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08/22/2012

Recent Visit to WA Brought Me Back to Old Friends

Mt. St. Helens

Mt. St. Helen's from the east side on our recent visit to Washington state. Mt. St. Helen's is sort of a muse in my writing because it blew up on my 21st birthday--I really did celebrate with a blast.

 

We visited Mt. St. Helens many time since, our last visit was when a friend came from Germany for several weeks. We tried to visit this side, but the snow pack was still to high so we had to head back to I-5 and then come in from the southern side.

 

Spirit Lake shown below was filled high. 

Spiritlake

A sign explained it got so full that the state was worried it would flood down stream communities. To solve this problem, they drilled a tunnel through Harry's Ledge to let some of the water escape. Now they maintain the current level of the lake. It's problems with low oxygen and high acid content following the volcanic eruption were resolved after 10 years. Harry's Ledge was named after one of the elderly local residents that refused to leave despite warnings by the authorities.

Many organizations continue to study Mt. St. Helen's--they monitor earthquakes, the build up of the dome, the recovery of areas around Mt. St. Helens etc.

Posted at 10:41 PM in Life of a Writer, Photography, Thoughts, Travel |

Tags: Germany, Harry's Ledge, Mt. St. Helen's, snow pack, Spirit Lake, volcanic eruption, Washington state

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