After living in Costa Mesa, CA, for a few years, I got homesick for Oregon, packed up husband and cat, and headed north on March 15, 1980. We arrived in the Portland area on the 16th and proceeded to settle in. Also, on March 16, 1980, a series of small earthquakes rumbled, mostly unfelt, beneath Mt. St. Helens. Geologists and seismologists noted the activity, but there was nothing significant enough to warrant a news release. That changed when a magnitude 4.2 earthquake on March 20 prompted geologists to deploy additional seismometers. There was minor interest in the local news over the next two weeks; it was a curiosity, nothing more. Few people gave it any serious consideration until shortly after noon on March 27, when there was a loud boom followed by an ash plume that rose about 6,000 feet above the mountain. That caused a bit of excitement.
There was talk of a bulge forming on the north face of the volcano, but frankly, I couldn't see it in the newspaper or TV photos. Rumbles and occasional ash and/or steam plumes became commonplace over the next month. On April 29, the governor of Washington ordered a large area around the mountain closed. The Red Zone allowed no public access and the Blue Zone allowed only restricted access. Residents were ordered to evacuate, which caused a stir, because the public wasn't particularly concerned. Loggers, especially, protested the interference with their livelihood. On May 17, after continued dissent by unhappy residents, law enforcement officials escorted about 50 carloads of people into the Red Zone to retrieve possessions. Timing is everything.
As I recollect, there was far more news about unhappy residents and loggers than there was about the volcano. For many locals, it felt more and more like the boy who cried wolf one too many times. The volcano was putting on a nice show, but there was no reason people couldn't get on with their lives. Or so they thought. Until 8:32 Sunday morning, May 18.
1300 feet of elevation was lost in the largest landslide ever recorded by modern man as the north face of Mt. St. Helens slid into the valley below. There were two separate, but related disasters that happened during the eruption. The landslide came first, followed seconds later by a powerful blast. The debris avalanche traveled at speeds up to 150 mph. At one location, about 4 miles north of the summit, the advancing front of the avalanche still had sufficient momentum to flow over a ridge more than 1,150 feet high. It also traveled down the North Fork of the Toutle (pronounced Too-tl) River for 13 miles, filling the valley to an average depth of 150 feet. The landslide served to "uncork" the pressures within and beneath the mountain and hot gases and pumice blew northward at speeds up to 670 mph. Within an 8-mile radius of the north face, the blast obliterated everything in its path. Beyond that, up to approximately 19 miles away, trees were denuded of their branches and laid flat like matchsticks.
The initial eruption lasted for 9 hours. 57 people were killed. 250 square miles of land was damaged. 7000 big game animals and millions of smaller animals and birds died. Much as been documented about the devastation of that eruption. I have found it of great personal interest to visit the mountain every few years to see for myself how man and nature have rebuilt the area. For the most part, within the Mt. St. Helens National Monument, nature has been allowed to take her course. Outside the Monument, Weyerhauser owns or leases most of the land. They began harvesting blown down trees and replanting the forest within months of the initial eruption. The contrast has been very interesting to observe, as well.
Washington State Route 504 connected I-5 to Spirit Lake at Mt. St. Helens until it was obliterated during the 1980 eruption. The highway was rebuilt and reopened as far as Coldwater Ridge in 1991. The highway was completed as far as Johnston Ridge Observatory, which opened in 1994. To visit Windy Ridge, above Spirit Lake, approximately 5 miles east of Johnston Ridge requires a serious hike or a drive of several hours. Hopefully someday money will be found to connect the two sides of the mountain.
To read more, here are some recommended links:
Mt. St. Helens eruption timeline
Mt. St. Helens history
USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory
Mt. St. Helens poem
Weyerhauser Forest Learning Center at Mt. St. Helens
I hope you enjoy your visit to the west side of Mt. St. Helens with me. We'll visit the east side some other time.
This house, approximately 30 miles downstream from Mt. St. Helens was partially buried by the lahar (mud flow) that resulted from the May 18, 1980 eruption. In some places, the lahar left behind as much as 50 meters of mud, completely burying the original highway and many homes.
Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Adams in the left-center distance
Mt. St. Helens and N. Fork Toutle River winding through mud-flow deposits
Prior to the May 18, 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens, this lake did not exist. This is an example of the many streams that were buried and later formed new lakes and ponds.
Wild currant and other spring blossoms within the blast zone of Mt. St. Helens
Mt. St. Helens with the new Castle Lake center-right
Here's a close-up of the river channel, showing the depth of mud and ash the stream has cut through.
Here's a close-up of trees blown down by the May 18, 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens, along with some new trees struggling to rebuild the forest.
Here, you can see what remains of trees blown down by the May 18, 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens.
Loowit channel of the N. Fork Toutle River cutting through the ash, pumice, and mud deposited by the eruptions of Mt. St. Helens in 1980 and 1982
Mt. St. Helens under a passing cloud
Mt. St. Helens under a passing cloud
Mt. St. Helens with the new Castle Lake center-right
A wild bleeding heart growing amidst what I'm guessing are shamrocks.
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Looks like a very good trip, thanks for all the photos. Interesting to see how much some areas have recovered with others still are fairly barren. It is sure not as it was, but changes are constantly happening, not generally in such a short time. All the more dramatic. For a lot of people now, this is the only way they know it.
A few Sat Images from that day.
12:15 p.m. EDT on May 18, 1980. The ring structure is a cloud of volcanic ash propagating outward from the erupting mountain. The image was obtained 36 minutes after eruption.
Mt St Helens eruption, as photographed by NOAA GOES-3 satellite.
Image: NOAA, US Government (public domain)
Patrap: We get so caught up in the here-and-now, it's sometimes fun to take a look back, as well as noting the changes over time. Great addition to the blog. Those are a couple of WOW!!! images.
YCD: Ah, so you heard it? I was living just south of Portland at the time and we didn't hear a thing. The "silent zone" extended about 50 miles, so the first we knew about it was from the radio. Then everybody was scurrying to find a hilltop with a view. My parents collected 5 medicine bottles of ash in their driveway. The first was almost black, each one was lighter in color, and the last was almost white.
Mt St Helens on May 17, 1980, from Johnston Ridge. Courtesy of USGS/Cascades Volcano Observatory.
I saw some cool photos over the year but somehow I missed that one photographed by NOAA GOES-3 satellite. Thanks so much for this blog
Wonderful photos, the area looks so barren, so damaged, but new lakes and new growth show that nature my be knocked down, but always gets up again.
The photo of 'bleeding heart' is so poignant...... and the 'shamrock' plant we would call an oxalis, or wood sorrel.
Have a relaxing weekend :)
My brother married on the 17th of May, and of course, Mt. St. Helen's erupted the next day. We didn't hear of it until we were driving out of the park a day later, the 19th. My grandmother's birthday was the 17th and she was in the hospital deteriorating from her uterine cancer. My mom was with us and all we could think about was getting home.
She had been in the hospital for some time, and my mom needed the break of taking care of her and doing something positive/happy. My brother's wedding took care of that nicely, in one of the most beautiful areas on this planet - Yosemite!
But I remember when we finally started receiving radio reception, it was one of the first things we heard on the radio. I recall that I thought to myself - wow - some things can really change in a matter of days!
Did you just recently return to take those pictures? They are great, and the ones that Patrap contributed are good too.
We saw a program about it a couple of years ago, and it shed a rather positive light that things are coming back. Of course, it all takes time, and geologically, it's coming back quickly - but for us, of course, it seems like s snails pace!
Here is the show! Mt St Helen's Back From the Dead on PBS-NOVA
I thought so then but had the impression it was earlier (dark here). It's a while ago. I'll go looking for the book and the ash and post a photo on my blog.
"Vancouver, Vancouver this is it"
Sandi: I think that plant is probably a wood sorrel here, too, but I couldn't think of the name and it sure looks like a shamrock, with leaf-clusters measuring nearly 2 inches across. I thought the bleeding heart was a fitting close to the header: sadness for what was lost and yet proving that out of destruction, new life grows.
Pros: Glad you liked it. And what you said "Amazing how from so much disaster and destruction, a new and beautiful life is created my mother nature. New flowers, topography, ....." is exactly why I feel compelled to return every few years.
