Topic 70 of 99: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Wed, Apr 17, 2002 (17:18) |
Julie (cascadeclimber)
A place to talk about the history, science, and scenery of the Cascade Volcanic Range and the beautiful Pacific Northwest surrounding it.
376 responses total.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 1 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Wed, Apr 17, 2002 (17:32) * 1 lines
Woooooowhooooo!!! My very own topic. This is GREAT!! I have so much to say and not enough time to say it. A few days ago my brother Sean and I recieved the Mt. St. Helens climbing permit in the mail. The day assigned to us is May 29th. So its definate. We are climbing to the summit of Mt. St. Helens! We may possibly climb Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams if we have enough time. Right now though, while I'm taking breaks in between studying and homework I have to plan our trip out. I really have no clue yet where exactly we are going and what we have time for. If it were up to me I would stay in the Cascades for a month, but we only have 8 days. Some time later in the week, I will post some of the stuff I have written on the Cascade Range.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 2 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Wed, Apr 17, 2002 (18:56) * 2 lines
The Cascade Volcanic Range contains more volcanic features than most people realize. Some are less significant than others and that is probably why they are hardly mentioned. But I am going to share every one of them with you, I think. If I missed any, please let me know because this is a lot to remember without looking at a map. Starting in Northern California and going north towards British Colombia is…In California… Clear Lake Volcanic Field, Lassen Peak, Black Butte, Mt. Shasta and Shastina, Medicine Lake Volcanic Field (Glass Mountain and Little Glass Mountain), and Lava Beds Volcanic Field. In Oregon…Mt. Mc Loughlin, Crater Lake (Garfield Peak, Mt. Scott, Wizard Island), Mt. Thielsen, Mt. Bailey, Diamond Peak, Newberry Volcanic Field (Paulina Peak, Pilot Butte, Lava Butte), Mt. Bachelor, Broken Top, South Sister, Middle Sister, North Sister, Belknap Shield Volcano, Mt. Washington, Three-Fingered Jack, Mt. Jefferson, and Mt. Hood. In Washington… Mt. Adams, Indian Heaven Volcanic Field, Mt. St. Hel
ns, Goat Rocks Volcanic Field, Mt. Rainer, Glacier Peak, and Mt. Baker. In British Colombia… Mt. Garibaldi, and Meager Mountain. Phew!!!! Too many volcanoes! *laughs*
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 3 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Apr 17, 2002 (19:23) * 0 lines
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 4 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Apr 17, 2002 (19:30) * 4 lines
Julie! Perfect!!! Now, a little graphic to help us understand why the Cascade Volcanoes are there and where they are:
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 5 of 376: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Wed, Apr 17, 2002 (19:34) * 1 lines
marcia-log on to msn messenger....
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 6 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Wed, Apr 17, 2002 (19:35) * 1 lines
Excellent! Thanks Marcia, that works nicely.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 7 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Apr 17, 2002 (19:56) * 1 lines
You are going there soon. How does one climb a volcano like Mount St Helens?
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 8 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Wed, Apr 17, 2002 (20:13) * 1 lines
Very, very carefully! *laughs* Well, most of the volcnaoes in the Cascade Range can only be climbed with a permit, except for a few. These permits have to be paid for and I think there might be an annual pass too for climbing. The climbing pass is also good as your wilderness permit so you don't have to pay 2 fees. For Mt. St. Helens though, there is only 100 people a day allowed to make the trek to the summit. I think the trail that we will use is called Ptarmigan Trail. Its 3.9 miles to the summit which may not seem like much but it really is if you are climbing from 3600 feet to the summit. This trail is actually considered very difficult to strenous, so it looks to me like its going to be a looooong climb. We will be wearing our hiking boots and probably gators so we don't get ash in our boots. We may have to spend the night and camp out if we can't make the desent before dark. The summit climb will take about 5-7 hours regardless, but weather conditions can slow us down.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 9 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Apr 17, 2002 (20:14) * 1 lines
You are going there soon. How does one climb a volcano like Mount St Helens?
