Mighty Mount St. Helens

When we finally arrived in Washington State, one of the places on our bucket list to visit was Mount St. Helens. The 1980 monumental eruption of this massive volcano was one that forever changed the surrounding landscape and  ecosystems. The catastrophic nature of this blast reminded the world that Mother Earth is indeed alive and well!

On the day we arrived there was a lot of cloud coverage but we decided to take the hour long drive anyway up to the observatory. It turned out to be quite interesting with many stops along the way. We were amazed to learn how the land and ecosystems are being restored. Below is just one of 14 bridges that needed to be constructed after the eruption on May 18, 1980 and thousands of trees have been planted by Weyerhaeuser, the timberland company that was working in the area when the eruption took place.

When we got to the observatory, sadly this was all we could see of Mount St. Helens.  If you look closely you can see the rim of the crater where the side of the mountain blew off, obliterating 8 miles of land below. Huge trees were like matchsticks and stumps for miles around were visible to us.

Apparently, this is what Mount St. Helens looks like on a good day!

As we left the observatory and headed back down the main road, night was beginning to close in. We typically don't like to drive in unknown areas in the dark so we decided to stop off at this little spot alongside the road and camp for the night.

The young couple who owned the place told us both upfront that this location is an "unofficial" research facility for Big Foot. The gentleman of the couple had apparently seen Big Foot 10 years ago while out camping with some friends. The little store was quite interesting with cute touristy items to purchase and some other more "scientific" displays that proved the existence of the Sasquatch's existence.

Though we enjoyed chatting, we were just really happy to have secured a campsite for the night at a very low price....just $15!

Also on this property was this buried A Frame that was being constructed back in 1980. The family that was building this structure had just completed everything and were getting ready to move in. The day before the eruption they luckily had left the area for unknown reasons. After the blast on May 18, the torrent of mud that came down into the valley had buried the house up to 4 feet, destroying the structure. The family decided to leave everything as it was as a testament to the power of Mount St. Helens.