The equinox is upon us. September 21 seems to have come really quickly this year. We have moved on to Packwood, Washington, where we will spend a day driving to Mount St. Helens and a day driving to Mount Rainier.
Our first morning we are greeted with the Packwood elk herd right outside our window. What a surprise when I opened the window shade. It is a sizable herd of females with this year’s young.
Packwood Elk Herd
They are in the next campsite over from ours.
Packwood Elk Herd
Packwood Elk Herd
After taking my shower and getting ready for the day, I look out to find the elk herd has regrouped and moved over toward the campground showers.
Packwood Elk Herd
They aren’t particularly spooked by noise from the RV, but when I open the door and step outside, I definitely get their attention.
Packwood Elk Herd
After taking a walk around Packwood, it is easy to see that this elk herd is frequently all over town. There is elk poo everywhere!
Mount St. Helens - May 18, 1980
The change that occurred on May 18, 1980, to the peak of Mount St. Helens is dramatic. The pictures on the National Geographic web site tell the story best.
Click on the National Geographic Picture to change between the before and after.
Mount St. Helens
Today the clouds are lifting and lowering over the peak.
Mount St. Helens
Forest Damage
Click on the picture to enlarge it enough to see all of the bare tree trunks strewn about the slopes as though they are toothpicks. The blast force is evident in large areas of what used to be old-growth forest.
Trees Tell the Story
Trees Stripped and Felled
The tree trunks that have been snapped off are all around. The force that this eruption had is awesome to see in the aftermath.
Trees
These pine trees look like they already have their Christmas candles in place. The pine cones are growing straight up.
Candle Tree Top
Natural Artwork
This tree stump was apparently torn from the ground at the time of the eruption. Someone has sawed off the top and left the rest. It presents an interesting piece of artwork, don’t you think?
Clear Lake
Clear Lake was not a particularly well known lake in Washington except to those people who frequented it. The eruption changed the lake and the shoreline completely.
Clear Lake
The forest around the lake is gone. What looks like beach on the far side of the lake is, in fact, massive amounts of tree trunks floating on the water.
Clear Lake
The forest service is using this event as a research lab. Part of the area that was cleared of old-growth trees is being replanted and the old, dead timber removed. Other parts of the area are being left as it happened and allowed to heal itself as it will. Which will prove to be the better forest management practice? Time will tell on that one.
Clear Lake
Driftwood
That is all floating logs.
Bones of the Forest
Just Floating Logs?
Floating Logs
Clouds
The clouds are continuing to life and shift over the peak.
Mount St. Helens
River Valley
Mount St. Helens
History
Lava Dome
Harry Randall Truman - October 30, 1896 – May 18, 1980
Keith and Dorothy Stoffel's Story
That plane ride had to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience!
David A. Johnston's Story
Eruption
Floating Wood on Clear Lake
Floating Wood on Clear Lake
Blasted Forest
This has been a great day trip. Hearing about the Mount St. Helens eruption on the news did not have the impact of actually seeing both the scope of the devastation and the magnitude of the blast. Mother Nature will always win!
We have not so much as even felt a tremor while we have been in the U.S. part of the Ring of Fire. We still have a few more weeks; so we don’t want to temp the fates. Life is good when its quiet and boring and not shaking!