Mount Saint Helens, looking peaceful on a bright sunny day.
: : :
But on March 18, 1980
she looked equally as beautiful and peaceful
until 08:32 am when she erupted.
It started with a major earthquake
which caused the whole north face of the volcano to slide away
and then erupted spewing ash 80,000 feet into the air,
eventually causing ash to fall on states and provinces to the east.
Glaciers melted forming larhars that rushed down the Toutle River,
then into the Cowlitz and eventually all the way to the
Columbia River 50 miles away.
Fifty-seven people perished in the disaster.
: : :
Here,
you can see the mountain,
it’s crater and the blow down area still looking very barren
beginning to recover with some new growth.
Today,
this area is part of the Mount Saint Helens National Monument.
There are roads with overlooks and several observatories,
the main one on Johnston Ridge,
named after David Johnston (who died in the eruption}.
He was a young USGS scientist
who saw the eruption begin,
as he sat on a ridge monitoring the mountain that morning,
he radioed the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver WA
saying ‘Vancouver! Vancouver!
This is it!’
: : :
Tomorrow,
May 18, 2014,
is the 34th anniversary of the eruption.
: : :
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‘WEEKLY TOP SHOT’ #135
Welcome to Weekly Top Shot, a weekly photo meme!
It’s your turn to share your top shot of the week.
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What a gorgeous view !
It is a beautiful image, hard to image that all that destruction ever happened there, and I can’t believe it’s been 30 plus years ago. I remember it like it was yesterday. We were living in Los Alamitos, California, and for days the sky was yellow and I was amazed to see ash falling even from that far away. A very interesting post and your photos makes me want to visit next time we are in Washington. I would like to pay my respects to all the people who were lost that day.
It looks so fine and so serene. But I flew over Mt. St. Helens the first part of June 1980 on my way to a conference in Seattle. It was a sight to behold. Devastation everywhere! I did bring home a jar of ash but somewhere between then and now that got lost.
Magnificent view.
30 years ago!! I remember the days afterwards because even we had ash carryover from the eruption…in Winnipeg Manitoba!!
Your mountain is beautiful! It doesn’t seem like its been that long since the eruption. What a mess it made, I’m sure!
Oh, I just love the view from that hiking trail! MSH is one of my most favorite places to hike. It’s so very fascinating. I even skied to the summit back in March. Thanks for posting this picture and reminding everyone of the eruption anniversary.
Thanks for the information and neat picture about Mount Saint Helens. It’s important to remember these events in our US History.
Hope you have a wonderful Sunday and week ahead.
I still find it sad that old Helen blew her top and changed the entire landscape. Silly Helen.
Love how you included the sun, flaring over the mount. Great shot. http://lauriekazmierczak.com/life-in-a-slow-lane/
A beautiful image with an interesting (but destructive) history. I too, am amazed that it was 30 years ago.
Wow, has it really been that long? Makes me feel old.
Beautiful view.
Just amazing!
I have a jar of dust right beside me from that big eruption some years back at Mt. Saint Helens. Looking at it and at your photo and remembering how it looked back then…
Exquisite landscape