vancouver vancouver this is it

[Tractorat]

Tomorrow marks the 40th anniversary of the eruption of mt st helens. I can still remember looking south and seeing the huge plume from the mountain.

 

[Cummins12V98]

I was still in bed 60 miles North of Seattle. It sounded like someone was bouncing a basketball off the outside of the house. My Mom yelled at me "quit banging on the wall".

 

[brucejohnson]

Tomorrow marks the 40th anniversary of the eruption of mt st helens. I can still remember looking south and seeing the huge plume from the mountain.

Remember it very well...My neighbor and I took our families camping. We were going to go to a "safe zone" that was a logging survey site set up by my BIL. My neighbor had to work late so we got a 3 hour delayed start. The sun went down and we found a spot NE of the mountain to camp for the night as it was still quite a ways to our original intended site; (Near where David Johnston set up his observation post). Early the following morning the chirdies were birping while we were preparing a campfire breakfast before continuing out trek. Kids were running around having a great time, Danny and I consuming delicious morning beverages of the gods, wives doing their thing with the bacon and eggs. I can remember the (KJR ?? or KISW ??) radio news/weather stating "not a cloud in the sky! It's going to be a wonderful, sunny day today!" I look over the trees and see huge "cumulus clouds" and lots of lightning...then get hit with a hot blast wind. Shortly thereafter the campfire bacon and eggs getting a dusting of ash (we didn't know it was ash at the time)...and then it came down, and down and DOWN, AND DOWN. Then the news on the radio said the mountain has erupted. The wives and kids were running thru the forest collecting ash from the ferns as a little memento. A ranger came by and asked us if we were going to be heading to Toledo. We said no. He said good...you're not going to get there from here...bridge is out. He said he had been prepared for the mountain eruption for some time. His house had a perfect view. When he saw the bulge on the mountain he grabbed his "long prepared camera" and began taking pictures; some fantastic shots he claimed...and then, he realized he took more pictures than the 36 roll contained and the film was still "advancing". Investigation revealed the camera was empty! He was shocked as he had prepared the camera weeks before for just such occasion. He asked his wife about the camera and film issue and she fessed up: "Yes, I used the camera to take our son's birthday pictures yesterday". He had to continue his search for more boon dockers and departed. Then the ash REALLY started coming down. We gathered our camping gear and tossed it into the vehicles. All of a sudden we couldn't see six feet in front of us. My neighbor took the lead as he had a snub nosed 67 Chevy van and could barely see the road, (later said he couldn't see the road and just guessed) and I could only imagine I could see his tail lights...came inches from rear ending him several times. An hour and a half later we made it out of the cloud, at Spiffy's on Hwy 12, near I-5. Sunny blue sky on the West and total gray/black to the East We pulled over to gather our wits and say a prayer of thanks and watched people drive out of the cloud. EVERYTHING was gray: cars, motorhomes, logging trucks, semi-trucks, motorcyclists and pedestrians. Absolutely no color other than gray...when the motorcyclists took off their goggles/glasses there were pink dots where the goggles were...gray and pink...LOOK, COLOR! We made it home to Black Lake OK. Danny and I dusted ourselves off a bit and hopped on our motorcycles, drove to a known high spot with a great view of the mountain, parked, and kicked back on the sissy bars and watched Mt. St. Helen for an hour. What a time to NOT have film for MY camera. The Good Lord was watching out for us on that day for sure as our original destination was decimated.

 

[Tractorat]

Wow!!!!!!

 

[Tractorat]

Ive been trying to find an article about the "seattle" cop directing traffic just covered with ash. The cop was actually in Pasco or Kennewick, not seattle. Quite embarrassing for the media. Maybe thats why I cant find it. Did they cover it up and destroy the records ? Just another example of fake news just to tall a phony story.

 

[brucejohnson]

Wow!!!!!!

