May 18th marked ...

30 years since Mt St. Helens erupted! I was a kid but I remember that ash cloud that turned the noon sky pitch black like midnight.

I have flown over St Helens in a helicopter, in 1999. I have climbed Mt Adams which is more than a simply hike, about 12,000+++ feet. I could see Mt St. Helens and Mt. Rainier, probably the next to erupt. They are majestic and wild! ! We used ice axes and crampons to ascend to the top. Fun!! You can never understand the destructive power of this volcano unless you have seen the aftermath in real life. Trees between 2-300 feet high, a thousand years old, simply blown over like tiny match sticks. I remember the ash cloud and it was so black I could understand if someone thought it was judgment day- It rained a lot more than normal the following summer but E. Washington (state) had a bumper wheat crop that year. Wheat is a major crop on the east side of Washington state, grown for noodles mostly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQkLepOvSPU