Jim Dailey

Whether global warming is a scientific fact or not, whether humans are the cause or not and whether we can do anything about it or not is the conumdrum of the times.  Regardless, patterns of weather on earth today do seem to be more dramatic and irrefutably more extreme. One phenomenom which may not be weather related but can impact the weather is a volcanic eruption. The most notable of recent history in the continental United States was the cataclysmic eruption of Mount Saint Helens in 1980. One can read the details, see the pictures and only begin to grasp a sliver of the enormity of this geologic event. I will attempt to share my personal feelings based on a climb to the rim with my friend Bryan in 2006.

Bryan and I were attending  a Little Rock Parks Department accreditation meeting and had gotten a permit to climb Mount Saint Helens.  Fortunately the day was grand and we were mentally prepared for this rugged, off trail, scramble gaining 4500 vertical feet in just a little less than 5 miles.

As we reached timber line the glow of morning painted a stunning backdrop silhouetting our first glimpse of  Mt St Helens and other mountains in the Cascades Range . The next couple of miles above timber was filled with razor sharp Volcanic rock from sand crystal size to car or house sized boulders. This section was more difficult on the return than on the ascent. The toughest part of the climb to the rim was the last three quarters of a mile.  Not only was it steep but  full of ankle deep volcanic ash in which each step forward resulted in almost one sliding step backward.

Finally we reached the rim.  I was speechless … breathless too … but was awestruck by the view of the enormous crater below us, the view of Spirit Lake and the majestic sight of snow capped  14,409 feet Mount Rainier.

I was struck by the incomprehensible power that literally obliterated the mountain top and evacuated one entire side of the slope.  The contrast with this surreal sight and the other still standing snow capped giants gave me an overwhelming insight into what that moment in 1980 must have been like.  And yet, here I was standing on this rim while Mount Saint Helens was and is being rebuilt at the rate of one dump truck load per second.  Even at that speed, it will take more than 100 years for the underground forces to refill the crater and for Mount Saint Helens to be what it was before 1980.

The hike down was easier but we were tired ,it was still dangerous and our brains were saturated with the sense of wonder  having seen in person the aftermath of nature’s power.  Be it  volcanoes, heat and cold, storms, floods or merely predicting the weather for a family outing, we inhabitants of the Earth, to some degree, are just along for the ride.