Today we gathered up all our stuff and departed from Chehalis Thousand Trails. However, our drive was not long because we only drove over a ridge into the Cowlitz River watershed and about 20 miles later we pulled into the Paradise Thousand Trails Campground in Silver Creek. It is difficult to know when one is in Silver Creek because the downtown consists of a crummy Chinese restaurant, a Mobil fuel station and a very small post office.

Paradise campground is located on the side of a hill offering many parallel pull-through spaces, full hookups in most locations and an absolutely spectacular view from the top of the ridge. Looking mostly east from the campground entrance, one can see the emerald Cowlitz River Valley, azure Mayfield Lake and Mount Rainier, Mount Adams and Mount St. Helen’s on the horizon. All three of these snow-capped mountains are volcanoes – I think Mount Adams is dormant but the other two terrify locals every so often by ejecting frightening clouds of smoke and ash every time they forget that these things could kill them at any time.