Mt st helens after alaska or cannon beach?

[salsagrl75]

Hello!

 

I'm going on an alaskan cruise out of seattle in may/june.

 

Since we are flying so far we are stay a few days pre/post cruise to take in the sights. Before cruise we are exploring Seattle. After cruise we'll be heading to portland.

 

My question is we have one full day for exploring - I was wondering should we take a trip to mt st helens or should we take a trip to cannon beach?

 

I am sort of leaning towards the beach since we will have seen so many montains in alaska...

 

Just looking for some opinions!

 

Thanks

[Dan G]

are you flying or driving? If driving you'll drive right by Mt. St Helens. I think there are two major things to do around Ptld. One would be the drive along the Columbia River Gorge and see Multnomah Falls. The other is definitely Cannon Beach. Its very beautiful and a great place for a day trip. Hopefully you'll fly out of portland so you don't have to drive all the way back to Seattle. Its a long ways to go for a one day stay however.

[Casagordita]

Hello!

 

I'm going on an alaskan cruise out of seattle in may/june.

 

Since we are flying so far we are stay a few days pre/post cruise to take in the sights. Before cruise we are exploring Seattle. After cruise we'll be heading to portland.

 

My question is we have one full day for exploring - I was wondering should we take a trip to mt st helens or should we take a trip to cannon beach?

 

I am sort of leaning towards the beach since we will have seen so many montains in alaska...

 

Just looking for some opinions!

 

Thanks

 

You will see a lot of mountains in Alaska, but you will see nothing there (or just about anywhere) like Mount St. Helens.

 

After living in the northwest for years, a couple of years ago I finally made the drive all the way up to the end of the highway at the Johnston Ridge Observatory. It's one of the most amazing sights I've ever seen--I can't believe I waited so long. I had seen the mountain from I-5, seen before-and-after pictures, knew what happened there in 1980. But what I saw for the first time on that drive was where the whole top of the mountain WENT. You drive up the Toutle River, and as you get closer to the mountain, you see more and more sand and silt clogging the riverbed. Outside the park they've logged all the downed trees, but when you cross the park boundary, it's all just like the blast left it--huge trees broken off and blown over, for miles. You get up to the mountain, and you can see where a huge piece of it--what wasn't blown sky-high--just slumped down into the river valley and was carried for miles by the suddenly-melted snow. Up at the top, it's just eerie, with smaller vegetation growing back here and there, but the forest is just GONE, leaving mostly-bare hillsides all around. It really gives you a feel for the power of nature, like few sights I've seen.

 

Don't get me wrong--the Oregon Coast is beautiful, and Cannon Beach is a pretty (if touristy) little town. But you can see beaches lots of places. There's only one place like Mount St. Helens.

[Sandi3667]

Weather in May & June is pretty iffy. Can't count on summer around here until July 5. :D If it's overcast, you can drive as far as the Johnston Ridge Observatory at Mt. St Helens, but may not be able to see the volcano. If it's clear, it's a stunning view into the crater of a volcano.

 

Cannon Beach is loads of fun - lots of little shops & galleries to wander. Plus, the beach is right there too. I'll throw another thumbs-up for the Gorge & Multnomah Falls. Just be warned at any of these spots - if it's the first nice day after the winter, all of us locals tend to show up too. :)

[Casagordita]

Weather in May & June is pretty iffy. Can't count on summer around here until July 5. :D If it's overcast, you can drive as far as the Johnston Ridge Observatory at Mt. St Helens, but may not be able to see the volcano. If it's clear, it's a stunning view into the crater of a volcano.

 

Good point! The road to Johnston Ridge generally opens for the season by mid-May, but there's no guarantee you'll be able to see the mountain. You can always check the VolcanoCam (and the local weather report--there's a link down the page there) before you drive out there, to see current conditions. At the moment, you can see a lot of nothing!

[salsagrl75]

We're taking the train from Seattle to Portland and then yes we're flying home from portland.

 

Thanks for the answers - seems both options would be good (which is what I suspected)! I wonder if we can just do both :rolleyes: ... still lots of time to decide!

