Our introduction to Washington is along the mighty Columbia River, the lowest point along the entire PCMCR, but we soon climb into the Cascade mountains once again as we pass close by Mt St Helen’s, the most recent volcano to erupt in America, then through Mt. Rainier National Park. Because the rugged mountains to the north of the park made road-building difficult to impossible, our route now begins to hop from one side of the mountains to the other, dropping down into developed areas near the town of Enumclaw, them over to the east side on the longest section of freeway that the PCMCR follows, interstate 90. This section keeps us on the west side of the Cascades for most of the ride and is famous for its wet weather, so be prepared for something called the Washington drizzle, not quite a rain, but wet just the same.