Mt. Adams, Washington

Stratovolcano, 12,281 Feet (3,743 M) 

Cascade Mountain Range, Southwestern WA

Near Yakima, Packwood, Klickitat, and Goldendale WA

Mt. Adams - Wikipedia

Cascade Volcanic Arc

Karen and I have traveled all around this immense and dramatic mountain many times since 2016.  

Cascade Volcanic Arc

Morton, Washington

Karen and I spent the night at the Seasons Motel in Morton.  It was a clean, quiet, and nice room for $190.00.  We were tired after a busy day on Mayfield Lake on Tuesday.  

We awoke early on Wednesday.  We drove home from Morton.  Beautiful farmland views.  

Karen and I enjoyed a trip from Vancouver, WA, to Lake Mayfield, WA.  It is about a 100 mile drive one way: north on Interstate 5 and east on Highway 12.  The drive from Mary's Corner to Morton, Randall, or Packwood is easy on Highway 12 which goes over White Mountain Pass and then to Yakima.  

Mick and April were camping (Sunday-Wednesday) at Ike Kinswa State Park near Mossyrock.  We joined them in the morning on Tuesday.  We both went on boat rides with Mick as the boatman driver.  We crossed Mayfield Lake from the dock near the bridge at the State Park.  Then we went up the Cowlitz River to below Mossyrock Dam.  A wonderful sightseeing excursion.  The weather was very overcast and threatening rain.  We had a great dinner of dipped pork and spinach sandwiches.  

Mayfield Lake, Washington

 Karen and I enjoyed a trip from Vancouver, WA, to Lake Mayfield, WA.  It is about a 100 mile drive one way: north on Interstate 5 and east on Highway 12.  The drive from Mary's Corner to Morton, Randall, or Packwood is easy on Highway 12 which goes over White Mountain Pass and then to Yakima.  

Mick and April were camping at Ike Kinswa State Park near Mossyrock.  We joined them in the morning.  We both went on boat rides with Mick as the boatman driver.  We crossed Mayfield Lake from the dock near the bridge at the State Park.  Then we went up the Cowlitz River to below Mossyrock Dam.  A wonderful sightseeing excursion.  The weather was very overcast and threatening rain.  

Dipping for Smelt along the Cowlitz River

"Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife says the 2022 smelt run is expected to be larger than the year before. Dipnetters caught about 90,750 pounds in the five-hour fishery window in 2021, the state reports.

Columbia River smelt are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act due to declines in run size in the last decade, which is why recreational fishing is limited to years in which the run size is exceptionally large. Smelt have a range from Long Beach, California, to Chignik Lagoon, Alaska, but the Columbia River has a specific kind of smelt, also called hooligan or eulachon."
-  Vancouver Columbia Newspaper, 4/8/2022

Eulachon smelt runs in the late winter were very important to the many Native Americans living along the lower Columbia River for over 2,000 years until 1800.  These small fish were prized for their high oily fat content and ease of catching.  Sadly, after 1800, nearly 90% of the Native Americans along the lower Columbia River (e.g. Chinook, Clapsop, Cowlitz) died of newly introduced communicable diseases.  

Today, I plan to do some sightseeing along the Cowlitz River from Longview to Castle Rock.

Legends of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe

I have enjoyed reading the following book:

Legends of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe.  By Roy I. Wilson.  Cowlitz Tribe, 1998. 401 pages.  

Mr. Wilson suggests to us, or maybe just to Cowlitz Peoples, that we personally identify with aspects of these legends and stories:

"As you read these ancient stories you might possibly recognize yourself as a Coyote, Bear, Cougar, Beaver, or some other type of Animal Person.  Your community is the legend, and the legend is your community; also, you are the legend, and the legend is you.  As you read these legends see if you can recognize yourself in these stories.  Look and find other members of your community in these legends.  When you look at the legends with the understanding that you are the legend and the legend is you, then you will look for each of the animal characteristic within yourself.  It will be at this point that these legends will become more that just stories.  They will become a guide to the way you live your life.  At the end of each legend, or versions of a legend, you will find a section titled "LESSONS."  An attempt is made here to give the basic teaching or purpose of the legend, along with other lessons that the legend teaches us.  It is here that the basic understandings of the animals becomes important in order that we might understand these animal characteristics in our own individual lives and be able to interpret the legend personally, that is, to be able to make a personal application of it to our own lives."
-  Roy I. Wilson, p. 13

Native Legends of Oregon and Washington.  Collected by Franz Boas.  1893. 

