This morning, left Council Lake campground and enjoyed a bumpy and twisty ride over gravel and paved roads to reach the otherworldly spectacle of Mt. St. Helens’ North face.

I can see that I chose the right mode of transportation for this trip. In many places, the road is laid down onto unstable ground and is riddled with sunken areas, cracks, and sharp asphalt edges. Most cars have to travel very slowly to get Windy Ridge without risking damage to  undercarriage or motion sickness to  passengers. Based on Google maps’ estimate (no cell signal in Gifford Pinchot National Forest, so you need to download maps in advance), I made what it thought would be a 2-hour drive from Council Lake to Cascade Peaks Interpretive Center in about half the time.