Entries filed under 'Mount St. Helens'

Weekend Datebook: An Eclipse, an AT Party and Other Good Outdoor Stuff on Parade

Every weekend is a good weekend to be outdoors, but this one is particularly good if you're close to any of the following happenings: Anniversary of Mount St. Helens eruption. The peak blew 32 years ago today, lowering its elevation from 9,677 feet to a high point of 8,365 feet on the south crater rim, which I visited on a busy climbing day last Sunday. Below is a view of the mountain's south face I photographed on May 13. Starting on Tuesday, climbing permits ($22) are now restricted to 100 ...

Posted by T.D. Wood on May 18, 2012 6:58 PM & Tagged Mount St. Helens and eclipse | permalink | Comments



A Tradition Unlike Any Other: On Mom's Day at St. Helens, Dudes Look Like the Ladies

Glitter. Lace ruffles. Fishnet stockings. Spaghetti string shoulder straps. Pearls. Boas. Sequins. And then there's what the women were wearing. It is a Mother's Day tradition at Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, believed to date back the late 1980s, to make the nontechnical climb to the peak's south rim while wearing something that pays tribute to the moms of the world, and everyone—guys in particular—is more or less expected to take part. The climb's latest edition occurred Sunday, ...

Posted by T.D. Wood on May 15, 2012 4:54 PM & Tagged Climbing, Mother's Day and Mount St. Helens | permalink | Comments



Mount St. Helens: Still Casting a Memorable Shadow 31 Years Later

Mount St. Helens, looking tranquil in this live webcam view under a heavy snowpack, erupted on this date 31 years ago. On May 18, 1980, an earthquake (5.1 on the Richter scale) triggered a mighty lateral blast on the mountain's north face, unleashing a massive landslide that in just minutes flattened 230 square miles and claimed 57 lives. Scientists regard it as the world's largest volcanic landslide in history. More than 3 decades after the blast, with recent floods, earthquakes and tornadoes ...

Posted by T.D. Wood on May 18, 2011 8:47 PM & Tagged Hiking, Mount St. Helens, national monuments and volcanoes | permalink | Comments