MSHNVM

Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument - It took some persuading but I convinced John that we should see this national treasure and I'm glad we did!

On Monday we drove from the Washington coast back into Oregon. We stopped in Astoria to view the Columbia River Maritime Museum. We particularly liked the displays about the Coast Guard.   

We then crossed the Columbia River once more to drive to Mt. St. Helens . The weather is so much nicer here! It was in the mid-70's with the sun shining in the afternoon but cool enough in the evening to enjoy a roaring fire. We are staying in the Seaquest State Park which is 45 miles from the National Park.

Right across the street from the state park is the state run Mt. St. Helen's Visitor Center. They have a great museum with the story of the eruption of Mt. St. Helens beginning with the earthquakes that started in March 1980 up to the actual eruption on May 18. Then, today we drove the 45 miles up to the National Volcanic Monument where they continued the story of the eruption and the devastation it caused. They also had stories from survivors that told of the perils of camping and living near an active volcano.

We could see the former mountain and the gap and crater created by the explosion. Mt. St. Helen began showing signs of an impending eruption in March with nearly continuous earth quakes. Then a huge bulge began showing on her north side. It grew about 5 feet everyday until it was about a mile across. Of course the people in the area had been evacuated but the day before the eruption, the government let a caravan of people return to their homes to collect belongings. Early on the morning of May 18 the eruption started with a plume of smoke and ash coming off the top but then the bulge slid down the mountain and release the magma, gas, and ash that had been building under that bulge. The explosion shot out to the north parallel to the land, not straight up as one would imaging. The hot wind, gas and ash shot out over the land at about 300 mph blowing down all the trees and scrubbing the land clean. Then the hot magma melted all the snow and hot water and mud crashed down the mountain side and into the river sweeping up the fallen trees and everything else in its path including bridges, cars, lumber trucks and people and moving it down stream at about 100 mph. The billowing ash column followed, rising over 12 miles into the air, and causing thunder and lightning. That ash eventually circled the globe. The devastation reached over 13 miles north from the volcano. Lava domes have formed inside the crater and snow is trapped there creating a glacier. A nearby lake, Spirit Lake, was pushed up the sides of the surrounding mountains over 200 feet and when the water fell back down, the mud and ash had raised the floor of the lake by 300 meters. 33 years later the lake is still clogged with fallen trees floating in the water.

We hiked the boundary trail and then went out on Harry's Ridge to get a better view of the volcano and Spirit Lake. It was a long 7 mile round trip hike over ash, basalt rocks and up, down, and along a ridge. But the flowers were beautiful and nature is trying to make a comeback.