Mnt St Helens

[Terry]

As tomorrow is the 30th anniversary of the eruption I thought I would post a few photos of the area from 1990. They are not great as they were scanned from slides, but good enough to see what the area looked like 10 years after. If anyone has any more recent photos I'd like to see them.

[Cloud9Gal]

Oh Terry! Nice! Real nice!

Pictures 2 and 3 are my favorites! So beautiful!

Thank you for posting these for us. I enjoyed seeing Mt St Helens of 30 years ago :)

One day, I hope to have the chance to see Mount St Helens for real!

[jmig]

It has beet THAT long. Man, you are making me feel OLD. :jump:

I have never been there would love to see it one day. My wife and I will be in Northern Calif. later this month but we would get up there. We plan on flying to Seattle and making a trip around Wash and Org.

Thanks for the pictures.

[PeteHam]

Thanks for sharing the pics Terry.

In the latest issue of National Geographic (May 2010) there's an article about how the area is doing in the years since the eruption.

Nature at work.

Pete.

[Snuffy]

Thanks for sharing the pics Terry.

In the latest issue of National Geographic (May 2010) there's an article about how the area is doing in the years since the eruption.

Nature at work.

Pete.

Nature is an amazing thing ... No? :)

[Dain Arns]

I still have a couple pounds of ash in a container here.
We were living 330 miles downwind in Montana at the time, and received a couple inches of the stuff.
You could dig down in the garden years later and still find the layer of it. :kilroy:

We were having a barbecue at a friends house. It turned out to be a really nice day.
Realized when it started getting hazy out what happened, and headed for home.
It really started coming down heavy along the way.
Had to knock the ash out of the air filter on the truck several times, it kept plugging up.
Dad cleaned the carburetor out after that, and worked on the engine.
But that truck never worked the same after that.

Didn't really have a choice to stay with our friends, we had animals we had to tend to.

[limjack]

That reminds me it was senior skip day for me 30 years ago and I was down on the Oregon coast when it went off. Actually heard the booms as well. What a cool site as I came over the coast range to see the black ash storm coming off the mountain. I have visited the site many time but have not taken any pictures but life is coming back into the area. The last time I was there I kayaked with a friend in coldwater lake just 6 miles from the crater on the North side where all the trees layed down and got burnt. If ya get the chance to see it it is worth it. Nice pictures by the way.

Jim

[safn1949]

I was in Basin,Wyoming on my Z1R when the ash hit,what a mess.I had to change oil and clean my air filter out the next day.I rode out there from NY in time to get hit with that.:d

[txnetcop]

I was there twice not long after it a happened...it looked like a moonscape!!
Ted
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[viking3]

I was camping at Waterton Lakes, Alberta that weekend which is right across the border from Glacier Park, Montana. We woke up late Monday morning to ash falling like snow. Several inches of the stuff was on the ground as we packed up our gear and the sun was a slightly orange glow in a grey sky. Waterton Lake is a finger lake barely a 1/4 mile in width but you couldn't see the other side. What a freaky day that was.

Regards, Rob:ernae:

[deKoven]

You think St. Helens was bad; wait for Mount Rainier to blow it's stack. Very much nearer to population centers and supposed to be a bigger blast. Scientists tell us it ain't a matter of if, it's a matter of when and in the last few years activity has picked up tremenjously. :toilet:

[Terry]

You think St. Helens was bad; wait for Mount Rainier to blow it's stack. Very much nearer to population centers and supposed to be a bigger blast. Scientists tell us it ain't a matter of if, it's a matter of when and in the last few years activity has picked up tremenjously. :toilet:

Just saw a show on TWC on that subject. Seems the entire Cascade range is a time bomb, Rainier in particular.

[GT182]

I was home that Sunday and watched it in tv. What a shock seeing the devaatation and loss of life.... human as wel as animal. I hope no one has to ever go thru a tragedy like that again... anywhere.

One thing to remember, you can never beat Mother Nature. She will win everytime.

[NWarty]

You think St. Helens was bad; wait for Mount Rainier to blow it's stack. Very much nearer to population centers and supposed to be a bigger blast. Scientists tell us it ain't a matter of if, it's a matter of when and in the last few years activity has picked up tremenjously. :toilet:

Yup. Parts of Pierce County are toast if she blows her top.

[BOOM]

The erruption in timelapse,Incredible power!!!!!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmsxmbVYMHo&feature=related

[limjack]

Yup. Parts of Pierce County are toast if she blows her top.

We will hope she stays sleeping a bit longer, no need to wake her.

