Today we went to see what's left of Mt. St. Helens. WOW! The volcano blew off the side of the mountain back on May 1, 1980, and 32 years later the results are still very plain. The area affected by the eruption has been preserved so that scientists can study how the earth recovers. We drove thru 3 separate zones: the "standing-dead" zone, where the heat from the blast killed the trees but didn't knock them down; the "blast" zone, where everything was flattened, and all the trees are laying on the ground, and the "slide" zone, where the side of the mountain came down and everything is gone. Amazing! Spirit Lake turned into a tsunami when the slide hit it, then the water rushed back in with a zillion dead trees. There is still a matt of dead trees floating in the lake - 32 years later! They are slowly rotting and sinking. A nice man named Gary Rosenquist (we met him) happened to be at one of the more distant overlooks that morning and managed to take pictures of the whole thing; his story is in the pictures below.
Mt. St. Helens before, and after.
Looking at the bottom of a blown-down tree in the blast zone. Spirit Lake with the matt of dead trees in the distance.
Closeup of the matt of dead trees on Spirit Lake. Chart showing Cascade Mountain Range volcanic activity.
Blast zone trees: all down, in the same direction. Standing-dead zone trees.
First two parts of Gary Rosenquist's story; if you can, read the words at the bottom of each picture.
Last two parts of Gary Rosenquist's story.
These glorious foxgloves grow wild here, along the roadsides. And would you just look at the moss on these trees!
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