Moss Fam and the Active Backyard Volcano

I'm not talking about Mt. Tiki Soki...

I'm talking about a REAL volcano just slighty over two-hours away, by car, from our coastal home. An active volcano still breathing fire and smoke and spitting rocks and lava out of its mouth randomly as it pleases.

I have always been fascinated with Mt. St. Helens, ever since I felt that small earthquake while going to bed one night several years ago and finding out it wasn't the cat shaking the bed as usual. Realizing the logical alternative to our cat, I jumped from my bed, ran to my parents scared that the monster was preparing to emerge and devour me. I was relieved when I learned it was just an earthquake on Mt. St. Helens...not realizing that a monster, bigger than imaginable, actually was emerging from the depths of the earth.

As time went on, the crater in Mt. St. Helens widened and steam vented from its throat. I would go down to the end of my Vancouver, Washington street, to the intersection where we could see an unobstructed view of the steaming mountain. We watched the white puffs get bigger as it yawned wider and wider from a 180 year nap.

Following much anticipation the monster emerged suddenly on the morning of May 18th, 1980. A 5.1 earthquake from a mile beneath the mountain caused the whole north side of the mountain to slide down at 50-150 miles per hour. As the side of the mountain thinned, the pressurized gasses within the volcano burst through the top and side of the mountain speeding past the land slide at speeds up to 670 miles per hour. The top 1314 feet, propelled by gases up to 1300 degrees, instantly ripped through 230 square miles of lush forests, beautiful lakes and crystal clear rivers; the mountain buried the North Fork Toutle River up to 600 feet in spots...with an average of 150 feet.

In an attempt to escape the angry beast emerging from the volcano, a glacier on the east side of the mountain, liquefied in the heat and raced down the mountain, peaking at 50 miles per hour destroying trees, bridges, homes, roads and other things in its path. Today at the Lahar viewpoint you can see the flood marks on the few trees still standing, burried in the mud flow.

The ashy, hot, gaseous beast burst out of its earthen prison stretching 80,000 feet into the air in 15 minutes. It's cloud and ash-fall, turned day to night in some places downwind to the east. For nine hours ash and gasses poured from the the volcano. In three day's it stretched across the United States--in 15 days it circled the world.

In spite of its fury, only 57 people died in the eruption. It still amazes me that the mountain blew away from the major population areas of Vancouver/Portland and the I-5 corridor. 27 bridges, 200 homes, 185 miles of roadways, 15 miles of Railroad, 40 billion board-feet of lumber was destroyed. Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument.

This is the volcano we visited as a family, almost 30 years later. Today it quietly, yet without rest, tries to rebuild itself by pumping a dump truck's worth of lava to the surface each day. Periodically it coughs gas and ash like a respectful memory of that eventful spring day.

I am still fascinated by the mountain. Evidence of its power can be seen in every stream and river connected to it... and in the landscape that dwarfs its human witness. Below are some of the views we saw on our vacation to the blast-side (north) of Mt. St. Helens.

As you drive up to the mountain on hwy 504 in Washington state, you notice the rivers flowing over grey rocks and 'sand.' The water is clear, but has a green-brown tint to it as it carries its memory of the eruption down stream in a vain hope of being free from its scars.

The road climbs higher and higher through the river valley with incredible vistas. The hilly landscape is covered in green trees and a snake-like line of grey winds through the middle of the valley to indicate the river's path. Beneath the trees are a multitude of grey, brown and rust colored rocks with surprisingly little underbrush. Every once in a while you turn a corner and see the shell of the volcano growing bigger with each glimpse.

Finally we see a sign guarding the entrance to the blast zone. The trees here, if any, are very young with dead, grey tree trunks laying on the ground between the newborns. The mountain jumps out around a big cliff corner and its sickly grey-brown drape-like sides hide the attempts of nature to re-vegetate the area.

Think of this picture on an i-max screen--this picture alone comes nowhere near the full magnitude of the view. You can see one of the lakes created when the mountain dammed up a river. You can also see the grey snake-like river creeping from the mountain. You can see where the mountain 'drained' down the north side (the grey-brown sections lacking vegetation.)

We drove through the blast zone to the Johnston Ridge Observatory which is about halfway up the 8,363 foot mountain as far as elevation goes. And only about 2,000 feet below the crater floor. The view of the mountain, straight into the crater covered the whole scene including your peripheral vision. It was a massive backdrop--you can sort of tell from the size of the people compared to the mountain in this picture.

Notice the steam/gases coming out of the crater dome. This is where the lava is rebuilding its peak to match the other beautiful, yet dangerous mountains scattered all over the Cascade Range.

While we were at the observatory, you could see the trees that were flattened in the blast. You could see how some of the trees were somewhat protected from the powerful wave of rock and hot gasses as it rolled over the areas protected by the hills.

Imagine these hills covered in lush, large evergreen trees. Notice how the trees are all combed in one direction. To the left of the center hill, you can see trees still standing because of the protection of the hill. Mt. St. Helens looms on the right-hand side of the photographer. The green coloring comes from vegetation starting to grow (look at the bottom right corner) but after almost 30 years, there are still very tiny or no trees. We did see several chipmunks and wild flowers. Nature is slowly making a comeback.

Mt. St. Helens is just awe-inspiring: the power and magnificence... andwitnessing how nature recovers from the consequences. Personally, it helps me have great respect and reverence to God and the worlds and life He created...and gives me gratitude to Heavenly Father that He would direct something so powerful away from the most populous nearby areas to protect as many of His children as possible. Just silently awe-inspiring!