 

Cowlitz Indian Tribe 

"The Cowlitz Indian Tribe is a growing force in community building in what are now Clark, Cowlitz, Lewis and parts of Pierce, Skamania and Wahkiakum Counties, a vast territory occupied by numerous Cowlitz villages prior to non-Cowlitz exploration and seizure.  Today, an elected Tribal Council is composed of professionals adept at managing multiple programs and projects. Tribal members engage in a rich cultural practice of old Cowlitz lifeways such the Smelt, Salmon and River Ceremonies.  They join coastal tribes in Canoe Journeys on major waterways.  They drum and sing at ceremonies throughout the year and as called upon for funerals, naming ceremonies, healings and celebration.  The Cowlitz Pow-Wow is one of the largest in southern Washington.  The Cowlitz Tribe is a significant employer and contributor to local economies."  A large Indian Casino and Hotel, ilani, near the town La Center, part of a Cowlitz Indian Reservation town near the Lewis River. 

The Lower Cowlitz people, with over 30 settlements and long houses, lived along the Cowlitz River from current Longview on the Columbia River north to Toledo.  The Upper Cowlitz lived in the area from Mossyrock to Packwood and up into Yakima territory over White Pass. 

Cowlitz Indian Tribe History   "The name Cowlitz means "seeker" in a spiritual sense, according to some Cowlitz living today. Place Names of Washington also spells the name as "Ta-wa-l-litch," which meant "capturing the medicine spirit," referring to the Cowlitz practice of sending their youths to the river' s prairies to seek their tomanawas, or spirit power."

The Cowlitz River flows from the canyons behind the southeast side of Mt. Ranier down the broad Cowlitz River Valley, almost prairie like at times, flowing west past the Clowlitz Farm near Toledo, then flowing south to the Columbia River at Longview/Kelso/Ranier.  The Toutle River meets the Cowlitz near present day.

Cowlitz People - Wikipedia

Cowlitz Indian Tribe  Official Website

Lower Cowlitz Language

"Lower Cowlitz is a Salishan language of Washington state, related to Chehalis. The people's original name for themselves was Stl'pulmsh-- Cowlitz was the name of the river whose banks they lived on. The Upper Cowlitz, whose traditional homelands are located further up the same river, are a Sahaptin tribe who spoke a dialect of the unrelated Yakama language. Neither Cowlitz Salish nor Cowlitz Sahaptian are spoken as first languages today, but the Cowlitz tribes are working on reviving their traditional languages, as well as the Chinook Jargon trade language that was used extensively in this region."

Being Cowlitz: How One Tribe Renewed and Sustained Its Identity.  By Christine Dupres.  Seattle, University of Washington Press, 2014. Bibliography, 160 pages.  FVRL. 

The Cowlitz tribe completed a yearly cycle where they inhabited locations during certain seasons and harvested seasonal crops, in preparation for cold winter months. The season started in spring, when the Cowlitzes left their cedar houses along the river and streams by traveling via canoe and horseback to harvest camas bulbs, roots, barks, and grasses to make mats, fishnets, and basketry. Followed by the arrival of summer, where they would move into the higher country to pick and harvest seasonal berries. Lastly, followed by the return to fall, where the Cowlitzes would return to their cedar homes along the river to harvest Salmon, for the upcoming season. Generally, hunting and fishing were practiced all year round, but only roots and fruits had to be harvested seasonally."

Cowlitz People Annual Activities Cycle   Fishing, hunting, gathering, foraging, resources for food and clothing. 

 

Packwood, Washington

Packwood was getting ready for the huge Labor Day Flea Market event.  Hundreds of arts and crafts vendors were setting up their tent stores. 

Thankfully, I was in Packwood well before the Labor Day crowds and event.  It was relatively quiet.  I would not attend the event because of COVID concerns.  

Today, Friday, 9/1, I leave La Wis Wis Campground, and stop for gasoline and coffee in Packwood.  I will to drive up to Windy Ridge at Mt. Saint Helens. 

I stopped at the Iron Horse Campground.  It is 7 miles south from Randle on FR25.  Impressive old growth forest in the campground by the Crispus River. 

  

Windy Ridge, Mt. Saint Helens, Washington

Today, Friday, 9/2/2021, I will drive from Packwood to Randle (15 miles) on Road 12.  Then south on Gifford-Pinchot Forest Road 25, the on to Forest Road 99, and then up to the top of Windy Ridge.  It is 65 miles from Randall to Cougar by Yale Lake.  Forest Road 25 is paved but very rough in many places, so you need to slow down and watch the road.  Then, down Lewisville Highway 503 to my home.  

Enjoy the Mt. Saint Helens Windy Ridge Loop.  This road is dangerous in places - drive slowly.  

Enjoy many Mr. Saint Helen's photographs.  

The logs are still floating in Spirit Lake.

All photographs by me.