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05/18/2005 10:26:31 AM · #1 |
Just thought I'd share a memory:
We were living in Portland, Oregon at the time and it's a day I'll never forget. Total fear, some panic all over the tri-state area.
We cleaned up ash for over a year. Gutters fell down from the weight of the ash, cars paint jobs got ruined from the silica in the ash. Some made $ selling bottles of ash. At the time I was a professional potter and used it in my stoneware.
My husband was off with a group of four on a fishing trip that morning up in Washington. This was pre-cell phones and I didn't know what river he was on. Turned out they fished an Oregon river that day but it was just luck that they changed their plans at the last minute.
It was a tragic day for those that died up there. The area today is so beautiful, re-born and full of elk, deer, and green trees. The visitors center is really a nice place to visit.
There were some fantastic photos taken at that time.
//www.vannattabros.com/helens.html
//www.mountsthelens.com/html/photography.html |
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05/18/2005 10:29:53 AM · #2 |
Yup, I turned 25 that day.
HOLY CWAP, that means I'm 50 today! |
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05/18/2005 10:32:17 AM · #3 |
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05/18/2005 10:37:06 AM · #4 |
I just returned form the Portland area (Welches, near Mt. Hood). I had wanted to drive up the Mt St helens area, but weather made that impractical (rain, fog, no visibility) :-(
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05/18/2005 10:41:08 AM · #5 |
Did you know ...lol that Jamey Summers, Wonder Woman, Lindsey Wagner lives ..or did live in Welches?
Were you visiting her? She's bionic!! |
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05/18/2005 10:46:47 AM · #6 |
Originally posted by justine:
Did you know ...lol that Jamey Summers, Wonder Woman, Lindsey Wagner lives ..or did live in Welches?
Were you visiting her? She's bionic!! |
In Welches? Really? Whe must really like the small town life, and I do mean small!
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05/18/2005 11:31:30 AM · #7 |
I lived in Salem, Oregon at that time. Before the big eruption there was a circus-like interest in St. Helens by everyone living in the Pacific Northwest.
From early March it was in the news almost every day. But nobody really believed there would be a "real" eruption and most people had never heard of a lateral blast. We thought it would be a gentle flow like in Hawaii if it happened at all and we all wanted it to happen.
If the eruption had been three hours later that day the human death toll would have been much higher. Authorities had already agreed to let angry homeowners return to the restricted area to pick up belongings at 10 AM. Every one of them would have died.
I have two chilling memories. Exactly one week before I had taken my family to see the mountain close up and waundered into the restricted zone. I gleefully recorded, "Baby's first volcano", in my son's baby book. Had we taken that trip a week later no entry would ever have been made.
There was an interview on TV with geologist David Johnston at a parking lot high on the North side of the mountain. The young, blond and somewhat shy geologist wearing a funny wool cap matter of factly stated for the interviewer that they were, at that very moment, standing in a very dangerous place.
I, like most people at the time, thought Johnston was exaggerating. He was on a ridge over 5 miles away facing that parking lot on the morning of the big eruption and was the first person to report it. His last words were, "Vancouver, Vancouver... this is it!". His body was never found.
Then there was colorful old Harry Truman, the lodge owner who refused to leave his home and life's work. He was crotchety and a great interview. The most printable thing he said was, "Like that gall darned old captain, I'll go down with the ship!" Truth is, like all of us, he didn't believe it would really erupt and if it did there was a cave nearby where he could go hide. Not even a shingle from his lodge was ever found.
Message edited by author 2005-05-18 11:52:40.
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