Jim

[Jagdflieger]

I was in Wyoming with my wife on a little vacation when it blew. We woke up to a fine ash on the car, but we missed the heavy fall out of locals further north.

We've been up to see the mountain a few times over the years and it's been interesting to watch the area regenerate.

[Kiwikat]

You think St. Helens was bad; wait for Mount Rainier to blow it's stack. Very much nearer to population centers and supposed to be a bigger blast. Scientists tell us it ain't a matter of if, it's a matter of when and in the last few years activity has picked up tremenjously. :toilet:

I hope it doesn't happen in my lifetime. It is the single most beautiful site I've seen. Anyone who hasn't seen it in person cannot imagine what it is like. Quite the powerful place for sure...

Though I was only in 6th grade when we visited Washington, it is definitely one of the defining moments of my life so far. It's sheer size and beauty is overwhelming. I will never, ever forget that trip. :)

[PRB]

It's interesting to hear the story told here from the perspective of those who were there. Been listening to stories at work all day about that day. Oh, and here's the view out my window where I live now... :eek:

[Holger Sandmann]

Hi guys,

there's a great photo series at Big Picture: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/

And here are two pictures from my last trip to Saint Helens, in 2006. The more sheltered areas are starting to green up again noticeably compared to my first visit back in 1989.

Cheers, Holger

[OleBoy]

I remember that day well. It was a beautiful spring day, and I was in Olympia, WA at a mall area. Capitol Mall it's called. I was with some friends at the south end of the mall where the smaller chain business's and a few supermarkets were. We were in the store called "Ernst". I was tired of looking, walking and went outside (facing South) and planted my butt on one of the benches to relax while the ladies were happily meandering back inside. The mall was busy that day and the parking lots was full of cars and people...not to mention all the patrons inside. It was a crystal clear day and Mt. St Helens was standing tall in the distance. I reminisced memories of many camping trips to Cougar Lake, WA and the surrounding area with my cousins and grand parents.

Short story..

Remembering good times of catching toads (frogs) and polliwogs around the lakes. The tadpoles along the lake shore were so thick that it was black nearly three feet out from shoreline all the way round the lakes. The water was squirming with life. As a young boy, nature was a big thing for me. Aand anything the wiggled, squirmed, slithered or crawled had my attention. But one of my fondest memories from visiting Cougar Lake, WA were those polliwogs. Because when you saw those polliwogs in the water, we knew that the developing frogs weren't far away too. That's when my cousins and I set out in search of them in the fields along the lake shore. You'd have to see it to believe it, but those hundreds of thousands of polliwogs evolved into tiny toads. Well, out in the fields there were literally thousands of them in piles (like mole hills) some two feet in circumference and piled a foot high. Yes.....little toads. Well, my cousins and I went back to camp and asked gramma for buckets and boxes and milk cartons. We were going to catch a whole mess of them things and take them back to camp. Well, we did just that. We caught (I'll bet) and no exxageration, about 500,000 little frogs no bigger than a dime and carried the containers back to camp to show gramma and grandpa what we'd caught. Well, they were out walking the dogs when we got back to camp. Well, we wanted to see how many we'd caught. My grandparents did all their camping in a real big tent where we all planned to sleep while camping....and, you guessed it. We went in the tent and poured all them frogs in the tent. There were frogs EVERYWHERE...in every nook and crevas possible :D

That day while sitting in front of the Ernst store, Mt. St. Helens blew it's top. It was like slow motion and something I didn't realize was really happening. The others saw the plume rising above the mountain. The word spread quickly throughout the store and also the whole mall. And before we realized it, everyone from inside the retail stores were outside watching as the plume of ash rose and spread for miles high in the sky. Then came the sounds of the eruption and the tremors from the blast. Everyone just stood there in awe for over 30 minutes as the ash was getting pushed by the winds to the North East. People were scared everywhere that lived in the area up and down the I-5 South corridor.

I could go on forever about the blast...and the devastation from. I remember how it was before May 18th 1990. How beautiful it was, peaceful and serene. The wild life was just amazing for the atmosphere. Now.....in one instance, it was all gone. Nothing in it's path was spared from the force contained inside the mountain.

To this day, along Highway 5 going South, there are literally mountains of ash everywhere as one of the reminders from the outcome. So many gone...and so much lost. To me, it's still like the desert. It will take many more decades for plant life alone to the ladies tracks.

Sorry for drifting in memorial ramble. There's just so much that was lost on this day 30 years ago.

[WarHorse47]

I remember the day as well.

