Mount St. Helens, Where Were You?

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It kind of shapes your life - those events for which everyone seems to be able to answer the question “Where were you when…” For Carl, he was in St. Louis when Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980 - he listened to the news in his hotel room that night, but didn’t really comprehend the magnitude until the next morning when he walked outside and there were no clouds, but just a uniform haze… This was not really a defining moment in Maria’s life - she would like to think that it was because she was too young, but it is more likely because she was living in Australia! The morning kind of set the scene for the day as we opened the door to a fog bank…

Statistics

Starting Destination: Morton, Washington
Ending Destination: Newberg, Oregon
Ending Destination GPS: N: 45° 18.273’ W: 122° 57.063’ Elev: 326’
Miles Driven: 211.6
Total Miles Driven: 7,616.8
Distance Walked: ¼ mile and 876 Steps
Most Interesting Vanity License Plate: ELKCRZY

Getting Started

A fog bank? After all the lovely weather days we have had it was quite a shock! The lady at the hotel said that it usually disappears by about 9am, but by 11am it was still hanging around! We took off anyway, retracing our steps to Randle where the turn-off is for the back-door-road to Mount St. Helens. We had decided to go the back way as it meant that we didn’t have to double back to Interstate 5, plus the road in was shorter so there would be less back-tracking! However, this meant driving through the tree tunnels of Gifford Pinchot National Forest, dealing with other drivers who wanted to get from point A to point B without looking at the sights and spotting the campsite in every clearing - yes, it was hunting season (black powder Deer and Elk) and the aficionado’s were out in force! As we slowly wound our way up the road, pretty much all we could see were trees… However, there were enough clear-cut sections for us to check out (1) the condition of the sky—it was pretty grey, but getting clearer; and (2) Mount Rainier—we had been just in time as it was making plenty of weather!

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Turning the Corner, and…

We stopped first at the Bear Meadow Lookout for our fist glimpse of the mountain, but the devastation caused by the eruption was not readily apparent… Until you drive on a little further, the trees are thinner and there are a few more snags (dead trees that are still standing), so you think—perhaps the effects were gradual?
But no, you suddenly drive around the corner and BAM - it strikes you, even 26 years later, just how monumental was the extent of the devastation. Almost more striking is the “line,” clearly visible, that marks the edge of the devastation.
Scientists are using the environment as a kind of living experiment - in places they did nothing to the land, in others they salvage logged all the trees that were blown down and replanted new trees; for some creeks they left all the logs to gradually dam the water and then release, in others they removed all the logs… Only time will tell, what is the best path forward? But from the lay person’s eye - there is definitely “more” green in the sections that were replanted.
We slowly wound our way up the hill, stopping at all the interpretive signs, at the car that has been left just where it was found after the eruptions had finished, at Spirit Lake, now 200 feet higher than it was before the eruption and still1/3 full of floating logs; all the while wondering just how bad it must have been…
But along the way there were signs of hope, renewal, life - the snake sunning himself precariously on the road, the sound of the birds, the beautiful purple flowers growing next to a snag and the colors of the fall foliage… And curiously the volcano… When we got to Windy Ridge, at the top of the road, there was a walking path up to a view-point where you could see more clearly into the crater…
Where Mount St. Helens is slowly rebuilding - there have only been three eruptive periods during recorded history; during the latest (2004 to the present day) the mountain has been creating a new lava dome. Although the rate of progress seems high (replacing 90 million cubic yards to date), at the current rate it will still take over 100 years for the mountain to regain its former glory. Also, a glacier has formed - something we never expected - most places the glaciers are retreating and somehow you think that they were formed millions of years ago… but in reality they are formed every single year, so we shouldn’t have been surprised.

p.s. Climbing of Mount St. Helens was reopened on June 21st, 2006 - it is limited to 100 people per day… The most direct route takes 7 - 12 hours, it is 9.5 miles round trip with an elevation gain of 4,500 feet.

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The Rest of the Day

After the emotional effect of Mount St. Helens, all we could really do was move on towards our next objective - the Columbia River Gorge.
Unfortunately, we got there a bit too late to see much - the grey had pretty much won! We crossed the river at “Bridge of the Gods,” and stopped briefly in Cascade Locks - where we saw the remains of the lock system that bypassed the rapids in the Columbia River when the Bonneville Dam was installed, the tiny steam engine “pony” that pulled freight around the locks and a fascinating sunset - with the color creeping in under the clouds. Our only other stop was at the Bonneville Dam site - we were too late for the visitors’ center, and despite our best efforts it was impossible to get anywhere near enough too actually “see” the dam… so we had to be satisfied with the display trout in the hatchery!! It was a late night - we followed the Interstates through downtown Portland and out the other side… finally stopping for the night in Newberg - where to our knowledge there was no special event going on in town!!

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Carl’s Travel Trivia

Yesterday’s Answer: Approximately 50%! (MISSING)
Today’s Question: Where were you when Mount St. Helens erupted?

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Comments

[Bonnie]

Question for you
What is the make of the car you found "dead" at Spirit Lake? I bet the grill would have been a great collector item too. Probaby could have sold it for some big bucks. I know I have said this before but your pictures are too wonderful for words. This is the best vacation EVER!!!

[The Odyssey]

Mt. St. Helens Car
Bonnie, The car looks to be a late '70s Ford, an LTD perhaps. If memory serves me well, it was 5 1/2 miles from the mountain. From the looks of the car it was flipped over several times durnin the event. It was owned by couple that had a mining claim in the area. They were in their cabin at the time. Like the Spirit Lake Lodge owner (Harry Truman), they did not survive.

[KRISTI]

HELLO
I was in the 6th grade, so probably in school.

[The Odyssey]

Mount St. Helens
Kristi, Good that is where you should have been!