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"Vancouver! Vancouver! This is it!"
- Last words of David Johnston, volunteer observer on 18 May 1980
If you are of a certain age and generation, you recognize the picture above without me having to say anything: Mt. St. Helens on 18 May, 1980.
The eruption of Mt. St. Helens was the end of a process starting that previous March when small earthquakes indicated the volcano might be going active again. On 18 May, an earthquake caused the north face of the mountain to weaken and slide, allowing the mountain to explode. It was the first volcanic explosion in the U.S. since 1915 (Lassen Peak).
57 people died, including David Johnston (above), a volunteer observer for the USGS. Lahars - volcanic mudslides - wreaked havoc on the local area, destroying Spirit Lake and reaching as far as the Columbia River 50 miles away. Damage estimates were at $1.1 billion (1980 value). The ash plume rose 80,000 feet into the air. Forests and fish were devastated. The explosion was 26 times as powerful as the Hiroshima atomic weapon.
(The Wikipedia article here has all the specifics.)
In 1982, Congress set aside 110,000 acres (445 square km) for the establishment of Mt. St. Helens Volcanic National Monument. The National Monument abuts private forestland as well, giving a view of recovery both natural and man-directed.
The park is approximately one hour North of Vancouver, WA. There are two roads into the park, highways 503 and 504. We took 504, the more Northerly route. There is a rather lovely visitors center on 504, which gives a history of the region.
The road drives through a recovering landscape.
A view of Mt. St. Helens and the beginning of the Toutle River. The river course is not fully established yet. What you see below as the river base is 40' higher than it was before the eruption.
It was a splendid day for wildflowers.
Currently you cannot drive all the way to Windy Ridge/Johnston Observatory due to a slide across the road.
An interesting note is that life returned to the eruption zone far more quickly than anyone anticipated.
My Uncle's Ranch was downwind of the eruption.
ReplyDeleteBad stuff Lots of silica that harmed lungs unless you used air filters ad masks. REALLY HARD on motors as it clogged air filters nearly instantly and running without destroyed engines. Even electric water pumps for our rotating irrigation system had bearing failures.
Good stuff for two years Uncle needed almost no fertilizer supplements as the ash was high in needed minerals. As he grew mostly alfalfa (a nitrogen fixer) it was quite a boon.
Michael - Speaking with folks at the Forestry Center there and hearing other stories, the ash was a real challenge - although, as you point out, not without longer term benefit.
DeleteWhen we visited a few years back, we were able to go all the way to the Johnston Observatory though I must admit, the entire time I was there I felt claustrophobically close to the mountain.
ReplyDeleteEd, I fully intend to return once the road is reopened (later this year).
DeleteApparently you can hike the mountain as well, although above 4800' you need a permit (which go quickly, of course). I may throw my hat in the ring next year.
We did hike aways on the trails around the observatory but didn't go far enough to need a permit.
DeleteDepending on if it opens this year, a second trip in Autumn may be in order.
DeleteSomeone much smarter than I said "Nature finds a way" ....or was it movie dialog? Forty six years since that Big Boom TB, where's the time gone hey? Nice visuals, an interesting change of pace.
ReplyDeleteNot exactly verbatim but what I thought about first when reading your comment:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oijEsqT2QKQ
Nylon12 - Jurassic Park remains one of the greatest warning letters to new technologies ever. And we have lived with that now, almost since the publishing of the book.
DeleteIt was a really beautiful trip. A person could, I think, make a life just learning more about that park.
Pretty amazing. I know people like to speak of the fragility of nature because of how quickly it can be destroyed. But from living in nature most of my life, I'm more convinced of its resilience. The destruction is temporary but the resilience is abundant and always wins in the end.
ReplyDeleteLeigh, apparently "the experts" were shocked by the recovery of the region. They assumed it would remain a moonscape for decades or even longer; 45 years later it is recovering (although different, of course).
DeleteOne of the last recoveries are the fish spawning runs. The Toutle River is still moving too much to provide a reliable channel, so the Forest Service is trucking the fish to their final destination.
I think that resilience was demonstrated again in the aftermath of Chernobyl - nature just got on with life even in the areas of highest radioactivity.
DeleteWill, that is a good point. The same is true of Fukushima, I believe.
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