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 10 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Apr 17, 2002 (20:15) * 1 lines
(please note that the double post is not our fault. Yapp software does that occasionally when it is very busy. I'll leave it there.)
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 11 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Apr 17, 2002 (20:20) * 1 lines
Very Careful hiking, indeed! And haul out what you took in! The oddest thing I discoverd is that hiking down was every bit as hard as hiking up. I hae had sore hips, knees and ankles from that. Please, Julie! No heroics until they mend your ankle properly. Do they pick you by lottery or first come first served when they pick the 100 lucky people to climb? I forgot about ash in your boots! That stuff is so terribly abrasive that it will take your skin off down to the bone. It is Not like fireplace ashes!!!
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 12 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Wed, Apr 17, 2002 (20:25) * 1 lines
We sent the climbing application in about a week ago. Forest Service said that summer days, especailly weekends fill up fast. I was kind of worried that we wouldn't get a date because I would have thought that they would be mobed around Memorial Day which is almost when we are going. But I guess no one wants to climb so early in the summer so we got our first choice on days. When we get there, we have to sign in and when we are through climbing we have to sign out.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 13 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Wed, Apr 17, 2002 (20:37) * 1 lines
Don't worry about my ankle. I'm going to tape it up and I might even get a cordizone shot before I go. I have two more appointments with the doctor before I leave to Washington. I should be fine as long as I don't have to walk on too many aa lava flows like I did in Arizona. Ouch!! That was painful! Climbing has not been a problem for me, yet.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 14 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Apr 17, 2002 (21:22) * 1 lines
Stay off the a'a flows! Straight forward hiking should not be a problem the way they manufacture hiking boots now. Mine have saved my ankles many times! I 'd worry anyway just because you are family now and I seem to be the mother goddess of Geo... Gadzooks, I never thought of it that way!
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 15 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Wed, Apr 17, 2002 (23:07) * 1 lines
Yikes!! I was a little off when I told you how long the hike was to the summit of Mt. St. Helens. I was looking at an old book. I just checked in the climbing packet that I received with our permit. The trail is called Monitor Ridge. We will be gaining 4,500 feet in elevation and hiking 5 miles. Roundtrip is 7 to 12 hours. Yikes!! Looks to me like we will have to camp out on Mt. St. Helens. This will be awesome though. I never thought I would get to sleep next to my favorite volcano while watching the starry night sky. Oh boy!!! I can't wait!!
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 16 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Apr 18, 2002 (00:07) * 1 lines
Julie, I sent you the stuff you will be able to see up there astronomy-wise. I'd also suggest you check into http://www.heavensabove.com and add your coordinates so you can watch whatever going over - ISS, Hubble or other magnificent things!
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 17 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Apr 18, 2002 (00:09) * 1 lines
What a difference a hyphen makes http://www.heavens-above.com/ is the url you want.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 18 of 376: Rob Glennie (AotearoaKiwi) * Thu, Apr 18, 2002 (03:01) * 5 lines
Hi all
About time I got here. Thanks for setting this up Julie. HUGS. Julie is a volcano fanatic of the first order from Santa Ana (how did I miss her in 1992??).
Rob
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 19 of 376: Rob Glennie (AotearoaKiwi) * Thu, Apr 18, 2002 (07:40) * 5 lines
Hi all
Don't worry about Julie's ankle Marcia. She has it operated on in June which is why she is going in May to MSH. Besides she knows I will keep watch *don't you Julie. You know I am watching*.
Rob
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 20 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Thu, Apr 18, 2002 (15:35) * 1 lines
*laughs* Yes Rob, I know you are, which is why I have to be extra careful. I have more things to worry about anyways other than my ankle. Oh Marcia, I don't think I'll be wearing shorts this time. The temperature in that area is still going to be pretty cool, so I don't need to worry about getting my shins all scraped up. Knowing me though, I will find something to hurt, I always do. I have never been on a trip where I didn't sprain, cut, scrap, or bruise part of my body. Don't worry though. I will do my best to stay in one piece.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 21 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Thu, Apr 18, 2002 (15:49) * 2 lines
Go to the link below. I sent my first "Cascade Adventure" story into Volcano World and they published it. The writing kinds of stinks, but the pictures are pretty good. It does give a good account though of what you can find at each of the visitor center's at Mt. St. Helens.
http://volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/adventures/cascades/casadv.html
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 22 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Apr 18, 2002 (16:05) * 5 lines
Rob, I think we all need to watch over Julie! Not the special way you do, but watch and worry, we will. Perhaps a special libation and plea for Mme Pele's prtection might also be appropraite. After all, you will be messing about on an active volcano of a rather nasty method of erupting.
