42 Years Since Mount Saint Helens Blew Her Top

Saw that which you see here on Facebook, this morning, via Tacoma's Queen V.

Queen V commented "Amazing photo of a day I will certainly never forget."

The caption under the photo--- "Dramatic shot of Mount Saint Helens ash plume rising into the sky. About 540 million tons of ash came out over the hours of its eruption. Photographer unknown."

Hard to believe it was 42 years ago. The day seems so recent in my memory. The buildup to the eruption had gone on for weeks, maybe months. That part I don't remember so well. 

It was a Sunday morning, May 18, 1980. I was in a Mount Vernon bathtub, soaking my aching back, when I heard a loud concussive boom, followed by two more loud booms. It did not sound like thunder, it sounded like a bomb exploding.

I was out of the tub about 15 minutes when a neighbor waddled over to tell us to turn on our TV, that the mountain had blown.

A blurb I found via Googling to find out David Johnston's last words...

"Had David Johnston lived, he would be 55 years old now. But the young volcanologist perished along with 56 others when Mount St. Helens erupted on May 18, 1980. His last words crackled excitedly over the radio to his fellow scientists as a cloud of hot steam and ash rushed toward him: "Vancouver! Vancouver! This is it!"

Only a little ash made its way as far north as the Skagit Valley, and Mount Vernon. We did get ash masks, just in case. 

Shortly before moving to Texas I drove the new Spirit Highway, to its end, at the location where David Johnston met his end. Where there is now a visitor's center with a view looking right into the crater. There are several interpretive visitor's center along the highway, leading to the final one. 

There is a move afoot to turn the Mount Saint Helens zone into a National Park. I've been to all the national parks of the western states. Mount Saint Helens is totally National Park worthy.