^^^^^^ That would have been an understatement for us on that day for sure...
We talk about a TP shortage today...
Can you remember what was in shortage back then, after the eruptions?
Think hard...

Answer: Panty Hose! To put on the air cleaners to filter out all that nasty, nasty super fine abrasive volcano dust.

 

[brucejohnson]

Ive been trying to find an article about the "seattle" cop directing traffic just covered with ash. The cop was actually in Pasco or Kennewick, not seattle. Quite embarrassing for the media. Maybe thats why I cant find it. Did they cover it up and destroy the records ? Just another example of fake news just to tall a phony story.

I remember that article... Silly news people...
Eastern WA had the so called "Nuclear Winter" according to one news article...like what is a "nuclear winter" since one had never occurred but in theory. Oh yeah, sensationalize at all costs.
I don't know how much ash Seattle received, but we got numerous 1/2 inch deposits around the Tumwater/Black Lake region.

 

[Tractorat]

• I don't know how much ash Seattle received

  Not much. Barely noticeable. But I do remember the slogan, dont go to mt st helens. Let mt st helems come to you (ash made the trip around the world)

 

[Tractorat]

Now that I think about it, it was probably a picture of a Moses Lake cop. My wife's cousin's young sons were home and the time and my wifes cousin couldnt get home for a couple of days because they couldnt drive their cars. Too much ash in the air and on the ground.

 

[brucejohnson]

Now that I think about it, it was probably a picture of a Moses Lake cop. My wife's cousin's young sons were home and the time and my wifes cousin couldnt get home for a couple of days because they couldnt drive their cars. Too much ash in the air and on the ground.

I believe you are correct about the Moses Lake policeman as the picture remembered, but the BIG headline title on the newspaper page "made it appear" to the reader as a Seattle cop directing traffic in Seattle. I seem to recall editorial comments regarding the "visual" interpretations. The itsy-bitsy photo caption identified Moses Lake location IIRC in an article regarding the greater Seattle area.

 

[Timd32]

Thats a pretty amazing first hand account, thanks for sharing.

Here is an old article from the Washington Post.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/arch...es-lake/ccabc292-3bf0-4b85-82c0-dcedbeae6b75/

 

[DHayden]

I was 9. My Dad was driving us back from Butte MT to Stevensville. It was a beautiful blue sky day just outside of Missoula, didnt hear any news because we were listening to Kenny Rogers on the 8 track. I looked out the back window and saw Huge dark clouds and asked my dad how such a huge brutal looking storm could form so fast on a blue sunshine day. Clouds and ash caught us between Missoula and Stevensville. I remember putting blankets on the horses and something over their nose and mouth so they didnt breathe in the ash. I remember it was DARK about 3 or 4 hours before it was supposed to be.

 

[Cummins12V98]

I friend told of being out in a huge field plowing in Eastern, WA, he literally thought it was the end with the sky turning black.

 

[Regcabguy]

We went to the visitor's center. very impressive job the Forest Service did. I remember the video thy made. My wife had to leave the theater.

 

[Timd32]

Here is a news broadcast from 5/18/1980.

It was interesting to watch the real time stuff vs the re-enactment stuff, its like a Sunami of mud, trees, ash, and poison gasses. What an amazing amount of power.

 

[Wayne M.]

I do remember that. I was in middle school and I recall that it turned into a social studies/ current events project.

 

[GAmes]

My parents were driving from OR to MN and were caught in the ash somewhere around Ritzville. The visibility was so bad my dad drove off the side if the road and high centered his pickup. When he tried to wave down passing cars he was so covered in ash they apparently couldn't see him and drove past. There was a small camper shell on the back of the truck that they climbed into and stuffed towels and clothes into the cracks to seal out the ash. The next morning my dad walked to a nearby farmhouse. The owner pulled my dad's truck out with his tractor and then his family extended the hospitality farmers are known for. The highway didn't open for several days, but even then the ash dust was so bad that my dad had to stop frequently to knock the ash out of the air filter.