Mountain Memories Local family appreciates

Sunday, May 18, 1980, was supposed to be another ordinary weekend for my mom and her parents. They were staying at the family cabin on Hayden Lake, just over the Idaho border from Spokane.

Morning was passing when my mother and grandparents espied, approaching from the southeast, what one family member later described as “the meanest looking thunderstorm in all of mankind.” The radio confirmed what my amateur-geologist parent already suspected: that Mt. St. Helens had erupted.

Grabbing the dog, everyone jumped into the family’s rickety red Toyota and fled for Spokane. The little Toyota careened around tight curves and blind corners, my grandfather hellbent on making it to their Spokane house before the ash cloud hit.

They reached Interstate 90 with light ash falling onto the highway. Before them loomed a darkness as black as the oncoming wall of night. My mother recalls being within a couple miles of the South Hill when “it appeared all life had been snuffed out.” The air became dense as ash rained down and darkness fell. For the next hour the little Toyota creaked along, its headlight beams failing to pierce the impenetrable, ashen darkness.

After what seemed an eternity they arrived at the house. The days that followed felt apocalyptic. (In a rather ironic parallel to present times, it was essential to wear masks if one went outside. The effects of silicon ash hitting the lungs were more immediate than COVID-19).

My parents retained an abiding fascination and respect for Mount St. Helens. The year before they moved to Longview they drove up the Toutle

By Tom Lee

Valley on Hwy 504 until they reached a floodplain. There, the old highway promptly disappeared and a small Forest Service trailer marked the

After a swarm of earthquake activity under the mountain the previous day, on October 2, 2004, my parents and I went to Johnston Ridge to hopefully catch a glimpse of the action. There I experienced one of the greatest thrills of my nerdy teen years: witnessing the mountain erupt. It was only a minor steam eruption. However, it was still thrilling to watch a volcanic eruption in real time in my own backyard.