I Was There: My Story of the 1980 Mount St. Helens Eruption
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…