[mapleleaves]

Assuming this is a day trip from Portland, I'd play it by ear and see what the weather is like and what you feel like doing. There's no way to compare the 2 locations; they're as different as night and day. I love visiting both. No you couldn't do both in one day; they're in opposite directions. Well, I guess if you had a midnite flight and liked a lot of driving you could do it. If it's a Sunday be very mindful of VERY slow traffic coming back to PDX.

Take a jacket to the beach ... there's always a cool wind off the water.

[salsagrl75]

Hi everyone - thanks for the great info! Yes it'll be a daytrip from portland and our plane doesnt leave until the next morning so its okay if its a long day. I think I'll just rent a car and then we can decide the day of - as suggested based on the weather and our whims!

[Langley Cruisers]

OP, since you replied that you will have a rental car, I would go for the day trip to the Oregon Coast. There is nothing like it in the world. You can go north a bit to Seaside, which is a small and charming little town. The ocean's roar is amazing. Come back to Cannon Beach and explore there, and then if you have time head down and inland a bit to Tillamook where the cheese factory is (yes, really - it's great! Their ice cream is to die for!). All in all, a great day. Take your camera and enjoy the fabulous views from all the lookouts!!

 

Have fun. :)

.

[Sandi3667]

OP, since you replied that you will have a rental car, I would go for the day trip to the Oregon Coast. There is nothing like it in the world. You can go north a bit to Seaside, which is a small and charming little town. The ocean's roar is amazing. Come back to Cannon Beach and explore there, and then if you have time head down and inland a bit to Tillamook where the cheese factory is (yes, really - it's great! Their ice cream is to die for!). All in all, a great day. Take your camera and enjoy the fabulous views from all the lookouts!!

 

Have fun. :)

.

 

Great suggestion. And if you take Highway 26 to Cannon Beach/Seaside, then visit Seaside first (Look for Broadway & the Promenade for the main attractions), then when you go from Seaside to Tillamook, you're on the same side as the ocean. Great for spotting the vantage points & turnoffs. There's a great view between Cannon Beach & Nehalem Bay, as you're coming out of Oswald West State Park. The highway runs right alongside the mountain, and it has great views of the coast.

[dileep]

The weather can change quickly. It may look like it is clear when you start out in Portland and it could cloud up by the time you get close to Mt St Helens! If it is a totally sunny and clear day, it would be different.

 

Cannon Beach would be more predictable. If it ia rainy there is always wine tasting in Willamette Valley!

[salsagrl75]

Just thinking about a roadtrip to the coast is making me so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:D

[aohkay]

I too would choose Cannon Beach. My parents used to take us camping almost every year when we were kids. As mentioned above, the roar of the waves crashing is absolutely something else. Go combing for sand dollars...build sand castles...taste the salty air...

[Langley Cruisers]

Just thinking about a roadtrip to the coast is making me so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:D

 

Me too, I'm excited for you! The Oregon coast is amazing.

[Husky61]

I think it is very difficult for anyone on this forum to tell you what you should do. I suggest you do what you think you will enjoy the most. What I enjoy, you might not.:)

[Gardyloo]

Well I'm going to be a contrarian. I like the Oregon coast, but...

 

I think missing the Columbia Gorge, especially in June, is a mistake. The coast, well, the term used pretty much all the way from San Diego to Seattle is "June gloom," meaning that the immediate coastal area can be gray and overcast even if it's sunny inland. The old saying in Seattle is that summer starts on July 5; the same (or worse) is often the case for the coast.

 

Meanwhile, in the Cascades, the snows are starting to melt big time. As of today, there's around 15 feet of snow on the ground at Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood, and around 18 feet at Paradise Inn on Mount Rainier. Across the Cascades, the snow pack is running between 120% and 150% of normal. That's good news for my lawn, but for people planning to visit the mountains in May or June, it means that a big part of that snow pack will still be in place, covering everything but the parking lots. Mount St. Helens is a great visit, but you may well discover that it might be socked in at altitude, and that the area is pretty snowy still.

