Mt. St. Helens: Fire, Ice and Paradise.
May 24, 2004
On what started out as a typical cloudy day in Seattle, I ventured South to visit an area of former chaos and disaster. On May 18th, 1980 at 8:32 in the morning, Mt. St. Helens erupted in a fierce storm of flying debris, ash and mudslides. As a result 57 people lost their lives and countless others have been affected and are still being affected today.
Almost a quarter century ago, this area was an American Nightmare. Today it has become a prime example of the so called "American Dream." Mt. St. Helens has today been declared a National Volcanic Monument and as a result tourism has taken off. Mt. St. Helens today is a land of opportunity with over 5 visitor centres, plenty of hiking trails, helicopter tours and all the amenities you would find in any normal town. The area is now a rich logging area and ash from the volcano is used to make glass.
Trying to imagine what the 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens was like is out of the question. The eruption sent one side of the mountain sliding. The eruption spewed hot ash into the air, which later fell in areas to the East of the volcano. Climbers on near by mountains were electrocuted by the electricity in the air. This electricity is caused by friction and heat from the volcano and often results in lighting coinciding with an eruption -- this happened at Mt. St. Helens. The heat of the activity melted enough snow off the volcano in 2 minutes to supply all of the US with water for one day, and then sent floods of boiling water and mud towards the lands below the volcano. These flowed at up to 100 km/h. A lateral blast caused by pressure venting from the sides of the volcano sent trees and debris flying horizontally down valleys at up to 500 km/h.
Although it has now been 24 years, the damage and changes from the eruption is still evident. The blast zone has a totally changed ecosystem from its previous ecosystem. The landscape is very different thanks to large amounts of ash and rock that settled in various areas. Mt. St. Helens created new lakes and changed the flow of rivers when it erupted. The ash and mud rushing down from the volcano was so great immediately after the eruption that dredging had to take place on the Columbia River to allow its continued use as a major shipping route. To deal with the massive erosion of sediment dams were set up to capture the material. There was so much loose sediment that these dams are still in used today.
Even though it has been almost a quarter century, I would say that the trip to visit Mt. St. Helens is well worth it. You will be surprised just how much and how little has changed since the devastating volcanic outburst on May 18th, 1980.
