The annual All-Diesel, All Clubs trip to Mt St Helens. Saturday, Oct 24th, 2009

Pics from previous years:

2008: Smoke on the Mountain V

2007: Smoke on the Mountain IV - 2007

2006: Smoke on the Mountain - III

2005: NWBombers Smoke on the Mountain II

The rough game plans for the trip is as follows:

1. Meet at Exit 68 and I-5. Spiffy's Restaurant. If you wish to eat breakfast, get there about 8:30

2. Leave Spiffy's about 9:15 or so. If you decided to skip the breakfast meet and greet, you should be showing up now.

3. Head east on Highway 12 to Mary's Corner. Make the right turn onto Jackson Highway and follow it into the town of Toledo.

4. Continue thru Toledo on Highway 505 until it comes to highway 504 - Spirit Lake Highway. Turn Left.

5. Continue on 504 into Kid Valley. Pull into the Parking lot of the giant Sasquatch statue. Get out, take pics, stretch legs.

6. Continue on 504 to the Bridge Viewpoint. Pull into viewpoint. Take pics, setup for the big "Bridge Photo" where everyone lines up on the bridge and we try to get pics/vids before we completely screw up traffic.

7. Continue to the end of the road. Johnstons Ridge Observatory. Line up the trucks in the back of the parking lot. Walk up to visitor center. Take pics. We get to the top at roughly noon.

The visitor center does charge to enter, and to walk on the scenic trails. Last year we had one of the younger park employees tell me that EVERYONE had to pay even if they didnt use the visitor center. Bob V is looking into that for this year.

Also, a couple of ppl brought some small gas BBQ's to make lunch with at the top. There was some minor eyebrow raising about that also, but let it fly. No Charcoal tho they said.

Once we reach the top, its kind of the end of the trip, and everyone leaves for home based on their own schedules. Some literally turn around at the top and head home. Others stay for a while, then catch an early dinner somewhere on I-5.

I still wish we could do some form of teddy bear drive or poker run out of this event, just in case the weather completely sucks. That way people dont feel like it was a bum trip that they didnt get to see the mountain.

As always. If you eat at spiffy's, get the buffet for time reasons. Ordering off the menu takes forever. Also, if you dont have a CB radio. Get one, even if its just plugged into a cigarette lighter and a mag mount. Roughly pg to pg-13 conversations, but very entertaining none the less.