Mount St. Helens

Today was dramatic, although it didn't start that way. We set out in a dreary drizzle for the fifty mile drive up the Toutle River* to the Johnson Ridge Observatory which affords an excellent view of Mt. St. Helens, if the weather cooperates.

I can remember picking up the paper on May 18, 1980 and reading about the dramatic explosion of Mt St. Helens. It had been threatening to erupt since an earthquake beneath it was registered in March. The mountain was crawling with scientists, including David Johnston, a vulcanologist stationed on a ridge across from the mountain. The surrounding area was dotted with homes, tourist lodges, a scout camp, hikers and campers, all of whom were evacuated except for one Harry Truman who refused to leave his lodge at Spirit Lake saying "I am part of the mountain and it is part of me." I wonder if he ever thought that it might be literally true....

The newspaper showed pictures of a an explosion of ash, gas and rubble blowing sideways out of the mountain. The landscape for miles around was nothing but blown down trees which looked like toothpicks all fallen in the direction of the blast. Harry Truman and his lodge were gone, buried under tons of water ash and rubble.

We hurried through the cold drizzle and into the Johnston Ridge Observatory, built on the spot where David Johnston had had just enough time to shout into his radio, "Vancouver, Vancouver, this is it!" before he was hit by the blast from the eruption. It is six miles away from the North face of the mountain and received the direct impact of the explosion. We couldn't see much since everything was enveloped in blowing clouds and mist, so we watched the movie which ended with a dramatic raising of the screen and the curtain behind it to reveal the mountain itself, emerging from the clouds into the sun. That was dramatic!

*Seen in the middle of the shot.