to play with, leaning right then left to take all the esses.  Wheee!  

Hint to anyone riding in this area:  Get gas and if you're really hungry eat in Cougar.  The "bar and grill" in Cougar looked sketchy so I decided to head to Volcano Burger in Yale.  Big mistake.  Yale has absolutely nothing.  Volcano Burger looked like it hadn't been open in months.  Fortunately the shore-hugging Lewis River Road (Hwy 503, DH51) through thick trees along Yale Lake and Lake Merwin was winding and well engineered, making it a fun  ride and almost taking my mind off my growling stomach. There are occasional lakeside parks and residential homes for added interest, and the parks make good pit stops if you need relief.  

I rolled into Woodside hankering for a burger, and lo and behold, the Burgerville appeared on my left like a castle from the lifting fog.  Turkey burgers yay!  After that  I considered going up to Johnston Ridge so I could actually see the crater - the goal of the trip.  But I'd already been there, so I quickly nixed the thought when I realized it would add at least two hours onto my riding day.  My back ached a bit and I wanted to get home so I cranked the tunes and hit I-5.  

After 3 days and 750 miles I rolled up into the garage.  Ahhh, the road is awesome, but like Dorothy says, there's nowhere like home.

Washington's Highway 30 from Carson

Highway 30 north from Carson is full of esses, and once you settle in to them you feel like you're one with the bike and can take the road at 10 mph faster than posted limits in most places. There are a few tight corners where it's a good idea to adhere to the signs though.

Views of the volcano are plentiful. Today the top was cloud covered but otherwise the snow-covered volcano was breathtakingly striking. Yellow and purple flowers were blooming all over the place. I felt like I was in a volcanic Sound of Music.

I met very few cars on the road. Rode to Ape Cave and Lava Canyon next.

Ape Cave is a 1 1/4 mile lava tube you can walk through if you have the right gear, which I didn't. It was named after a local pack of Boy Scouts, there are no primates in sight. Gotta come back for some spelunking sometime.

Go past Ape Cave to Lava Canyon and get schooled on what lava does to the landscape.