We headed south from Seattle to visit Mount St Helens. The g--d--- Pacific typhoon continues to lash the entire Northwest with record-breaking rain and winds, dampening our plans to see the volcano.
The road to Mount St Helens begins in the town of Castle Rock (pop 1,982) with its storefront library and repurposed mailbox for a book drop.
The amount of damage the explosion caused is almost incomprehensible. When the mountain exploded on May 18, 1980, mud, ash, boulders, trees, cars, trucks, houses, and other debris were washed into the Toutle River valley pictured below. As with other rivers around the blast site, the debris flowing down the Toutle carved new channels, destroyed bridges, and eventually emptied into the Columbia River 65 miles away, halting shipping for several days. (This photo was taken about 25 miles from the volcano.)
The Toutle River further downstream.
The Weyerhaeuser Corp has systematically replanted massive areas after the explosion.
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