However our arrival downstairs reveled a large van outside of the hotel and very jolly and well informed tour guide awaiting our arrival, Joe was his name!!
As we settled in to our big van we began to egerly anticipate what was ahead. COnversation led to where we were from and subsequently led to us finding out Joe's family were actually from the Brecon area so he actually knew where we were talking about!! Anyway, having finally woken up by the time we reached Olympia (Washington's State Capitol), we were greated by starbucks. Joe had pulled over to get out a DVD we would watch on the eruption etc (it did run through our minds...how many times we have watch mt st helens films but Kate still facinated by the mountain could watch it over and over again); but as we pulled into a parking space to our left was the big green giant and i'm not talking about the tinned sweetorn company nope the home of ........
Suitably induced with caffine Chris went for the 1st McDonald of the day but was unpleasently surprized to be faced with the Breckfast menu. Kate did not venture into a fast food resturant at 8.40am and thus did not face the true horror he suffered. Returning with a sausage mcmuffin (bofff) and a hash brown he was suitably glum all dreams of his 6Mcnugget breakfast banished! The McMuffin was not a hit and The Boy will not be seen venturing inside of a McD's before 10.30am again!!!
So back on the road, time seemed to fly by as we watch our DVD, it was a different one to that national geographic or the dicovery channel reports, covering 3 stories we had not heard before. Before we knew it the Mountain was upon us.
Peaking out from behin hillsides you began to grasp the scale of the mountain;television does it no favours she seems petite. Infact Mt st Helens is still a giant dispite lossing some 3'000 feet in the fateful eruption 30 years ago( see clip below).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmsxmbVYMHo
As we continued along the freeway we stoped breifly at the forestry information centre, run by the logging company that helped plant thousands of trees to stimulate the regrowth in the blast zone, however they don't let you forget that it was they that planted the trees!!! Signs everywhere! Anyway the information centre was also a vewing are for elk down on the plains below, we caught sight of 4 wondering off for a drink and a bath in the river.
Folling nature watch and our new found love of little rocks (Chocolate rocks that is....a delicate candy of sugar coated chocalate coloured as though it were mineral rocks) we contiuned into the blast zone enroute to the Johnston ridge observatory.
The Blast Zone was, pure and simple, the area that was completely devastated by the blast of St Helens' eruption on 18th May 1980.
We reached Johnston Ridge Observatory, the best place to view into the crater, which (so we were told) could fit most of downtown Seattle into it. Johnston Ridge is a U.S Geoligical Survey (USGS) Station and education centre, named in memory of David. A .Johnston the USGS scientist and unfortunate first victim of the Volcano. Early on Sunday 18th May 1980, whilst covering the shift for a colleague, Johnston witnessed the landslide on Mt St Helens slope that set off the catostrophic eruption seen in the video, his final moments were captured on audio as he tried to contact his colleagues at the USGS Headquarters as he yelled 'Vancouver Vancouver, this is it...' when listening carefully we were told that Johnston never said the 't' of 'it' as within that time the surge of super-heated ash dust and rock had traveled the 5 miles from the volcano to his position, where we now stood, and engulfed him. his body was never recovered, if anything even remained. but it is estimated that anything that did remain it would be on the next range of hills over.
Even with the super-zoom (as she has come to be known) lens, it was difficult to quite show the sheer size of the mountain
Although evidence of the sheer power of the eruption is all to clear, in the blast zone mountain forests were stripped bare, the top 3,000ft of the mountain was hurled (some pieces the sizeof houses) over the nearby hills devastating the landscape. At the Johnston Observatory, a tree trunk rescued from the blast zone demonstrated just how mother nature can destroy what she likes...
From Johnston Ridge, the mountain, 8km away with the collapsed north side facing us, the small volcanic dome at the centre is still constantly active growing, little by little every year until in many many years time she will be a complete mountain again like, Mt Rainier. The grey depositis either side of the small river in the valley below, are remnants of the ash that was thrown out of the volcano in 1980, in certain areas it reached depths of 600ft deep.
Sports scientist... who's a sports scientist? I'm a Vulcanologist...
After the eruption the area was declared a National Volcanic Monument by the National Parks Authority and Federal Government, now a clean slate for scientists to examine how nature recovers after such and eruption. Areas such as this one have been left untouched for 30 years the trees lying where the Volcano flattened them like blases of grass. This phot was taken looking North from Johnston Ridge, with the Volcano behind us giving some idea of the reach of the blast (super-zoom lens used)
A little photo-op for us to get our van with the Mountain behind us...