Karen: Looks like I got you to recalling a lot of memories there. And symbolism right along with it in your dying grandmother's birthday and your brother's wedding in powerful Yosemite. Except for the photo in #4, these pics were taken this past Wednesday, May 16, so that's how things look now.
YCD: "Vancouver, Vancouver this is it!" I think those were the last words ever spoken by volcanologist David Johnston before he was vaporized by the lateral blast.
Ylee: Every time I see that house in a grassy meadow, it drives home the point that ground level didn't used to be where it is now. The owners of that house were enterprising. Instead of bulldozing the house as most others did, they used it as a free attraction to promote a souvenir shop that they built next door. With decreased traffic to the mountain now, they've gone out of business, but they made some good money for a few years.
It's so interesting to me - at the very time Sandi was in Zambia, I was across the African continent in Liberia. And the year Mt. St. Helens exploded, you were in Portland, Karen was in Yosemite and I was living in Salt Lake City. Everyone's gotta be somewhere, as they say, but I still think it's interesting that we were in such relative proximity.
As far as I know, Mt. St. Helen's is the only example in my lifetime of
someonesomething that quite literally has "blown its top". Amazing.You talked about your folks collecting ash - first black, and then white at the last. Is that because the heavier particles fell first, and the lightest, the last to fall, also were the most white? It makes sense, thinking about fireplace ash - cinders far heavier than the powdery white ash. What an experience.
The strange thing to me was the appearance of Spirit Lake, which is still half covered in floating logs. The shape of the lake changes, depending on which way the wind blows.
Shore: I've seen mention of your Liberia reminiscences several times and when I saw Sandi's mention of Zambia, I did wonder if you two might have been in Africa around the same time. And when you point out our relative proximities, it gets me wondering about the six degrees of separation. You're probably right about the changes in ash color.
Puget: Driving through swirling ash clouds -- now there's a memory. Remember the cautions against using your windshield wipers? Windshield wipers ash = permanently scratched windshield. Because the "ash" was really a mixture of ground glass and ready-mix cement. It scratched or clogged any it came in contact with and turned into concrete after getting wet. Nasty stuff.
Bogon: That Landsat time lapse is a great find and addition to this blog. I watched it several times, each time focusing on a different aspect. Like you, I find it fascinating how the shape of Spirit Lake changes. I had read that, but never saw it before.
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BTW, last week I tried out the long-handled Fiskars grass clippers I told you about in the last blog. There was a bit of a learning curve for me. It went really slow the first session, but by the third session, I was clipping away as fast or faster than when I used to creep along on hands and knees using the regular clippers. Even when I'm back to "normal", I'll continue to use those long-handled clippers and save my knees.
I also walked to the mailbox and back last week, without a cane. That may not sound like much, but it's a bit more than a quarter mile round trip. Now, I'll be working to go beyond the mailbox and down the road a piece. I really have to think about what I'm doing to break the limping habit and rebuild the muscles in my right leg and hip. What do they say about habits? Do something 25 times in a row and it trains new muscle memory and becomes a new habit.
Not only that, we'll benefit due to the extra travel blogs you'll be able to do! :)
"Outside the Monument, Weyerhauser owns or leases most of the land. They began harvesting blown down trees and replanting the forest within months of the initial eruption. The contrast has been very interesting to observe, as well."
After all these years just how does the currently replanted and unharvested Weyerhauser land compare with the unmanaged recovery?
After reading about the long handled shears I may have to look closer if they have the at the garden stores.
Ylee: I have a hunch I'm going to have to get re-acquainted with the dogs down the road. They haven't seen me for a couple of years. I don't think they'll chew my leg off though -- at least I hope not. And with no garden this year, you will see more travel blogs. As I become able to walk more, that will only increase my choices of where to go. I'm already planning my next jaunt.
