| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| mikesgirl |
Posted - Jun 27 2007 : 11:22:11 PM
I don't know why but I was just wondering if any of you were around when Mt. St. Helens blew up and if so what was your experience with it. I know that the ash blew all the way to my aunt in Missouri's house and it got really bad around Moses Lake, Wa. We lived really close to the mountain when it blew and were greatly affected by the explosion and the fallout for some time. I drove down to Portland today and the sky was clear - the mountain was really clear and visible and it still strikes me, 25 years later, how shocking it is to see a mountain that I used to play on and climb on as a little girl, literaly cut in half. It looks like a big tooth with a giant cavity in it. Oh no, now I'm thinking about teeth again..... |
| 25 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| jo Thompson |
Posted - Jul 06 2007 : 11:24:43 AM
I had a sister in Spokane at the time, but I was with my other sister near The Dalles, Oregon. I was born in eastern oregon. I couldn't drive up to Spokane that weekend because of all of the ash fall. jo
"life is drab without a lab"
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| mikesgirl |
Posted - Jul 05 2007 : 4:47:30 PM
Jo - where did your sister live? |
| jo Thompson |
Posted - Jul 05 2007 : 3:54:02 PM
I was sitting in my sister's kitchen with my infant son, "gosh, a storm is brewing over the line, and it looks like a whopper". Little did I know! jo
"life is drab without a lab"
http://web.mac.com/thomja/iWeb/Site/Welcome.html
http://homepage.mac.com/thomja/Anchorage/PhotoAlbum15.html |
| Celticheart |
Posted - Jun 30 2007 : 11:03:06 PM
quote:
[i]Originally posted by YiberryYadeeKarin
I was bummed, in a way, because I missed it and have no real Mt. St. Helen's stories.
I was in Europe traveling around by train.
Gee that sounds so much more romantic than picking mushroom on the Tucannon doesn't it? =~)
"Nature always has the last laugh." Mrs. Greenthumbs
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| YiberryYadeeKarin |
Posted - Jun 30 2007 : 4:23:52 PM
I was bummed, in a way, because I missed it and have no real Mt. St. Helen's stories.
I was in Europe traveling around by train. I was 22 years old, going solo, with a backpack, and visiting pen pals, exchange students who had lived with us, etc. I was in Austria watching the news with my friend and her parents when we saw a story about the eruption and all of the devastation, etc.
This was 1980, not now. There was no email and calling overseas was very expensive. So I wasn't able to talk with my family to find out if they were okay. A couple of weeks later, when I got to Finland, my dad had sent me an article from Newsweek and something from our local paper (in Spokane, where they had some major ash fall-out). I found out it would only cost me $19 for a ten minute call from Finland(something like that) so finally called them.
When I got back home in September, besides seeing lots of ash, everyone had a story to tell me. My parents said there were little insect footprints in the ash on the driveway. My friend, Kathleen, talked of how quiet even the birds became before the ash started falling. Mom still has a jar of ash that we've showed to my daughter.
Gee, even though I wasn't here at the time, I guess I DO have some stories!
Hard to believe it's nearing thirty years ago... Karin |
| Alee |
Posted - Jun 29 2007 : 2:09:25 PM
MOUNT ST. HELENS UPDATE
Current Volcanic- Alert Level WATCH ; Aviation Color Code ORANGE : Growth of the new lava dome inside the crater of Mount St. Helens continues, accompanied by low rates of seismicity, low emissions of steam and volcanic gases, and minor production of ash. During such eruptions, changes in the level of activity can occur over days to months. The eruption could intensify suddenly or with little warning and produce explosions that cause hazardous conditions within several miles of the crater and farther downwind. Small lahars could suddenly descend the Toutle River if triggered by heavy rain or by interaction of hot rocks with snow and ice. These lahars pose a negligible hazard below the Sediment Retention Structure (SRS) but could pose a hazard along the river channel upstream.
Potential ash hazards: Wind forecasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), coupled with eruption models, show that any ash clouds rising above the crater rim today would drift north-northeastward this morning and northeastward later in the day.
Potential ash hazards to aviation: Under current eruptive conditions, small, short-lived explosions may produce ash clouds that exceed 30,000 feet in altitude. Ash from such events can travel 100 miles or more downwind.
