Mount St. Helens

The first rays of the sun greeted us this morning just offshore from Rainier, OR and Longview, WA. The Port of Longview was already bustling at this early hour. Logs were being loaded on ocean-going vessels, feathery plumes of steam were rising from the paper plant, and barges full of chips were in position for dumping. Within minutes Mother Nature splashed a brilliant pink swath of paint across the eastern sky.

What a way to start the day! After a tasty breakfast we departed the National Geographic Sea Lion and loaded our coach for the day’s journey to the north side of the ‘Fire Mountain’ (Klickitat) or the ‘One from Which Smoke Comes’(Cowlitz).

We made our first stop at the Mt. St. Helens Visitor Center at Silver Lake taking in a brief movie and a diverse collection of pictorial displays and panels showing the main event as well as the devastation that followed. By mid-morning we were traveling up the Spirit Lake Memorial Highway to the Johnston Ridge Observatory. On arriving, our guests were treated to an impeccable view into the throat of the volcano. After watching, ‘A Message from the Mountain’ we headed outside for picture taking and elk spotting. Some guests made their way to an upper observation point which provided excellent views of the scorch zone fringing the margin of the blast zone some 13 miles to the north.

As the lunch hour approached we headed down slope to Coldwater Lake. Members of the National Geographic Sea Lion crew greeted us with a scrumptious assortment of sandwich ingredients and salads as well as beverages and dessert.

The afternoon was filled with various hiking options. Some guests chose to walk the Coldwater Lake Trail, while others walked the 2 ½ mile trail through the Hummocks. One group enjoyed a two-hour hike with the National Geographic photographer, Susan Seubert.

The mountain that definitely brought us a message over 29 years ago, still brought us a message today, a message of incredible energy and catastrophic change. We much appreciated the opportunity today to see so clearly the changes brought by the May 18th, 1980 eruption, but also were impressed by the rapidity of the natural recovery.