As far as volcanos go----just a little burp.

Julie and I went to a wedding of a friend of ours in Bend, Oregon this past Saturday. It is a beautiful 6 hour drive from Seattle through the mountains and across the desert to get to Bend. I have made the trip many times to get to Smith Rocks, a sandstone climbing area just north of Bend. We had discussed going to Mt St Helens if it had been nicer weather but the mountain was totally clouded over.

We went to the wedding on Saturday and spent the night in a no-tell-motel in Bend. When we woke up in the morning this is what we saw.

One of the cool things about living in the 21^st Century is “traffic cameras.” One can go on line and actually see in real time what road conditions are at mountain passes etc. The roads looked only wet, so away we went----with confidence high that conditions would be improving.

By the time we got about 20 miles North of Bend the roads cleared and the snow turned into off-and-on rain. The mountains got beautiful.

As we came out of the mountains, drove by Portland and crossed the Columbia River into Washington, we were welcomed into Washington State with clear blue skies.

And what did we see off in the distance----some 60 miles away? (Zoom lens)

Mt St. Helens.

We just had to go. It is a 60 mile, one way trip into the mountain observation point----and well worth the trip with this kind of visibility.

At the end of the long road in to the mountain is the Johnston Ridge Observatory.

This is the view point where one can see into the crater of the volcano through where the side was blasted away in 1980.

It is impossible for me to comprehend the amount of power released during this eruption and the amount of devastation that resulted from the blast. Take this tree preserved inside the observatory for example. Have you ever tried to cut down a small tree with an ax? How about a chain saw? Depending on your abilities, this work might be easy or difficult, but it might give you an appreciation of what it took to knock this 4 foot diameter tree flat in a split second---by a searing hot wind moving more than 350 miles per hour. Scientists tell us that in terms of the geological record this eruption was by no means an exceptionally large eruption---even if the ash plume rose more than twice the height at which commercial airplanes fly----12 plus miles.

Now, almost 30 years, later the signs of the devastation are still visible in many areas.

Other areas are completely reforested---both by man and nature.

Our human powerlessness is only amplified by the extreme powerfulness of nature.

Charles Buell

Seattle Home Inspectors, ASHI Home Inspector, Licensed Home Inspector, Structural Pest Inspector, Charles Buell Inspections Inc, Seattle, WA

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