We live unincorporated Thurston County, just on the outskirts of Lacey and Olympia, WA. We were in the process of painting our house with our kids, friends and family. We had finished the main house coat of paint and had started painting the house trim. My father-in-law and I were exchanging places on the ladder to get to the upper parts of the house when St. Helens blew. We first started to see the plume rising over the horizon, followed by a light layer of dust. My first thought was "there goes the paint job."

Our area was the lease impacted. Those areas to the South and East as I recall got it the worse. We quickly prepared for the worse and got face masks, water and supplies, and other things while the stores were still open. No major damage to the house or town, but it was scarey for all of us living in the area.

--WH

[Wild Bill Kelso]

Scientists tell us it ain't a matter of if, it's a matter of when...

Same thing is said about Cumbre Vieja at La Palma, Canary Islands:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumbre_Vieja

Note the "Future threat" paragraph.
Despite the controversy mentioned: Just imagine the half island sliding down into the sea and the consequences of this splash...
If the model presented comes true, the US east coast (and we in Europe as well) can forget anything we saw in "Deep Impact" or "2012".
Thanks to the founders of Berlin, we're at 34 m ASL... :d

Cheers,
Markus.

[OleBoy]

I recall seeing a movie about a Volcano that popped it's top. It was called "Dantes Peak" If you haven't seen it, I highly suggest it for informational purposes. Something of this caliber/magnitude, along with all the information gained from Mt. St. Helens, just shows how quickly Sleeping Beauty can awake with a major case of PMS.

[Dain Arns]

Yellowstone could 'pop' at any time too...
http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/supervolcano/under/under.html
Happy news! :icon_lol:


I was finally able to put together enough pennies this month to get Orbx PNW.
One of my first trips was up to the top of Mt. St. Helens.

[Snuffy]

My baby brother was in the Army at the time of Mt. St. Helen's blowin her top. He was stationed in Fort Lewis Washington.

He said in a phone call ... "Don't ever hold a dress parade in 8 inches of volcanic ash, you get all kinds of uniform demerits!"

LOL!

[NWarty]

If you guys (out-of-staters) ever get a chance to visit Mt. St. Helens, you need to see Johnston Obsevatory, it's fantastic. The movie inside the theater starts with the audio of David Johnston's last words "Vancouver! Vancouver! This is it!" as the still eruption pictures are morphed into a movie sequence. The short movie goes on about the eruption and its after effects. Then the curtain is drawn back and you're looking at about 145 degree panorama and looking smack-dab into the crater. Very cool and eerie stuff.

[tigisfat]

Sorry for drifting in memorial ramble. There's just so much that was lost on this day 30 years ago.


No need to apologize, I really enjoyed reading your story. Thanks! :ernae:

[smilo]

I had the typical long winded smilo story
about being in Missoula, Montana when she went.
fortunately for you all, I screwed up
and lost it before I submitted my reply.
whew...lucky you

[Dain Arns]

I had the typical long winded smilo story
about being in Missoula, Montana when she went.
fortunately for you all, I screwed up
and lost it before I submitted my reply.
whew...lucky you

Awww.
What, you get stuck in the Oxford for a week? :icon_lol:

[smilo]

Awww.
What, you get stuck in the Oxford for a week? :icon_lol:

OMG, the OX, heck no.
talk about a major psychedelic flashback...
walking in the door of the OX was like
stepping back into depression era '30s...
where else can you get brains and eggs for breakfast?

how about Eddy's Club,
with the black and white photos of the local characters
and the deceased ones got a gold star.

then there's always the Stockman's down the street.
they had a bar in the front and a card room in the back.
their T-shirts said
"Liquor in the Front, Poker in the Rear"
real classy.

I was a bouncer across the street
at the Top Hat for several years.
never forget the night there was a brawl
and a guy went through the plate glass window.
lucky SOB didn't get killed by falling glass.

oh man, see what happens when you get me started?
and I didn't even begin to talk about St H goin' off

[Willy]

where else can you get brains and eggs for breakfast?

You can get canned pork brains and gravy at the grocery store here. My 80 year old father in law loves them.

[Dain Arns]

walking in the door of the OX was like
stepping back into depression era '30s...

Yeah. I always enjoyed that aspect of it's 'atmosphere'. :icon_lol:


I was a bouncer across the street
at the Top Hat for several years.
never forget the night there was a brawl
and a guy went through the plate glass window.
lucky SOB didn't get killed by falling glass...

LOL, I hadn't thought about the Top Hat in years.
I don't think it's changed much even since I was misspending my youth in there.
As I've gotten older I guess I have changed though. :d