Caught in a fog….

Day 84 – Wednesday, September 4

In 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted, after a 5.1 earthquake struck, setting off one of the largest landslides in recorded history—the entire north slope of the volcano slid away.  And, as it slid, it cracked open the core of the volcano, setting off giant explosions of ash and rocks.  The heat melted glaciers, and created mud rivers that took everything in its path.  I remember vividly reading and seeing the news stories about the volcano eruption back in 1980. Today, we visited the site of the fateful eruption.  As we drove up the mountain along the 52 mile road to the Johnson Ridge Observatory at the National Volcanic Monument, we began to see splintered stumps from 33 years ago that still lie along the ridges.  We could see the evidence of the barren land which is just now starting to show growth and regeneration.  Throughout the drive, we were able to see the vastness of the area affected by the eruption, and see the impact it had. (they say it scorched 150 square miles of forest!) 

At the Observatory theatre on a huge full wall panoramic screen, we saw a great film about the volcano explosion. At the end, the screen went up, and the curtains went up to reveal a full wall window overlooking the crater of Mount St. Helens.  You would have thought there would be a loud GASP heard among the crowd as the crater came into view in such a dramatic fashion.  BUT….all we heard were groans, because all you could see was fog, along with clouds that were hanging over the mountain.  It was so dense, you could hardly see 10 ft. ahead of you.  What a disappointment.  But, we were able to see quite a few pictures, and displays.  It was really interesting to see before and after pictures, which show a huge part of the volcano gone.  And, there are comparative pictures from year to year, that show the lava dome changing. 

Lower on the mountain, the fog and clouds had lessened, and we stopped for a picture of the bridge that had to be rebuilt after the eruption.

The drive here today  was an interesting one, through Seattle (we even passed Seattle Grace--Grey’s Anatomy) and went right through the downtown area on I5. 

 

I found a “Travel Guide for the Curious” with stories about all of the cities along the I5 corridor, so it was fun to follow the stories as we drove along.  If you want to know how any of the cities got their name, let me know!  I also discovered all kinds of people from this area:  Bob Barker (Price is Right), Demi Moore, Jim Cavezial, Loretta Lynn.

Here’s another interesting tidbit:  Olympia, Washington (very close to where we are) has about 60 inches of rain a year and the city is overcast 75% of the year.  Olympia has more rainy days than any other city in the US, except Hawaii and Alaska.  ---I think we’ve seen way too many of these rainy days, along with the fog that accompanies it!  But, we’re not going to let it put a “damper” on our plans!   We are at an RV Park in Castle Rock tonight, and will leave in the morning to cross over into Oregon and begin the trip down the coast.