Wow, I'll cut and paste your story here, if you wish? I'll give appropriate credits and all that.
*Hugs* Julie. Be safe.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 23 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Apr 18, 2002 (16:11) * 60 lines
The Cascades Adventure - 1999
Text and photography by Julie Gilbert
This past summer, I had the most exciting, magnificent, and extraordinary time of my life! My family and I went to Oregon,
Washington, and British Columbia. Although to my parents, this trip was to see the cities' attractions. But for me, this trip wa s to
see as many of the Cascade volcanoes as I could.
As we left LAX on United Airlines, my brother told me if there wasn't many clouds in the sky, we would be able to see all the
features of California and Oregon. We were in luck! The sky was unusually clear. First, I got to see the San Andres Fault. Se
eing it from the air is so different than on the ground. Then, a little bit later on, I saw Lassen Peak, but I couldn't get a really good
view because there was cloud cover over it. Next, we flew over Mt. Shasta. It was such a great view! I could see dire ctly into
the crater. As we flew into Oregon, we could see Crater Lake and Wizard Island. Sometime after that we passed over the
Three Sisters and Mt. Jefferson. Although we landed in Portland, in the distance we could see Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Rainier.
Our first destination would be Mt. Hood. We took Highway 55 connecting to Highway 26 around Mt. Hood. We got so close
to it! It was so majestic looking. It's funny how beautiful and amazing these volcanoes look. It's hard to imagine how dangerous
and destructive they can be. When we got to Mt. St. Helens though, my thoughts changed. In some areas, it looked like the
May 1980 eruption just took place only yesterday. As we drove to the Johnston Ridge Observatory, I saw that the entire area
on the north side looked like a moonscape. There was nothing but broken logs and stumps from trees for miles. Later, I saw the
area of the mudflows that had wiped out everything in its path. As we were walking around the visitor center, there were signs
everywhere say ing to stay on the marked trails. Anyone who stepped off the trails would be fined. This was because new life is
starting to grow. Someday, the area will once again be filled with forests of trees, plants, flowers, and animals. If people step on
a tiny bud or a sprouting seed, it's like taking away life. Life near Mt. St. Helens grows every day. If we just left it alone, and let
Mother Nature do her thing, Mt. St. Helens can turn into a magnificent place.
Next, we turned the car around and headed towards Coldwater Ridge Visitor's Center. The views there were incredible! Then,
we went to the Forest Learning Center. We saw a fantastic movie about Mt. St. Helens showing the eruption and what
happened after. The exhibits were great. They almost looked real! N ext, we drove to Hoffstadt Bluffs Visitor Center where we
saw where the debris avalanche rushed down the North Fork Toutle River area. We also saw a herd of elk down in that area.
Finally, we came to the last visitor center. In the Mt. St. Helens' Visitor s Center, we saw all the history behind Mt. St. Helens. I
must not forgot that some of the visitor centers had seimographs that measured any earthquakes in the area. That was very
interesting because when we were at the Johnston Ridge Observatory, there w as a little bit of activity on the seismograph.
The next day we toured Lava Canyon. Lava Canyon is made up of old lava flows from Mt. St. Helens. It was a fascinating and
beautiful place. On the sides of the trails, there were still piles of ash left from the May eruption. The Muddy River, although it
got its name from the mudflow in the 1980 eruption, was now very clear and blue. In the distance, we could see Mt. Adams
through the trees. Next, we drove to Ape Cave. We only had time to see the lower level because it takes like 1-3 hours for
each of them. Even though it was close to 90 outside it was quite cold inside the cave. We were not fortunate enough to see any
of the animals that live in the cave, but we did get a little wet from the stalactites that dripped water over our hands.
