Northwest Vistas: Tour the Cascade volcanoes by air

There's more than one way to see the Cascade volcanoes of Oregon and Washington.

You can take days and pick them off one by one in your vehicle.

But there's also the option of seeing them in the span of about an hour by jet on your way to or from California.

Nine of them were clearly visible for those on the right side of Alaska Airlines Flight 1061from Santa Ana's John Wayne airport to SeaTac the afternoon of January 19th -- as they are on many West Coast flights.

In this case the glistening snow covered peaks stood out above a sea of low clouds as viewed from an announced height of 38,000 feet.

Mount McLoughlin near Medford and Ashland led off the parade, and after awhile the Three Sisters came into view.

One was spotted first from the inside seat away from the window, and a lean forward suddenly revealed a second volcanic peak.

In the case of Oregon where there is two that close there must be another, and sure enough a lean back into the seat revealed a third.

After the scene that was too close and big to fit into one photo frame, clouds once again dominated the scene until another peak came into view -- Mount Jefferson.

Shortly thereafter the distinctive pointed peak of Mount Hood popped into view.

Next up in the lineup of nine was somewhat distant Mount Adams in Washington, and it was followed shortly by truncated Mount St. Helens.

This mountain had its peak slide off into a huge explosion on May 18, 1980.

Now it sat peacefully below all coated with snow, with the crater visible as well as two lakes on the exploded north side, Spirit Lake and Coldwater Lake.

Coldwater was created by the events on that fateful day in 1980, while Spirit Lake existed before but was greatly rearranged by them.

Before the blast the now log strewn lake surrounded by mostly barren but recovering hills was a gem sitting among a pristine forest.

Last but certainly not least to appear was Mount Rainier.

At first it was visible in the distance, but quickly disappeared from view through the windows as the Boeing 737-800 banked down toward SeaTac.

Just as quickly the mighty landmark snapped back into view as the jet liner evened out, this time from a closer and lower vantage point.

The non-volcanic but also snow capped Olympics appeared in the west as the airplane circled around to the north for its landing at SeaTac International.

How to get there:

Book a round trip to a California destination on a hopefully clear enough day and forgo the urge to nap, read or watch a movie and look out the window.

Photos and text by Tim Clinton.