The eruption created a whole new landscape, new hills and mountains were formed, from the debris thrown out. this tree trunk stuck fast here when the liquid cement-like ash and water mixture, resulting from the landslides, solidified...
On my Gap Yah I went to Umurica and I went to this like, Volcano... Got some good pics before I just chundered everywhere!...
Although evidence of the sheer power of the eruption is all to clear, in the blast zone mountain forests were stripped bare, the top 3,000ft of the mountain was hurled (some pieces the sizeof houses) over the nearby hills devastating the landscape. At the Johnston Observatory, a tree trunk rescued from the blast zone demonstrated just how mother nature can destroy what she likes...
From Johnston Ridge, the mountain, 8km away with the collapsed north side facing us, the small volcanic dome at the centre is still constantly active growing, little by little every year until in many many years time she will be a complete mountain again like, Mt Rainier. The grey depositis either side of the small river in the valley below, are remnants of the ash that was thrown out of the volcano in 1980, in certain areas it reached depths of 600ft deep.
Sports scientist... who's a sports scientist? I'm a Vulcanologist...
After the eruption the area was declared a National Volcanic Monument by the National Parks Authority and Federal Government, now a clean slate for scientists to examine how nature recovers after such and eruption. Areas such as this one have been left untouched for 30 years the trees lying where the Volcano flattened them like blases of grass. This phot was taken looking North from Johnston Ridge, with the Volcano behind us giving some idea of the reach of the blast (super-zoom lens used)
A little photo-op for us to get our van with the Mountain behind us...
The eruption created a whole new landscape, new hills and mountains were formed, from the debris thrown out. this tree trunk stuck fast here when the liquid cement-like ash and water mixture, resulting from the landslides, solidified...
On my Gap Yah I went to Umurica and I went to this like, Volcano... Got some good pics before I just chundered everywhere!...
Met a Vulcanologist too...
More layers of ash mountains in the valley below Mt St Helens sculpted by the weather...
Joe took us for a 2 1/2 mile walk in the river valley where we walked around the hummocks, huge pieces of debris thrown out of the Volcano or dumped by the flood-waters in the aftermath... ever cheerful and cracking jokes, Joe said that he was glad we were happy to do the walk as it was very beautiful down here and most people decline to make the stretch to walk that far... wimps!
Along the walk we discovered a pond which had been expertly dammed, not by men but by beavers...
and a really weird looking froggy-toad thing... Don't lick it Mongo!
As we made our way down from the mountain Kate couldn't help but keep looking back towards her new baby, something tells me she'll come back here. I'd have to agree it was truly was an awesome and humbling place, where about 53 people lost their lives; thanks to people like David Johnston who knew the danger signs, the majority of people had been evacuated from the immediate vicinity of the Volcano, unfortunately nobody, not even the experts could have predicted just how violently the eruption would be. The fact, too, that the eruption took place on a Sunday was a big factor as well, a small number of tree loggers were caught in the blast, but had it happened 24 hours later on Monday morning, as many as 1000 workers would have been in the immediate blast zone.
We stopped for a meal, including some of the most delicious 'beer-batter' French fries ever. From the balcony of the restaurant we surveyed the valley through which we'd walked and the Mountain which had captured our hearts. The grey ash deposits a constant reminder of her violent past. The Explosion was heard 700 miles away in Vancouver, yet the few survivors from the blast zone reported that they didn't hear a thing; the sound of the explosion went right over their heads. The ash too completely encircled the globe within 14days leaving a light dusting of her own ash on the slopes of Mt St Helens.
On our way out of the park Joe stopped us at a restaurant which had, in its car park, a logging truck rescued from the blast zone after the eruption in 1980. The tree trunk hurled onto the cab was perhaps revenge from Mother Nature...
Whilst driving back on the highway and trying to kill some time to avoid the Sherriff who was stalking us on the highway we pulled in at a rest stop where the two sisters, St Helens and Rainier could be seen. Unfortunately St Helens had all but disappeared into the haze but Rainier was still visible, before 18th May 1980, Mt St Helens looked just like this and one day she will look like it again...