LowerCal: Pic #8 above, that shows the blow-down along with some struggling new trees is a good example of Mother Nature doing her thing, with trees 6-15 feet high. Weyerhauser was nice enough to put up signs along the road with dates. Their tracts were replanted between 1981-1986, with 1982 being the most common date. Most tracts were pruned around 1990, thinned around 1996, and fertilized about 2006. At least that's the best my memory will do. They are scheduled for harvest starting 2028 and I'd guess are approximately 30-40 feet high right now. Weyerhauser has a couple of comparative photos at their website. (scroll down to the bottom of the linked page)
On your limp, I broke my femur about 10 years ago. I had to have surgery on it. Couldn't walk for 4 months! Very painful to walk again and I used a cane for the first three weeks. But the faster I got rid of the cane the faster I got to walk without limping. Even though after a year I still limped when I got tired. Even now there is a very slight limp when I have done to much hiking or carrying nursery trees from one place to another.
Enjoy your travel time. We haven't done to much, with the one sick dog still hanging on. We don't want to leave her for to long. Plus a whole bunch of computer problems for Mr. P. Which (fingers crossed) will be solved this next week.
Our temps are going down on Friday to an amazing 63 degree high! Back up to the 90's after that. A nice May swing, thanks to the PacNW.
I'm with you on not wanting to be gone from home for very long. Whether the sick and/or geriatric one has two legs or four, you're still the caregiver. In the past two years, we've cared for two old, failing cats until it was time for them to cross the Rainbow Bridge. Even with someone to feed and check on them, you still worry. You just don't want to be gone overnight.
Have you made them yet?
I saw some in the bakery yesterday, but they were packaged in batches of 8.... that is just too many, I would be like a porker if I ate them all!! (And of course, they don't freeze well.... at least, that is what I tell myself!)
EDIT
LOL - you were composing to me as I was to you - :)
I totally agree about the octogenarians! Whilst having a coffee in the village we drove to, my aunt told me she went to school in the village and walked both ways each day! It took me 15 minutes to drive there!! They were certainly made of stern stuff - we are children of the late 20th century and "soft"!
Thanks for all the comments on my photos:)
LOL
Hope you're doing OK!
Sandi: butter only? or with jam?
Stay tuned.....
Crumpets
2 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1 cup warm milk
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons sugar
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda, dissolved in
1/4 cup warm water
butter, for greasing
Directions:
1) In large bowl, stir together yeast and water.
2) Let stand five minutes then add warm milk, butter, salt, and sugar.
3) Stir in flour until the batter has a slightly elastic consistency.
4) Cover and let stand 45 minutes.
5) Stir in dissolved soda, cover, and let rise 20 to 30 minutes.
6) Grease griddle and heat over medium-low heat.
7) Drop batter by 1/4 cup onto griddle, spacing 2 inches apart.
8) Reduce heat to low, cover griddle and cook crumpets until tops look dry, about 15 minutes.
9) They will look a little gummy, but will be done; do not turn over.
10) Repeat until batter is used up.
11) Toast before serving.
Yield: 16 crumpets
I prefer only butter... and real butter as a treat, not some of the poly-good-for-you margarines!
Others like jam or honey on them. They are filling, you will only need to eat a couple. The left overs will keep in the fridge for several days.
Didn't turn out as pictured in the recipe, but I learned. They cooked in less than half the time they should have, so next time, I'll lower the cooking temperature. Even though they don't look pretty, they sure do taste good!
Glad they tasted fine - I think the whole idea is to get holes! They are produced by the yeast bubbles bursting, so I wonder if your batter was a little dry. The dough needs to be moist to enable the gluten to stretch and allow the yeast bubbles to explode!
I admire your dedication - I am sure you will have another go and they will be perfect.
I, on the other hand, am going shopping and will buy a packet of crumpets! lol
Have a great weekend.
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We had weather last evening. No big deal for many of you across the country, but I saw/heard lightening for the first time in a couple of years. The storm cell was intense enough that it knocked out satellite TV reception for about 5 minutes. What fun!
I'd probably overcook them from the start, I'm hardwired to "brown" things, lol!
Good luck on #2!
Some of it was cooking chocolate. It came with a wonderful pleather bound cook book. Infact, one of the best I've seen as far as explaining cooking terms/techniques that other books take for granted that one would know.