 

But the snow will be melting like crazy, and down below Mount Hood, the rivers and streams leading into the Columbia will be very high. The Gorge is lined with white water streams, and, on the Oregon side, waterfalls, which in June will be nothing short of awesome.

 

The gorge:

 

 

In June a great day can be had by heading from Portland east up the old Gorge Highway (the historic route, not I-84 which parallels the river down low) visiting some of the waterfalls (Latourelle and Multnomah being the biggies) and then crossing the river at Hood River and following the Washington side all the way to Maryhill (around 100 miles east of Portland.) There, if you want, you can visit the very interesting Maryhill Museum - http://www.maryhillmuseum.org - but what you'll have done is transit from the wet west side of the Cascades to the dry "old west" scenery of central and eastern Oregon and Washington. The transition is stunning, the landscape fascinating, and it's only a short morning's drive from Portland. This is definitely a kind of scenery you won't have encountered on an Alaska cruise. You're also almost guaranteed some sunshine (which might be a welcome thing after Alaska) once you transit the Gorge, but in June it's unlikely it will be hot, just nice.

 

I think it's a very beautiful and easy day trip from Portland, and would add some real variety to your vacation.

 

Anyway, just my two bits.

[salsagrl75]

Hey Gardyloo - Thanks for the really great suggestion and the picture to put it in perspective. That looks like a really great idea!

 

It really amazes me the amount of thought and effort people on these boards put into helping nameless strangers!

 

Thanks again, I'm going to research your suggestions more tonight when I get home from work :)

[Sandi3667]

Great suggestion & pics, Gardyloo.

 

If the OP's interested, the pic Gardyloo posted was from the Portland Womens' Forum park, just west of Crown Point.

 

http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_164.php

The building in it is the Vista House, another great scenic spot.

 

http://vistahouse.com/

[Langley Cruisers]

I think it is very difficult for anyone on this forum to tell you what you should do. I suggest you do what you think you will enjoy the most...

 

Well.... that's why she came here and asked our advice??.... :confused: She just wanted opinions.

[irvington]

I too love the Columbia Gorge -- not a lot of driving from Portland, really beautiful. Hood River is a wonderful town and agree re Maryhill Museum. This is definitely the quickest of the day trips mentioned and probably the best weather.

 

I love the Oregon Coast too, but I would recommend including Astoria -- interesting town and some great museums, in Astoria, nearby in Fort Clatsop, and just over into Washington too. If you are a Lewis and Clark buff, it is great.

 

The Oregon coast as it heads south is great too. I enjoy the area south of Lincoln City but that's a long day trip from Portland.

 

Mt. St. Helens is great too. One of the observatories is now closed but much still remains to see, if weather permits. Most boring I-5 driving of the options. If Mt St Helens Institute is doing a hike that day that you can sign up for, I would really recommend that. They are a private group doing the same sort of ranger hikes you would get in a national park, but with their staff and volunteers. Really educational.

 

All above, just my preferences! I love hanging out and eating and drinking in Portlandia as an option as well. :)

[salsagrl75]

Thanks for the continued suggestions everyone. I really appreciate it!

 

irvington - we're probably checking out portland the day we arrive, but we might end up just staying there the second day as well. I know for sure I want to check out the foodcarts! Maybe it's silly but we don't have anything like that in toronto! By law our carts are limited to just hot dogs!

[irvington]

Thanks for the continued suggestions everyone. I really appreciate it!

 

irvington - we're probably checking out portland the day we arrive, but we might end up just staying there the second day as well. I know for sure I want to check out the foodcarts! Maybe it's silly but we don't have anything like that in toronto! By law our carts are limited to just hot dogs!

 

http://www.foodcartsportland.com/

 

http://www.oregonlive.com/dining/index.ssf/2011/06/portlands_best_new_food_carts.html

 

The foodcarts are pretty wonderful. My older son goes to school downtown and gets to eat at some regularly. One of the best things about his school.

 

Anyway, above are some links to get you started. :)