big badda-boom

I think that accurately explains the eruption of Mt St Helens in 1980, don't you?

I had to go see Mt St Helens, to see an active volcano, to see the sight of so much destruction, etc. As we were getting closer, we saw the valley where the mud flow destroyed just about everything in its path. What you're seeing in the picture below is NOT water, it's the mud/ash left from the eruption.

This sign struck home with me. Nothing to do with Weyerhaeuser or trees or anything - it's all about the title of the sign. Wow, omg - we were driving into the blast zone area. Freaky!

There are actually three sections of the blast zone:
the direct blast zone - virtually everything was obliterated or carried away
channelized blast zone - the flow flattened everything in its path; the direction of the blast seen in the parallel alignment of the toppled trees
seared zone - trees remained standing but were singed by the hot gases

For more info on the eruption, see Mt St Helens website.

Weyerhaeuser has replanted thousands of acres of trees, but some areas the government has set aside to not be touched. It was interesting seeing how life slowly (or quickly) comes back to a ravaged land.

And here's the bad girl herself. The spot where the rim is lower is where all the action was... first a landslide, the largest in recorded history, and then the lateral explosion of rock, ash and hot gases. Now you can see kind of tucked away in the back of the crater where it is rebuilding - a new dome is being created. And the still mostly desolate landscape, not recovered yet from the devastation.

Not too far away in a different direction, little to no effects of the explosion are noticeable. Weird, huh?!