I ordered a digital candy thermometer, scale, some of those cake pans with snap rings...never got around to actually making anything because we, okay I, ate all the cooking chocolate. Did you know that those wonderful round filled Lindor balls taste even better if you use a 90% piece of chocolate as a scoop to eat the soft centers :-D
Did use the cake pans though for coffee cakes and such. Absolutly love those types of pans now. Always perfect sides.
So back to the chocolate: Am I right in the assumption that you can't make a chocolate cake because the chocolate ends up in your mouth and not in the bowl? And the centers of Lindor truffle balls make a dip for use with 90% chocolate pieces? You've got it bad, woman! Good thing coffee cakes and such don't generally require chocolate or those spring-form pans would never get used. 8-D
Guess I haven't checked in for a while and missed out on the Crumpets! My loss!
Wanted to stop in and see how you are doing and to thank you for the crazy critter pic.
Having a double dose of Monday here so might not be able to post much but will check in when able.
Have a great day!
Grey and overcast here, but more pleasant than the stickiness of yesterday with 99% humidity!
I am planning an Jubilee tea for Sunday afternoon, so yesterday I made a Swiss roll sponge ready to fill with fresh strawberries and cream on Sunday. It has been rolled up with greaseproof in the middle and is in the freezer. All I need to do is defrost, carefully unroll and then fill and re-roll.
I have been asked to produce "Cucumber sandwiches" - the traditional afternoon tea item! lol
Take care!
Sandi: A Swiss sponge to roll up with strawberries and cream. That's a delicious variation on strawberry shortcake. With tea and cucumber sandwiches. Think I'll just invite myself on over for tea on Sunday!
Ylee: Actually, I've been doing some yard work the last several days, so no new trips yet.
My long-handled Fiskars clippers are working out great and I've managed to clip most of the grass from around raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries. I also wired together 3 tomato cages yesterday and DH planted my tomato and pepper plants. Last night, muscles were complaining with random muscle cramps until I took a Valerian Root capsule. That stuff is magic -- within 20 minutes of taking the pill, no more muscle cramps. Slept great, too.
Crumpets, version 2.0
I lowered the cooking temperature too much this time. Cooking time is supposed to be 15 minutes, but these took 25 minutes. At least they're holey this time.
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I've got a couple of day trips in mind:
1) head over to the east side of Mt. St. Helens for a drive through the most severe portion of the blast zone and also Spirit Lake
2) check out several waterfalls in the scenic Columbia River Gorge
Both trips will be in the 150-200 mile range and take all day. No date picked yet, but it's sure to happen some time in the next two weeks. Which would you like to see? WU-backseat-drivers decide!
"The fountain murmuring of sleep,
A drowsy tune;
The flickering green of leaves that keep
The light of June;
Peace, through a slumbering afternoon,
The peace of June.
Arthur Symons
The crumpets do look better! I'm sure you'll get the bugs worked out of the recipe soon!
I'll vote for the Colombia River Gorge, too!
Take care!
Puget: It is encouraging to be able to do some yard work. I'm still falling behind in the battle of the weeds in the flower beds, but I figure if I can just do a little each day, sooner or later I'll get the best of those weeds.
Ylee: Hail in the garden is heartbreaking, or it would be for me. Isn't this kinda late in the year for hail storms?
current score:
Mt St Helens eastside -- 0
Columbia Gorge waterfalls -- 2
White rabbits, white rabbits, white rabbits, Briar! Hope you have a great June!
"I can't help but wonder how the World would be,
If like the butterfly and rose we lived in harmony."
Bernard Howe
Have a wonderful day and weekend.
"Then let us, one and all, be contented with our lot;
The June is here this morning, and the sun is shining hot;
Oh! let us fill our hearts up with the glory of the day,
And banish ev'ry doubt and care and sorrow far away."
James Whitcomb Riley by way of Barbara Eutourage
All this talk of baking in the blog is making me hungry :)
1) head over to the east side of Mt. St. Helens for a drive through the most severe portion of the blast zone and also Spirit Lake
2) check out several waterfalls in the scenic Columbia River Gorge
Both trips will be in the 150-200 mile range and take all day. No date picked yet, but it's sure to happen some time in the next two weeks. Which would you like to see? WU-backseat-drivers decide!
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