We arrived back into Seattle and took the opportunity to go and see some of the sights. At the City Park in the wealthy part of town the views were unmatched, with the Space Needle to the left and Mt Rainier to the right and the harbour just off shot at bottom right, the city looked pretty as a picture...
It turned out to be not so much once we descended into its busy streets; it wasn't unpleasant there was just nothing there!!! We did however discover THE STARBUCKS COFFEE, the original store outside the Pike Place Market. We also came to discover, however, that the people of Seattle, including those in its Police Department (don't ask) hate Starbucks, every person we asked, including an armed police officer, for directions to a Starbucks reacted with distain. Perhaps it is because all other coffee companies in Seattle (and there are a lot of them) have remained local whereas Starbucks has become the global infection that it is, who knows???
Nevertheless we retreated to our beds ready for the early start tomorrow, setting off for San Francisco...
The adventures of Mongo and The Boy, written and experienced by
Kate 'I won't go to Rome but I'll gladly look at two identical pieces of ash all day' Davies
and
Chris 'If McDonalds offers me breakfast again I'll chunder in their face' Davies
More layers of ash mountains in the valley below Mt St Helens sculpted by the weather...
Joe took us for a 2 1/2 mile walk in the river valley where we walked around the hummocks, huge pieces of debris thrown out of the Volcano or dumped by the flood-waters in the aftermath... ever cheerful and cracking jokes, Joe said that he was glad we were happy to do the walk as it was very beautiful down here and most people decline to make the stretch to walk that far... wimps!
Along the walk we discovered a pond which had been expertly dammed, not by men but by beavers...
and a really weird looking froggy-toad thing... Don't lick it Mongo!
As we made our way down from the mountain Kate couldn't help but keep looking back towards her new baby, something tells me she'll come back here. I'd have to agree it was truly was an awesome and humbling place, where about 53 people lost their lives; thanks to people like David Johnston who knew the danger signs, the majority of people had been evacuated from the immediate vicinity of the Volcano, unfortunately nobody, not even the experts could have predicted just how violently the eruption would be. The fact, too, that the eruption took place on a Sunday was a big factor as well, a small number of tree loggers were caught in the blast, but had it happened 24 hours later on Monday morning, as many as 1000 workers would have been in the immediate blast zone.
We stopped for a meal, including some of the most delicious 'beer-batter' French fries ever. From the balcony of the restaurant we surveyed the valley through which we'd walked and the Mountain which had captured our hearts. The grey ash deposits a constant reminder of her violent past. The Explosion was heard 700 miles away in Vancouver, yet the few survivors from the blast zone reported that they didn't hear a thing; the sound of the explosion went right over their heads. The ash too completely encircled the globe within 14days leaving a light dusting of her own ash on the slopes of Mt St Helens.
On our way out of the park Joe stopped us at a restaurant which had, in its car park, a logging truck rescued from the blast zone after the eruption in 1980. The tree trunk hurled onto the cab was perhaps revenge from Mother Nature...
Whilst driving back on the highway and trying to kill some time to avoid the Sherriff who was stalking us on the highway we pulled in at a rest stop where the two sisters, St Helens and Rainier could be seen. Unfortunately St Helens had all but disappeared into the haze but Rainier was still visible, before 18th May 1980, Mt St Helens looked just like this and one day she will look like it again...
We arrived back into Seattle and took the opportunity to go and see some of the sights. At the City Park in the wealthy part of town the views were unmatched, with the Space Needle to the left and Mt Rainier to the right and the harbour just off shot at bottom right, the city looked pretty as a picture...
It turned out to be not so much once we descended into its busy streets; it wasn't unpleasant there was just nothing there!!! We did however discover THE STARBUCKS COFFEE, the original store outside the Pike Place Market. We also came to discover, however, that the people of Seattle, including those in its Police Department (don't ask) hate Starbucks, every person we asked, including an armed police officer, for directions to a Starbucks reacted with distain. Perhaps it is because all other coffee companies in Seattle (and there are a lot of them) have remained local whereas Starbucks has become the global infection that it is, who knows???
Nevertheless we retreated to our beds ready for the early start tomorrow, setting off for San Francisco...
The adventures of Mongo and The Boy, written and experienced by
Kate 'I won't go to Rome but I'll gladly look at two identical pieces of ash all day' Davies
and
Chris 'If McDonalds offers me breakfast again I'll chunder in their face' Davies
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