East Mt. St. Helens - NFD25

[David_Laura]

Drove a 30 ft. Class A in mid-July from Woodland to Cougar on 503, continued east on highway 90, connected with NFD25 and turned north on the east side of Mt. St. Helens up to Randle.

It was an adventure, beautiful though heavy woodlands on steep valleys with great views of the east of the mountain and snow fields not normally seen.

The road is mostly two lanes with a centerline. Slips and slides are the real problem. The roadbed has settled in many places. Slabs of pavement have sunk a few inches to six inches resulting in a jarring ride. A few places are like hitting a parking lot curb. Speed limit is only 30 mph but we blew open a cabinet at less then 20 mph and broke some dishes. I was surprised that nothing came off the walls.

Other issues are lots of falling rock, 3 in. to 24 in. but mostly already pushed off the road. Lots of small tree branches have grown out over the roadway. There are a couple of areas where the right hand fogline and a couple of feet of roadway have slid into the valley below, a real hazard at night.