40 Years ago today

[CG]

Mt St Helens blew her top. I cant believe its been that long. One of those things in the greater NW where we remember where we were when it went.

[FirstOwner69]

I vividly recall Mt. St. Helens in June of 1970 as we headed east from I-5 on highway 12 toward Mt. Rainier on the first real camping trip in our then new '69 truck/camper combo seen in my avatar. I looked to the south and asked my wife "What mountain is that? It's beautiful." We last saw it in its current state in 2002.

[Stocker]

It sure doesn't seem like it's been 40 years! We drove up for a look-see a few years after and I was stunned at the devastation. Pictures didn't do it justice.

[Redneck Rydes]

40 years ago today I was 17, boy time flies

[mongocanfly]

I remember to..40yrs....wow...

[mrtoni]

I was 10. My memories from Cali are the hermit, the trees looked like toothpicks and the heavy weight of the ash my science teacher procured.
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[special-K]

I think people all over the country can remember where they were when she blew. No small thing. I wasn't living in Mt. Airy, MD back then, but I remember the joke, "Do you know why all the Pollocks are leaving Mt. Airy? They're afraid it's going to erupt". No joking matter at all. Such devastation and untimely death for some. I ended up living in the Flagstaff area that year, where I learned 12,600+' Mt. Humphreys was closer to 20,000' before it's major eruption long long ago. Mt. St. Helen's eruption put an awareness of such major geological events on the table.

[Greg58]

My wife had just started her job with 3M making dust masks on an assembly line.
They suddenly went from steady sales to a nationwide shortage because of Mt St Helen.
The plant went to unlimited overtime, and had engineers work on ways to make the machines run faster.
She just retired from that plant after 40 years! They have a large photo of Mt St Helen framed when you first come in the main entrance.

[1976gmc20]

I was fixing fences and thinning trees on some private land in Taylor Canyon (Colorado).

Seems like there was a bad hurricane in the Gulf at the same time, but everything was calm, blue skies and sunshine right in the middle.

[richard2717]

I remember seeing these images of the chevy truck years back. I actually was able to find the same ones a few minutes ago here. https://historydaily.org/mount-st-helens


.

[The Rocknrod]

Wow, I was a US Navy Recruiter in Las Vegas, NV not even 23 years old yet. After my daughter was born in July we drove up to Washington state to see the in-laws before the next winter set in. Still pretty messed up.

[Ol Blue K20]

Warn winch controls under the dash of that truck. I feel sorry for the victims in the truck.

[Stocker]

What sticks in my mind most -- besides the vast scale of the destruction -- was the unimaginable amount of blowdown timber. Turn a corner, cross over a ridge, and there was more and more and more, lying in different directions as the blast hit from changing angles as it went over the mountain ridges. Almost like long fur on a dog that went through a tornado. Thinking back, the forces are still hard to imagine.

Better hope Rainier doesn't decide to blow..... there's an awful lot of civilization in its path.

[78chevstepside]

Went camping at spirit lake in the summer of 1978 . Spirit lake now longer exists .

[special-K]

Originally Posted by 78chevstepside

Went camping at spirit lake in the summer of 1978 . Spirit lake now longer exists .

That is the true reality right there, a "whole new landscape". Just think about that. No heavy equipment or months/years of labor. Just what once was to never again in a single event.

['63GENIII]

My Mom's family was all from a little town off of the 5 named Winlock. South of Chehallis if I recall right. We went and visited when I was 13 which was maybe 2 years after.

My cousins took us for a drive near where Spirit Lake was and all that I remember of it was that all of the trees looked as if someone had taken a fine tooth comb and laid them all down the same way. The burnt out Pete near a visitor's center was chilling. I still have a babyfood jar of that ash around somewhere. I remember the stories of my cousins shoveling ash off of their roofs for concern of caving in and clogged car air filters.

It does seem like just yesterday..

[G Man]

I was 20 and down at the lake . Town of Coeur d Alene was dark.

[FirstOwner69]

I just "stumbled" onto this and thought I'd share.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/features/pas...ount-st-helens

[GOPAPA]

I lived about 35 miles from Mt St Helens in 1980 and did not keep any of the ash that fell around my place ,,but then I found out 25 years later that I did in deed save lots of ash from the blast.... it was when I took off my rough cut Shake roof to replace with new asphalt roofing .. lots of ash collected in that old roof and so therefore I now have a quart jar of it.. I also have a quart jar of ash from Elma Washington because when I went to work on the Nuclear Plant as Satsop ,, the rented house we rented had a quart jar of ash that some on left .. There is a difference between the two jars of ash as to gritty to powdery..

[Ol Blue K20]

Originally Posted by FirstOwner69

I just "stumbled" onto this and thought I'd share.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/features/pas...ount-st-helens

Cool video, I had no idea that so much had survived.

[special-K]

This video says what I was thinking after watching a video on Chernobyl. It is becoming a forest with wildlife abounding while the man-made existence decays, and of course no humans. Nature adapted. It makes me realize how the "save the planet" movements are actually misnamed. More like save the humans. The planet will survive us.

[Sheepdip]

Originally Posted by GOPAPA

I lived about 35 miles from Mt St Helens in 1980 and did not keep any of the ash that fell around my place ,,but then I found out 25 years later that I did in deed save lots of ash from the blast.... it was when I took off my rough cut Shake roof to replace with new asphalt roofing .. lots of ash collected in that old roof and so therefore I now have a quart jar of it.. I also have a quart jar of ash from Elma Washington because when I went to work on the Nuclear Plant as Satsop ,, the rented house we rented had a quart jar of ash that some on left .. There is a difference between the two jars of ash as to gritty to powdery..

I was working in Tacoma on the Modules for the Alaskan Pipeline when St. Helens blew.
I have a little jelly jar somewhere about 1/2 full if I remember correctly, mine looked and had the consistency of gray flour but was very gritty.
That's probably why so many car engines were ruined shortly after she blew.

[3757chevy]

I remember having my '67 Chevelle covered in a fine white ash here on the Front range in Colorado. And yeah 40 yrs goes fast.

[GOPAPA]

Originally Posted by CG

Mt St Helens blew her top. I cant believe its been that long. One of those things in the greater NW where we remember where we were when it went.

Good posting Mark ,,we both lived closer than some when the Mountain Blew didn't we?

This Photo is showing the Lewis and Clark Bridge that takes you from Oregon into Washington across the Columbia River

I took this photo when I lived back in Oregon,,,,I owned a house and property about 2 miles behind me when taking this photo of Mt St Helens , I had about a 1/4-3/8 inch of dust over everything outside I owned after the mountain spewed ash all over .

As you can see the date on the photo this was years later. about 35 miles as the crow flies as for distance from me to mountain

[mrtoni]

Sgt. Pepper taught his band to play!
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