A Visit to Mt. St. Helens

May 18, 1980.

Does that date have any significance for you?

 It doesn't mean a whole lot to me, but it is a day that was a big deal for Dave.

 His dog, Ginger, had puppies.

Oh, and Mt. St. Helens blew its top.

Dave was 10 and living in Elma, WA when the mountain erupted. He said he can remember having to wear masks whenever they went outside. He also remembers it getting dark and the ash falling all around. The news stories are etched in his mind.

Last weekend (particularly Saturday) was a bright, clear day. The mountain was visible for much of the time once one went south from Centralia. Dave was fascinated by the mountain and would watch for it around every bend. He was looking forward to stopping and seeing it up close on Sunday.

Sunday wasn't as bright and crisp as Saturday, but good enough that we could stop and still see something. We stopped at the Visitor's Center at the base, but didn't spend much time there as there was an admission charge. I did get a picture from that Visitor's Center.

We proceeded up the highway, through Toutle and a few other small towns. The whole time, Mt. St. Helens was visible out the passenger's side window. I only had to remind David a handful of times to please watch the road and not the mountain. The highway doesn't actually take you up Mt. St. Helens; maybe it did before the mountain erupted, but the new highway is across the river from Mt. St. Helens.

 

We finally arrived at Johnstons Ridge Observatory and Visitor's Center. The mountain looked massive from that vantage point. We walked around a little, viewed the film and exhibits in the Visitor's Center, and took a moment to take another picture.

 

Dave was so glad that he finally got to visit the volcano. The boys kept asking what would happened if it blew again while we were up there--there was steam coming out of one of the lava domes. I asked them if they had learned nothing from the film and observing the landscape around us because to me the answer seemed obvious what would happen if the mountain erupted again while we were there.

On the way down, Carson spotted Sasquatch (his fascination with the legend of Sasquatch is fodder for a whole other blog). We stopped for another picture with the Squatch and a picnic.

And thus ended our visit to Mt. St. Helens.

Oh, and the extra boy in the pictures is my nephew, Skyler.