Monday, May 18, will be the 35th anniversary of the cataclysmic eruption of Mt. St. Helens in Washington State. There will undoubtedly be lots of stories published remembering the events of that day. Here’s a retrospective view with a list of commemorative events in the region. Here’s the 1981 article from National Geographic Magazine.
I have a memory of the mountain too, but it’s from several years later. I was on a road trip to see the Oregon Coast and Washington State in 1985 or 1986, and I found myself driving through the Cascades near Mt. St. Helens on I-5. I hopped off the freeway and got onto State Route 504 and followed it toward Spirit Lake. There were various roadside spots that had been expanded into safe pulloffs, and I took advantage of them. I remember being absolutely stunned at the hillsides still covered in blowdowns five or six years after the eruption. I guess I’d thought they’d have washed off the mountainside by then. Hillside after hillside on that road was covered in blown-down trees lying flat on the ground.
If you’ve forgotten, here’s what the mountain looked like as it erupted:
Jim and I visited Mt. St. Helens in July 1998, and I have 2 photos showing still substantial blowdown on certain slopes. Jim says he also hiked there around 1985 (just before we got married) and he agrees with you, at that time it was a mess, worse than my photos show 13 years later. I scanned the photos and would be happy to email you JPGs if you’re interested.
Sure, if I can post them as an addendum to this post. I should look in my album for that period. I must have at least one photo of the mess.