Mountains And Hikes With Erin

We went to two volcanoes in the Cascade Mt. Range: Mt. Rainer & Mt. St. Helens. On Mt. Rainer, it

was a 2 & a half hour long hike without water. We ended up drinking out of a glacial ice stream! It was fresh and cold. We didn't know it would be this long of a hike.

On the way up, we saw something that my dad called a monkey. It turned out to be a marmot! It was perched on a rock. We saw many more marmots on the side of the path or on rocks. At this point, I was exhausted and dehydrated, and there was no stream at the top. So we made it to the top and turned around. The next day, we got in the RV and drove to Mt. St. Helens. Now, this volcano blew its top and side off on Sunday, May 18, 1980.

Here is a picture of Mt. St. Helens right now:

So, we go there and we stare at the massive volcano towering before us. We go inside and watch 2 films about how the entire north face fell and how 57 people died during the 2 eruptions that took place. The day before it erupted, when it looked safe, police and security and such let people past the red zone and into their homes and businesses. Then they would escort them out. The next day, at 8:32 a.m., the excitement began. The volcano's top slid of at a speed of 150 miles per hour at incoming forests, cities, and animals past the red zone. Now, Harry Truman was one of those 57 people who died. But he died being stubborn. He said that the mountain was his home, and that since he had been there 50 years, he was like part of the mountain. Harry lived at Spirit Lake, a lake at the base of Mt. St. Helens. Before the eruption, there was geologist named David Johnston who had set up a camp about six miles away from the mountain. He was there to monitor the growing bulge on the side of the mountain. It was growing at a rate of about 5 feet a day!

Eventually, after the explosion, a massive ash cloud left dead trees standing, and the ash surrounded the world. It covered up the sun and made it pitch black everywhere.

Even though the eruption destroyed the land, it helped rebuild a new one. Small creatures came out from underneath, protected from the blast, such as moles and pocket gophers. Frogs and salamanders came back to bare ponds. Elk and deer munched on flowers the popped up every day.

 Stay tuned for more blogs with Erin!