Although it is not as majestic as Mt. Rainier, Mount St. Helens has its own appeal. After all, how many people get to see a mountain blow out its side here in the States? To witness the tragic death and destruction that a volcano can create? It blew in 1980.
Rosalie and I went down to Mount St. Helens in October. In on Highway 504 off of Interstate 5. It was an overcast day for the most part. We made our way up to Johnston Ridge. It was cold and windy, not a day to get out and walk around. Clouds finally lifted enough to see the mountain. I had never been in on the west side. A few years back, Rosalie and I had come up from the south off the Columbia River and come up on the east side to Randle.
The water level was very low in the creek and river beds. Giant boulders and rocks, gouged out land, and debris piled up, mudslide areas. It was a lot to take in. Just the devastation of it all. Seemed like the ruination went on forever. Not only did the blow out effect the immediate area, but left ash all over the surrounding valley and Interstate 5 corridor up to Seattle.
On the way back down, we stopped at the “19 Mile House”. The “Firemountain Grill” owner dished up very good bowls of homemade chili for us. He advertised a deal that if you could eat the “Big Foot Burger” in 30 minutes, you’d win a t-shirt. The burger cost $25. Three beef patties, five slices of cheese, turkey, ham, bbq pulled pork, caramelized onion, fire sauce, crispy onion, lettuce, tomato, pickle and a “Big Foot” size fist full of beer battered fries! I wonder if the burger is worth $25, the pain in your gut from eating it all just for the bragging rights and a t-shirt which probably costs less than 25 dollars.
As we ate and looked out the window to the river, he told us to go back up the road a few yards and check out the A-frame hut that was engulfed almost half-way up by the flood debris. We took pictures of ourselves in front of the silver-colored big foot statue that seemed 50 feet tall. We came back down to the grill as Rosalie want a picture of a big truck that had a tree trunk in the cab and windshield. It had been hauled out of the muck and parked on his property close to the road.
That ended that trip. There’s just too much to see in a day and you need to go on a nice warm sunny day. We saw no wildlife. The animals are holed up. It was too cold. They were smarter than we were. I wonder what Mount Baker looks like. Since Rosalie has never been to that one, it might be a future trip.
Lakewood, Washington 10/2018
