Mount St. Helens erupted at 8:32 Sunday morning, May 18, 1980. Shaken by an earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale, the north face of this tall symmetrical mountain collapsed in a massive rock debris avalanche. Nearly 230 square miles of forest was blown down or buried beneath volcanic deposits. At the same time a mushroom-shaped column of ash rose thousands of feet skyward and drifted downwind, turning day into night as dark, gray ash fell over eastern Washington and beyond. The eruption lasted 9 hours, but Mount St. Helens and the surrounding landscape were dramatically changed within moments. In 1982, the President and Congress created the 110,000-acre National Volcanic Monument for research, recreation, and education. Inside the Monument, the environment is left to respond naturally to the disturbance. (Source: http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/mshnvm/)

It’s amazing to see how much natural recovery has taken place. We were especially lucky to see many summer wildflowers blooming. The several rest stop/information centers along the route we took through the monument each offered a different perspective, and were all quite informative. One highlight was viewing, from far above, the herd of elk that has returned to the area. Click HERE for photos of Mt. St. Helens.