June 1 - Mount St. Helens

I guess that most of you know that the top of Mount St. Helens  blew off about 33 years ago.  Thirteen hundred feet of the mountain was gone.  The devastation was immense.  The blast zone was 16 miles (virtually total destruction). The debris from the volcano moved down the mountain at 150 miles per hour.  Fifty seven people died and at the Johnston Ridge Observatory, you can read heroic stories of survivors who barely managed to get out of the way of the incredible deluge. One surprise for us was the incredible re-growth, both natural and man made.  

Many of us recall the National Geographic photos with the the tens of thousands of downed trees.  Much of that is now gone and only the immediate area at the base of the mountain is barren. Virtually all of the affected areas have now grown back in.

Here are a few of our pics : MSH

From Mount St. Helens we headed north for Seattle and Warren's departure Sunday.  Will say farewell to Warren tomorrow on the blog.