47. Mount St. Helens, 5/22/11

The picture above is where you would see the mountain if the weather would have cooperated. I am glad to have gone, but I was disappointed that the view was not there. Any pictures I got of the mountain are pictures of pictures within the observatory.


The Johnston Ridge Observatory sits on a bluff just 5-1/2 miles from the crater at an elevation of 4,314 feet and offers grand views of Mount St. Helens and much of the 1980 blast zone. This visitor center is the closest you can get to the mountain by car when driving in from the west and is located 53 miles east of the town of Castle Rock at the end of State Route 504. The center includes: exhibits with a geological focus, a 16-minute theater program, ranger-led programs, and a bookstore.

A magnitude 4.2 earthquake 31 years ago marked the reawakening of Mount St. Helens after 123 years of inactivity and set the stage for the most destructive eruption in U.S. history. The catastrophic eruption of May 18, 1980, claimed 57 lives and caused an estimated $1 billion damage. It was a very visible reminder that volcanoes can reawaken quickly and with little warning, and that Cascade Range volcanic activity was far from being a thing of the past.

The two months between the first earthquakes and the large May eruption was one of great uncertainty and activity as scientists and public officials strove to understand the dramatic volcanic events and forecast future activity. Seven days after the initial earthquake, March 27, 1980, a loud boom was widely heard by many residents of Southwest Washington and aerial observers noted a dark dense column of volcanic ash rising through the clouds, eventually reaching a height of 6,000 feet above the volcano. In the coming months, dozens more explosions punched and expanded fresh craters into the volcano’s summit. Hundreds of earthquakes of magnitude 4 or greater rocked the volcano and the north flank of Mount St. Helens moved outwards by five feet per day.

While the United States and its territories contain 169 volcanoes considered capable of erupting, prior to the Mount St. Helens eruption the only U.S. Geological Survey volcano observatory was in Hawaii. The May 1980 eruption, however, would be the catalyst for change, as increased money would be allocated for volcano monitoring and Cascades Volcano Observatory would be founded. Since that time, additional volcanic events and better recognition of areas of interest have resulted in the growth of USGS’ monitoring program. Today, the USGS has five volcano observatories: Cascades Volcano Observatory in Washington; the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory; the Long Valley Observatory in California; the Yellowstone Observatory; and the Alaska Volcano Observatory.

During the 31 years since the catastrophic volcanic eruption of May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens continues to challenge and inspire scientists to understand the causes and nature of volcanic eruptions.

Thanks Kat for going and showing me a huge part of the Northwest's history.