Am Morgen des 18. Mai 1980 nahm ich an einem Barschturnier am Silver Lake im Cowlitz County, Washington, teil. Diese Fotos wurden von einem anderen Mitglied des Bass Clubs aufgenommen (es tut mir leid, dass ich seinen Namen nicht mehr kenne) und zeigen meinen Vater und mich beim Angeln etwa 30 Minuten vor dem Ausbruch des Mount St. Helens und dann der Aschewolke.
Wir schlenderten durch die Seerosenblätter auf dem Rückweg zum Resort, als wir den Beginn der ersten Eruption sahen. Wir haben nie etwas gehört. Vielleicht hat der Bootsmotor es überdeckt, oder vielleicht hat ein seltsamer akustischer Effekt das Geräusch woanders hingetragen.
Als wir das Resort erreichten, herrschte totales Chaos. Die Leute rannten herum, als würde die Welt untergehen, beluden Wohnmobile, zogen Boote aus dem Wasser und versuchten zu fliehen.
Wir hörten, dass die I-5-Brücke über den Toutle River gesperrt war, also ging mein Vater davon aus, dass wir eine Weile nirgendwo hinfahren würden. Mein Cousin, mein Vater und ich fuhren zu einem kleinen Laden am See, kauften etwas Bier und saßen dann im Boot mitten auf dem See und beobachteten den Ausbruch.
Die Aschewolke breitete sich über uns aus, erreichte aber nie unser Gebiet, da der Großteil davon nach Osten wanderte. Die Wolke blockierte die Morgensonne, die Temperatur sank und in der Aschewolke zuckten Blitze.
Schließlich kehrten wir zum Resort zurück und erfuhren, dass die Autobahn wieder geöffnet war. Wir packten das Boot und das Wohnmobil zusammen und machten uns auf den Heimweg.
Es war ein einmaliges Erlebnis. Wir gingen dorthin in der Hoffnung, vielleicht ein wenig Dampf vom Berg aufsteigen zu sehen. Stattdessen waren wir Zeugen der Geschichte.
Haben Sie eine Geschichte über Mt. St. Helens?
Von stevebisig
18 Kommentare
Just wow, crazy photos, crazy memory.
Thanks for sharing!
My mom said there was about an inch of ash in Wyoming
Wow. That’s wild. I was quite young when it happened, but I remember seeing on the news and it seemed pretty scary at the time.
The adults in my life talked about St. Helens so much that I grew up thinking I was there for it, until a teacher corrected me. I was born in 83. That had to have been just an amazing experience. Wow.
Edit to add: just realized that you have one of the very last photos ever taken of her before she blew. Wild!
What an experience! Thank goodness you weren’t in immediate danger. That last picture is incredible
Fantastic! Somewhere I still have some ash my brother mailed me from Denver.
Lived in eastern Washington at the time. It was a gorgeous blue sky day. We watched the ash cloud come over us, like a blanket or huge wall cloud. By noon it was so dark you could barely see your hand in front of your face. Ash started falling and the radio folks told everyone to get inside as we didn’t know what was in the ash.
We hid in our homes. Over the rest of the day, the sky never lightened. We fell asleep not knowing what we’d wake up to. Darkness? Buried?
The sky was lighter. But the ash was deep. You couldn’t drive in it without clogging your engine and killing your car. Cars that did drive only drove 15 mph, and sent a cloud 50 feet high behind them. We couldn’t see our feet or anything past our knees if we walked in it. We looked like „pig pen“ in Peanuts. We tried to keep the dust out of the house, but failed miserably. We wore dust/construction masks to keep it out of our lungs as much as possible. We stripped off our clothes at the doorway and stuffed them into garbage bags. It made the world look alien-like.
Wow that third picture. Damn
That 3rd photo looks like the end of the world .
My next door neighbor in Maryland had just moved to the east coast from Yakima, Washington nearby to the volcano. Their old neighbors sent them a baby food jar full of ash a few days after the explosion. All the other neighborhood kids (e.g. me) were super jealous that Paul (who was a middle school classmate) had access to a jar of these ashes. He even took them to school which made him sort of a legend.
Wow! Amazing close up view! What a story! Thanks for sharing.
I was in Montana and we woke up to what looked like dirty snow covering everything. We had a day off school and then had to wear masks for a few days. People had to shovel it off their walkways and spray if off their cars. It was super eerie but also cool. Artists collected the ash and used in pottery and glazes. Once in a lifetime experience, that’s for sure
I chuckled at the thought of three guys drinking beer and watching the eruption from a boat. It was a different time for sure.
Man, OP thank you for sharing, this is such an unparalleled memory. I can only imagine the sense of awe at what you guys where seeing
Thanks for sharing.
Why don’t I see your photos?
Wow – This is incredible! Thanks for sharing
Those clouds during look like hydrogen bomb that became a thunderstorm.
Reminds me of the Far Side panel where two fishermen are in a boat with a mushroom cloud in the distance. „You know what this means, Norm? No size restrictions and screw the limit.“