Mount St.Helens

 On May 18, 1980 this mountain exploded in a blast that was over 500-times greater than the bomb that dropped on Hiroshima, Japan during World War 11.  Before that date Mount St.Helens in southwestern Washington was considered to be one of the most beautiful mountains in the world.  It was judged to be a young and active volcano with a nearly perfect cone. That information I obtained from a very beautiful book distributed by Impact printing, the title of which is Volcano Mount St. Helens.  Also another interesting piece of information is that before the eruption the mountain stood at 9,677 feet and currently its height is 8,365 feet. There were rumblings coming from the mountain prior to its eruption, which may explain why a vulcanologist, David Johnston, was standing on the north ridge in front of of the mountain before it blew. He was one  of the 57 people killed in that initial blast from the mountain.

This is how the mountain looks today.  Our family group stood for awhile at the Johnston Ridge Observatory (named for the vulcanologist who died at this ridge).  It was impressive looking at the valley below, as well as the lakes in the distance- trying to imagine how it all looked before the mountain blew.  John and I have visited this area several times since 1980.  The first time (several months after the initial blast) I remember seeing a burned out car still sitting by the side of the road, as well as large swaths of burned forests with only a few tree trunks still standing.  Within three minutes the landslide from the blast scorched 230 square miles of forest, toppling and removing many trees.  Parts of Eastern Washington, Idaho and Montana were covered with layers of ash.  Day turned into night in the affected areas.

The stumps pictured above are all that is left of many of the 150-foot- tall trees, some of which were quite ancient.

The burned trees are still lying around,  but the scene of desolation now has the promise of new life with the forest growing back.

One of the first wildflowers to appear after a fire is the fireweed- that red flower pictured above.

Standing on the north ridge we were able to view the Toutle River Valley.  On that fateful day hundreds of feet of rock and debris filled its north fork, burying 14 miles of the river and its tributaries.  Rain, snow melt, and a mud flow from an eruption in 1982 carved new channels in the valley.  Part of the initial landslide surged into Spirit Lake, raising it about 200 feet.  Coldwater, Spirit, Silver, and Castle lakes were all changed or formed that day in 1980 from the eruption of the mountain.

                                          

There were a selection of trails we could have taken from the observatory, John and I chose the lake path.  Others of our group took a more challenging one- the hummock trail.  Hummocks are intact pieces of the mountain which were carried off in the landslide and still litter the valley floor today.  Along our lake path I noticed an interpretive sign which said that  "these lakes show that life quickly responds to natural changes on the earth's surface".  Mount Saint Helens was changed a lot in 1980, but natural beauty still can be found in the hillsides, lakes and valley surrounding it.