I was 16 years old on May 18, 1980, when Mount St. Helens erupted. I was with my dad and cousin at a bass fishing tournament on Silver Lake in Cowlitz County, Washington, about 30 miles west of the volcano.
It was a beautiful, clear, sunny morning. We had hoped for a visible steam or ash plume over the weekend, but Saturday and early Sunday morning were quiet. I felt lucky to have seen similar events during the months leading up to this day.
Around 8:30 AM, we headed back to shore for my dad to use the facilities. While returning to the resort, my dad directed my attention to the mountain. We watched in awe as the initial blast and landslide occurred. Mt. St. Helens then disappeared from view.
Arriving at the resort, people quickly packed their RVs and hauled their boats out of the water. My dad observed the chaos, waiting for things around the campground to calm down.
Word came that the Interstate 5 bridge over the Toutle River had closed, our primary route home. My dad decided that we should stay for a while longer. We drove the boat over to a lake-side store with a dock. My dad went inside the store and bought beer, then headed to the middle of the lake. We sat and watched the ash plume (this is nothing I would recommend doing today—times were different).
After a few hours, word came that the Toutle River bridge had reopened. That’s when we loaded the boat on the trailer and headed home.
Even though we were only about 30 miles from the mountain, ash never fell on us. Most of the ash ended up in eastern Washington. My heart goes out to what the residents of the Yakima area had to endure. The sky got dark, and the temperature cooled as the ash cloud blocked the morning sun. An incredible phenomenon was all the lightning in the ash cloud. From our vantage point, we did not hear an explosion. One possibility was that the boat motor was running.
This experience is something that I’ll always remember. I’m fortunate to witness geological history in the making.
If You’re Old Enough to Remember, What were you doing that day?
I would love to hear from you. What were you doing on May 18, 1980, when Mount St. Helens erupted?