Recent observations: Rockfall signals dominate the seismic records on crater stations as lava dome growth continues. No significant changes in eruptive activity have been detected during the past day.
http://volcano.wr.usgs.gov/cvo/current_updates.php
Alee
The amazing one handed typist! One hand for tying, one hand to hold Nora! |
| Celticheart |
Posted - Jun 29 2007 : 12:00:25 PM
My DH(at the time) was in the garden and heard the mountain blow on that morning and we lived 300+ miles away--to the east. He said it sounded like artillary fire. We turned on the TV and found out that it had finally happened. Later that morning we went to the Tucannon River to mushroom hunt and we could see the ash rolling in like the worst storm clouds you can imagine. Then it got dark and the ash started to fall and didn't stop for several days. It was eery. Chickens went to roost in the middle of the day....things like that.
We had friends that lived along the Toutle River. We didn't know where they were for several hours. They finally called that night from Castle Rock saying they were safe.
"Nature always has the last laugh." Mrs. Greenthumbs
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| Beemoosie |
Posted - Jun 29 2007 : 06:04:10 AM
I was under 8 years old, b/c we lived in our first house still and I remember putting a piece of grass or straw to my mouth and mom said "Don't do that! there is ash from the Volcano all over!" ... we were in NY!
My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. Luke 1:46,47
www.beequilting.blogspot.com
http://beemoosie-picture-diary.blogspot.com/ |
| Sweet Harvest Homestead |
Posted - Jun 29 2007 : 05:50:54 AM
I was all the way in Middle Tennessee when it happened. I don't remember the actual eruption but I remember entering into the 2nd grade that fall and my teacher, Mr. Grannis told us about being on vacation there when it happened. I remember him telling us about how his white shirt turned grey and black from all of the ash falling from the sky.
It seemed very scary and facinating at the same time.
Lindy
www.sweetharvesthomestead.typepad.com |
| therusticcottage |
Posted - Jun 28 2007 : 9:56:33 PM
I was living in Illinois and remember the news saying that if there was ash on our cars not to dust it off. It would scratch the paint. I had a brand new black Mustang and when I went outside the next morning it was covered in a fine layer of dust.
Now I live where I can see Mt Saint Helens every day. Yesterday she had a small plume of smoke curling around the top. When I moved out here in 1985 there were still piles of ash along the sides of the road going north. We tried to go up to the mountain but none of the roads were passable. What we did see looked like a picture of the moon -- total devastation and gray everywhere.
Visit my Etsy shop at http://therusticcottage.etsy.com
http://therusticcottage.blogspot.com |
| Huckelberrywine |
Posted - Jun 28 2007 : 5:28:16 PM
My first fishing trip was on Mt. Saint Helens. I have lots of special memories of when it was still whole. The year it blew up was the year I moved out of WA to Las Vegas. We left in Jan/Feb. and it blew in May. I rembember the news, and crying. I still get unreasonably weepy over it if I watch a documentary on it too long, and forget going to the lovely little visitor station they have there now, I had to leave and cry in the car...it was just so odd to cry and rationally know how silly it was, but to be unable to stop. Geeze, that guy with the cabins and boats we rented to go fishing, he had a president's name...he was just the sweetest grandpa type. My little brother fell in Spirit Lake, right off the dock and down. Dad dove in, and when we got home, carried my brother sopping wet into the kitchen to show Mom the big one he caught. Gone. All of it. Just gone. The whole unimaginable horror of how much of the mountain vaporized...gone!
We make a difference. |
| Alee |
Posted - Jun 28 2007 : 4:10:21 PM
When I can. My mom owns a couple pottery wheels and some kilns and we built a huge woodfire kiln at our cabin in the mountains. I have take a couple of pottery classes, but I need to learn tons more! I love throwing on the wheel though! It is very zenish. It is really hard to be stressed or angry or anything when you are playing in the mud!
Alee
The amazing one handed typist! One hand for tying, one hand to hold Nora! |
| Carol Sue |
Posted - Jun 28 2007 : 4:07:06 PM
You do pottery Alee, how very cool.
Enjoying the moments. |
| Alee |
Posted - Jun 28 2007 : 4:03:49 PM
Oh Carol Sue! I am so jealous! I don't own any Mt. St. Helens ash pottery- I have just seen it. So beautiful! I hope that someday when I can get back to playing in the mud (pottery) again, that I can afford to buy some for my glazes.