My brother had to leave that day so we dropped him off at Portland Airport. Then we headed on our way towards Everett. On
our way, I pleaded with my parents to stop at Mt. Rainer. I definitely wanted to see the tallest volcano in the Cascades. And the
re it stood, 14,411 feet. We took some excellent shots, but as we got closer, my camera could no longer fit the entire image in.
When we arrived at the Henry M. Jackson Memorial Visitor Center, there were chairs where people were just sitting and
watching Mt. Rainer either to watch and enjoy the beauty or waiting for it to erupt! Then we went to the Paradise Visitor's
Center. This place was really cool because it was shaped like a circle. You had to walk in a circle to see all the exhibits. The
views of M t. Rainer were absolutely incredible! It was so huge! It's like looking at a sleeping giant, which is exactly what it, is.
A couple of days letter when we were at the Seattle Space Needle, I took a couple of last shots of Mt. Rainer and Mt. St.
Helens in the distance.
Finally my volcano trip came to an end. But not before I saw some great views from the plane again. As the plane took off, I
looked out of the window and saw Mt. Rainer, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Adams behind us. We then passed over Mt. Hood, Mt.
Jeffer son, and the Three Sisters. I decided to take some very odd pictures from the plane. Maybe they would come out. I
snapped a couple of shots of Mt. Jefferson and the Three Sisters. After that, unfortunately, there was cloud cover until we got
back into Cal ifornia where I took my last shots of the San Andreas Fault. It was sad to see my volcano trip come to an end. I
had such an incredible time. I sort of wished my parents would leave me there because I really wanted to stay. Someday, when
I'm older, I'll g o there again myself. And maybe if I'm lucky, I'll get to see other volcanoes around the world too!
http://volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/adventures/cascades/casadv.html
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 24 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Apr 18, 2002 (16:12) * 1 lines
Julie, I also saved your images. Would you like me to insert them and redo this volcano watch story? It is really good and your images add so much to it.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 25 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Thu, Apr 18, 2002 (18:53) * 1 lines
Sure, go right ahead. I would have pasted the story in myself, but I gave the link instead because I am lazy. *laughs*
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 26 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Apr 18, 2002 (18:59) * 2 lines
I get all the dirty work. OK.... will do it with the programmed photos in it. I successfully added them to spring's hard drive. Do you want to try? It is rather a complicated bunch of pointy brackets and all that for a first time programming run. I'll do it for you!
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 27 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Thu, Apr 18, 2002 (23:45) * 2 lines
Its a good thing I am starting to plan our Washington trip out now because I have already begun to run into some problems. The 4 times I was in the Cascades it was early to middle of August. This time we are going the end of May begining of June and the snows will barely have had time to melt. I was looking at the road and trail conditions today and it doesn't look all that great. Sure, I have about a month, but the Pacific Northwest, mainly the western part of the Cascades in Washington have had above average snowfall this year. As of right now almost all the passes to Mt. Rainer, Mt. Adams, and Mt. Baker are closed. I am hoping that the roads and trails will be cleared by the time we go. I am also worried about avalanche danger, because with all that extra snow melting its very easy for a slope to just give way under the weight. Also, I found out the most of the campgrounds in the area don't open until May 25th. We are leaving May 27th or 28th. Thats kind of risking it if you ask me. If there i
still too much snow the campgrounds will not open when they are expected to. And because of my dumb ankle surgery, this is the only time I can go. Ah well, I will have to just keep my fingers crossed and make the best of it. At least Mt. St. Helens is still acessiable.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 28 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Apr 19, 2002 (00:37) * 1 lines
I can remember being in the first convoy of cars over the Tuolumne Pass and that was a trip for my Birthday - the end of May. The snow was pretty deep, still. And this is south of the southern Terminus of The Cascades. I had not considered the possibility of snow. Let your brother drive and the rest of us back home will worry about you and be watching out for you. Despite Rob's worthy vigilence, I think you might just need a few more pairs of eyes to watch out for you! Take a ground cloth with you just in case!
