Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument (7/18)

     On the eighteenth of July, we went to Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument.  It erupted in 1980. The lava column shot up 15 miles into the air and rushed down the sides of the mountain. All the plants and animals around the volcano were wiped out.  After the eruption, life returned quickly.  Now, the area is filled with even more animals and plants than before the eruption. However, we didn't get to hike on the mountain itself, because it was closed for research.

Mount St. Helens

     Since we weren't able to go to Mount St. Helens, we went to Johnston Ridge Observatory.  There, we could see the mountain and also learn about it from movies, exhibits, or rangers.

Johnston Ridge Observatory

     At the visitor center, we watched two movies about the mountain.  They were each about 15-20 minutes long. After the movie, the curtain lifted up and through the window we saw the mountain: Mount St. Helens.

The end of the movie

     One of the first plants to return was the purple flower below.  It doesn't need much nutrition to survive, so it easily lived on the in-nutritious pumas rock.

The first flower to come to Mt. St. Helens

     In the areas nearest the volcano, all the trees were uprooted and wiped out, and nothing was left in the path of the lava.  A little farther from the volcano the power of the flowing lava was weaker, so the trees were cut off, but the stump remained.  If you go even farther, the trees remained standing, but all the leaves and most branches were seared off.

     We are about 11 miles from Mt. St. Helens at the Johnston Ridge Observatory.  It took the volcano only 40 seconds (if I remember correctly) to get here.  The trees were cut off, buthe stumps remained.

A hill near Mount St. Helens

Everywhere, signs were posted that read, "Stay on Trails and Paved Areas." Then, in small type on the bottom it said, "Plants grow by the inch and die by the foot!"

     We also did the Junior Ranger Program. It was fun, and we learned a lot fromt he exhibit, movies, and ranger talks.