Recent images of the ash cloud of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland left many of us glued to our TV’s in awe of the power of nature, or perhaps just frustrated as the ash wreaked havoc on travel plans and life in general across Western Europe.
For longtime Northwesterners though, this event harkened back to another eruption closer to home. On the morning of May 18, 1980 we watched in amazement as Mt. St. Helens in southwest Washington blew her top with a 24-megaton explosion that sent ash spiraling over a mile high. (For reference, just one megaton unit is a force equal to that of one million metric tons of TNT.)
If you lived here, the 8:32 a.m. blast is undoubtedly seared into your memory. For me, the reverberation was so strong that I was awakened by it — over 225 miles away in Vancouver B.C.
My brother, who was fishing that morning under incredibly blue skies in Spokane, was directly in the path of the east-blowing ash cloud. He vividly recalls watching an eerie black sky, stretching the entire length of the horizon, advance toward them carrying the powdery fine grit, dirt and rock that would eventually cover Spokane — and most of eastern Washington.
Another friend was 12-years-old at the time and living in Moses Lake where daytime turned dark for more than a day while burying the entire town in six inches of ash. “All we did for the next three months was shovel ash,” she said. “My dad tried to spray it off but it just turned to concrete.” She can now laugh at the memory. Kind of. In those first dark days, she thought it seemed like the world was coming to an end.
But it didn’t and true to form, Mother Nature showed her marvelous resilience. Thirty years later, a mere blink of the eye in terms of a volcano’s story, much of the Mt. St. Helens landscape is teeming with life and new beginnings. Although parts of the mountain still resemble a gray-pocked moonscape, wildlife is abundant, wildflowers are blooming and hiking and biking trails can now take you right up to the blast zone.
With many commemorative activities planned at the mountain this year, it’s a great opportunity to get acquainted with the unique geology of this active volcano. Take a road trip to see it yourself. And if you don’t have time, check out the USDA Forest Service’s 30th Anniversary “Volcano Cam” with near real-time images taken from the Johnston Ridge Observatory (http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/volcanocams/msh/).
Tell us your Mt. St. Helens story!
We’ll post a selection on www.OutdoorsNW.com Email to: Carolyn Price |
