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The eruption was a major force of nature! It's amazing how quickly (in geological time) the environment started to recover. A group of us climbed to the summit of Mount St. Helens in the early-to-mid 1990s. It was a non-technical scramble but there was a 4,500 ft. gain in 5 miles. The day of the climb was very hot. Weather forecasts indicated high 90s or low 100s in Portland, OR which is the closest major city.
It's amazing how quickly (in geological time) the environment started to recover.
Isn't that the truth! I went there five years after the eruption, and there were already small fir trees poking out of the ash on the north side of the mountain. The N. Fork Toutle River had carved far down into the 400 feet of ash that had filled its valley.
I was in southwest Montana in 1980, and the vehicles in the parking lot where I worked got a dusting of 1/4" of ash from the eruption. A lot of that mountain went elsewhere that day.
From the USGS:
On May 18, 1980, the volcano lost an estimated 3.4 billion cubic yards (0.63 cubic mile) of its cone (about 1,300 feet or 396 meters in height), leaving behind a horseshoe-shaped crater (open to the north), with the highest part of the crater rim on the southwestern side at 8,365 feet (2,550 meters) elevation.
I was living on the east coast when the mountain erupted. Would have loved to visit St. Helens before this cataclysmic event occurred. The volcanic ash traveled far and wide!
Mt St Helens and the 2011 Japanese tsunami were some of the most amazing videos of mothers natures power I've ever seen. The shear power and scope of destruction is mind boggling.
I highly recommend watching an IMAX movie on volcanoes.. The surround sound system is very realistic as one is in middle of an eruption. Some people scream as rocks are flying everywhere.
Comments
The visitor center provides much information on the Ring of Fire.
https://usgs.gov/faqs/what-ring-fire
It's amazing how quickly (in geological time) the environment started to recover.
A group of us climbed to the summit of Mount St. Helens in the early-to-mid 1990s.
It was a non-technical scramble but there was a 4,500 ft. gain in 5 miles.
The day of the climb was very hot.
Weather forecasts indicated high 90s or low 100s in Portland, OR which is the closest major city.
I was in southwest Montana in 1980, and the vehicles in the parking lot where I worked got a dusting of 1/4" of ash from the eruption. A lot of that mountain went elsewhere that day.
From the USGS:
Would have loved to visit St. Helens before this cataclysmic event occurred.
The volcanic ash traveled far and wide!