Our part of the world is a little short on natural disasters, as luck should have it. Tornados, hurricanes, tsunamis, massive earthquakes, floods, wildfires, locusts, venomous snakes, insects bigger than garden spiders--they were all in rare supply in my neighborhood when I was growing up. However, there was one spectacular event that I watched from the deck of my parents house in 1980. Of course I'm referring to Mt. St. Helens.The news coverage and smaller eruptions leading up to the big event were fascinating and exciting, being a safe distance away but still in plain view. The big eruption itself was mesmerizing, as was the news footage of the gigantic trees lined up like matchsticks, bridges being washed away by mud, cities to the north being plunged into darkness by falling ash. I couldn't believe Harry Truman would just let himself be taken by the mountain. There was another eruption (now I can't remember if it was before or after the big one) while I was watching an old 1950s Vincent Price movie at the Movie House, and they stopped the movie and sent us home. Being up there on the mountain, however, gave me new appreciation for the massiveness of the eruption. Even 29 years later, it looks nothing like any other place in the Cascade Mountains. The amount of ash is just staggering. Apparently the bottom of the valley is about 300 feet higher now.
Anyway, the trip to Johnston Ridge visitors center was well worth the 2+ hour drive. It still looks like a moonscape, with hardly tree to be found.
In this picture you can kind of see where the massive landslide tore up this ridge at 300+ miles per hours and sheered everything away down to the bedrock. (That is Mt. Adams is peeking over the top of the hills in the distance)
Most of the area around the visitors center is on the side of the ridge that was decimated, so we didn't see all the downed trees lined up like I expected to see. There were a few high up on the far hills, though.
And of course there were some signs of life, now that almost 30 years have past:
In this picture you can kind of see where the massive landslide tore up this ridge at 300+ miles per hours and sheered everything away down to the bedrock. (That is Mt. Adams is peeking over the top of the hills in the distance)
Most of the area around the visitors center is on the side of the ridge that was decimated, so we didn't see all the downed trees lined up like I expected to see. There were a few high up on the far hills, though.
And of course there were some signs of life, now that almost 30 years have past:
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