I love walking through Portland on a clear day, looking to the east, and seeing Mt. Hood standing guard over my city.  It’s a spectacular sight, and I never really give much thought to what’s going on beneath the surface of my favorite mountain.  On those same clear days, I can look to the northeast and see the flat top on a mountain that used to look a lot like Hood.  That flat-topped giant is a beautiful reminder of the blast that happened nearly 30 years ago.

I wasn’t around when the 1980 eruption happened, but I recently visited Mount St. Helens for the first time.  I went up for a day hike on a pretty mountain, but it turned into a really educational experience for me — the information available at the Johnston Ridge Observatory was really captivating.  I definitely recommend seeing this mountain in person, but as a preview, I’ll share some highlights from my visit.

My group and I started our day at the visitor center at Seaquest.  We asked the rangers where to go for the best hikes, and they directed us to the Johnston Ridge Observatory, closer to the mountain.  Driving to the observatory, I was really struck by the landscape.  You can see very clearly where the largest landslides carved out a canyon that extends many miles from where the eruption began.  The eruption wiped out most of the old growth forest around the mountain, and today the drive up takes you through a beautiful young forest comprised almost entirely of young noble fir trees.  Their branches are practically perfectly parallel, making the forest look almost computer generated, but at the same time totally natural.  It’s a beautiful view, unlike any other landscape I’ve ever seen.

The Johnston Ridge Observatory offers a ranger talk every hour and an informational video every half hour.  We checked out both and I absolutely recommend them.  Some of the things the ranger told us blew my mind.  For instance, Mount St. Helens is already well on her way to rebuilding herself.  There’s constant seismic activity inside the crater, and she showed us photographs that illustrated just how drastically the mountain has already changed since the eruption.  You think of the formation of a mountain as something that happens over millions of years, but the ranger told us that Mount St Helens will likely look like her old self, tall and pointy, within just a few hundred years.

Mount St. Helens before and after the 1980 eruption

She also talked about how scientists have taken advantage of the eruption and subsequent activity at Mount St Helens to learn more about volcanoes.  I am in no way scientifically inclined — I like nature, but I often don’t really get it — but everything I learned on my trip to Mount St. Helens was completely fascinating.

In addition to the science, there’s some pretty interesting folklore, too.  One legend I particularly enjoyed (but I may not be remembering the details completely accurately; forgive me) was that Mount St Helens was one of two wives of Mount Rainier.  The other wife was Mount Baker, I believe — anyhow, the other wife became jealous, and launched a fireball at St Helens, causing the 1980 eruption that knocked her top off.  Pretty juicy, huh?

After about a 90-minute visit at the Johnston Ridge Observatory, there was still plenty of time left in our day to enjoy some great hiking and spectacular views.  Mount St. Helens is an easy day trip from Portland or Seattle — you should definitely put it on your agenda for your next trip to the Pacific Northwest.  I can’t wait to go back and explore some more.

By the way, you know what footwear would be perfect for a day of hiking and exploring at Mount St Helens?  KEENS!  Read my review of their latest style and enter to win a free pair here.

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 12th, 2009 at 11:27 am and is filed under Attractions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.