Alee
The amazing one handed typist! One hand for tying, one hand to hold Nora! |
| Carol Sue |
Posted - Jun 28 2007 : 1:59:03 PM
We use to camp at Spirit Lake all the time as a kid. My Mom's side of the family would all meet there and campout over the weekend or for the week. We would hike up part of St. Helens and sled down. The waterfalls were beautiful. WE also had bear adventures when camping there. My aunt and uncle were in a small pup tent and had forgotten to put the cake in the truck. So the bear wandered into camp, found the camp and promptly plopped down on there tent with them inside. My aunt was freaked out. It is strange that the lake is gone, and a place where I have great memories doesn't exist anymore.
Alee, I have 2 small oil lamps that are fired from Mt St Helens ash and they are the most beautiful pottery I have ever seen.
Enjoying the moments. |
| Alee |
Posted - Jun 28 2007 : 11:04:22 AM
Sherri-
Yup! I did! I think it is really neat and talk about a small world!
Alee
The amazing one handed typist! One hand for tying, one hand to hold Nora! |
| mikesgirl |
Posted - Jun 28 2007 : 10:57:57 AM
Did any of you read through the previous posts and catch that Carol Sue and I are from the same hometown and we didn't know it? |
| Alee |
Posted - Jun 28 2007 : 09:25:28 AM
I wasn't born yet, but my parents tell me that they did get ash all the way over in Wyoming and that it caused the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets that they have ever seen.
Have you ever seen MT. St. Helens ash added to pottery glaze? It is amazing!! It greats a subtly irridescent hue that is unlike any other irridescent glaze that I have ever seen! It is really wonderful that such a horrific event can now be making good. I know the ash is an amazing fertilizer and that people have found hundreds of ways to use it.
I have only seen Mt. St. Helens once. I flew over it last year. It really is amazing. It looks compleltely different from one side to the other.
Alee
The amazing one handed typist! One hand for tying, one hand to hold Nora! |
| willowtreecreek |
Posted - Jun 28 2007 : 08:49:03 AM
My sister was born on that day!!!!!!! YEAH!!!
Jewelry, art, baskets, etc.
www.willowartist.etsy.com
www.willowtreecreek.com |
| ArmyWifey |
Posted - Jun 28 2007 : 07:20:07 AM
I was in 8th grade. Remember watching all of it on the news - I'm from AZ so it didn't effect us directly. Then when we were stationed at Fort Lewis (94-97) we went down there. It was freaky how beautiful the mountain is and everything is beautiful and green until about 36miles out - then it was like being on a different planet with all the ash and trees laying over, etc. I remember thinking it was so stupid that there are camp sites within the blast zone! Hello! That was before the closest observation point was built. Not my cup of tea thank you!
Remember the ranger saying to look around at the power of the mountain and I thought No way lady! look at the power of GOD!!
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!
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| asnedecor |
Posted - Jun 28 2007 : 06:59:40 AM
I was living in Woodburn Oregon at the time and was a senior in high school. From the bridge that crossed over I-5 you could get a clear view of the mountain. We got ash, not as much as Portland but still it was on the cars. I remember at the restaurant I worked at the boy that was doing dishes for us would go out to the employee parking and rinse our cars off periodically so the ash wouldn't settle on the cars like cement.
Anne in Portland
"Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them" Eyeore from Winnie the Pooh
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| ktknits |
Posted - Jun 28 2007 : 06:01:25 AM
I got my first real job after college because of Mt St Helens.........
I was in my senior year at college, interviewing for jobs as an accountant. Went to a local CPA firm for an interview and they asked when I could start. I was available right away, and I asked why. They said my predecessor had just been terminated because she called off sick for over a week, and her excuse was that she got ash in her eye from Mt St Helens - all the way in NW Indiana, and three months after it erupted!
So, that's my Mt St Helens story.
http://ktknits.blogspot.com |
| Carol Sue |
Posted - Jun 28 2007 : 12:05:55 AM
night night praying for yoou
Enjoying the moments. |
| mikesgirl |
Posted - Jun 28 2007 : 12:04:55 AM
I really am going to bed this time - I'm finally tired. I'll e-mail you in the morning. this really has been fun! |
| Carol Sue |
Posted - Jun 28 2007 : 12:04:50 AM
You are right my dad is a riot, he still is and a naturally teacher
Enjoying the moments. |
