Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument

Mount St. Helens is an active volcano, located in the Pacific Northwest between Seattle, WA and

Portland, OR.  On the morning of May 18, 1980, a magnitude 5.1 earthquake shook the mountain.  This triggered a major avalanche on the north face.  Rock, mud, trees, etc. plummeted downward. The avalanche released pressure from within the volcano...a powerful lateral eruption blasted to the north; a vertical eruption shot ash up to 12 miles into the air.  Eruptions continued into the afternoon...mudflows and pyroclastic flows (mixtures of hot gasses, pumice, and ash) flowed down the mountain, clogging streams, lakes, and valleys, mowing down millions of trees, damaging bridges, highways, and homes.  Lives were lost...

In 1982, Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument was established. Johnson Ridge Observatory Visitor Center, at the end of highway 504,  had two excellent films...one covers the eruption, with lots of news footage from 1980; the other covers recovery of the mountain in the years following.  New lakes have formed; mud-filled valleys now provide grazing areas & refuge to elk and other wildlife; forests are being re-established either through planting efforts and/or just letting nature take it's course.

Thick clouds and fog above 3000 ft elevation blocked our view of many sights the day we were there. It was still a memorable trip.