Mt. St. Helens

We took off down Hwy 504 all the way to the very end and to the Johnston Ridge Observatory. On our way we had to slow down to let a wolf cross the road. It, like almost all wildlife we have seen, looked at us like we were crazy and went on its way. At the observation point we were blessed once again with fairly clear skies, and a beautiful view of the Mountain/Volcano. Mt. Rainer and Mt. St. Helens are often referred to as “sleeping giants”. However Mt. St. Helens wakes more often.
*In 1980 she erupted. Here are just a few facts we learned:
*In less than 10 minutes, the eruption leveled 230-square miles of forest.
*The mountain lost 1300 feet of height and 0.67 cubic MILES of total volume.
*The eruption began with a massive landslide that buried 14 miles of river valley to an average depth of 150 feet.
*The landslide released trapped magma and gas, producing a sideways explosion of hot rock and ash killing trees up to 17 miles north of the volcano.
*Cement-like slurries of glacial melt water and boulders called lahars scoured and buried streams draining the volcano.
*A vertical ash eruption rose to a height of 15 MILES above the crater and continued for 9 hours. Ash drifted to the northeast.

We headed back down to the van to eat lunch, not before stopping to cautiously admire a passing snake right off of the trail. Once to the van we made potato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. We are now heading down the road towards Portland Oregon, where we will stay this evening. So much love going out to all of you!!!!