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 29 of 376: John Tsatsaragos (tsatsvol) * Fri, Apr 19, 2002 (06:37) * 12 lines
Perfect topic Julie,
Your sprightliness and interesting are excellent. You are special anyway. But you need to be extra careful too. Enthusiasm can make us less attentive. I live a bad experience during the last three months. I have broken my leg even if I was walking carefully on the absolutely flat but icy and a little snowy ground. I assure that a serious hurt of the ankle is not a simple case.
I have the idea to create a complete page for your excellent story in our Geo Portal; anyway, if you would not say not. We can also include photos, any newer description or any scientific explanation or exploration that you can give to us about volcanoes and the Cascades Adventure.
The same go for you Rob. Any issue that you think is interesting.
I have also two questions: Can we predict a volcano eruption? Where are today's limits on it?
My knowledge is inexistent about this.
John
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 30 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Apr 19, 2002 (14:28) * 3 lines
John, yes we can predict volcanic eruptions according to the research done on the Hawaiian volcanoes. Do you want this put on Julie's topic or on one we were going to create. I think we need to discuss it elsewhere.
Please add Julie to the portal page and sky charts. Even if I have to borrow them from some other site, I think we should have them!
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 31 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Apr 19, 2002 (18:23) * 1 lines
I just thought of something. I think I would like to post some of my science fair project that I did last year. It might fill up a bit of space though. Is that okay Marcia? Its all about the Cascade Volcanoes, actually volcanic ash of the Cascades. I never really thought it was that great, but I did win 9 awards for it at the city, county, and state science fairs. The poster board looks very good, but I guess I cannot show you that. I can only post the written papers I have in the notebook. I won't be able to post the data either but I can give you all a summary of what I found. You will all love it though.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 32 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Apr 19, 2002 (20:23) * 2 lines
Use all the space you need. Some of these topics have almost 2000 posts of far less worthy things than your scinence fair project! Please... I'd love for you to do this!
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 33 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Apr 19, 2002 (20:52) * 1 lines
Okay, I guess the best way to start this is to tell you my question and hypothesis that I tested. Wait, I should mention the title of my project. "Blast of Ash from the Past!" My question was..... Are there any differences between each ash sample in relation to different types of volcanoes?
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 34 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Apr 19, 2002 (20:59) * 4 lines
The 7 ash samples that I used were the following...Lassen Peak (Peak), Lassen Peak (near park), Medicine Lake Volcanic Area(Little Glass Mountain), Mt. Shasta, Mt. St. Helens (Lava Canyon), Mt. St. Helens (Johnston Ridge Observatory), and **Mt. St. Helens.
**The Mt. St. Helens ash sample was # 7, but was taken out of my data because there was no precise location of where the ash came from.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 35 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Apr 19, 2002 (21:00) * 1 lines
Here's my hypothesis.....I think that the 2 ash samples from Mt. St. Helens will be similar because they were taken physically near each other. I think the 2 ash samples from Lassen Peak will be similar because they were also taken physically near each other. Mt. Shasta will be similar to Mt. St. Helens because they are both “strato” (composite) volcanoes. I think that the ash from Medicine Lake Volcanic Area will be different than the other 3 volcanoes because Medicine Lake Volcanic Area is made up of different types of volcanoes (shield volcanoes, cinder cones, and a caldera), which would probably change the chemical composition of the ash.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 36 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Apr 19, 2002 (21:04) * 1 lines
*kicks herself* Ugh!! I should have posted the introduction first. I bet some of you have no clue what I was talking about. *kicks herself again* Let's back up. I will post the intro frist so you can get an idea of what I was doing. Sorry about that!!
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 37 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Apr 19, 2002 (21:07) * 9 lines
I have always been interested in volcanoes, but it wasn’t until about 2 ½ years ago when my interest became an obsession. In the summer of my sophomore year, I toured several of the Cascade volcanoes in Oregon, Washington, and British Colombia. This included Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainer, Mt. Adams, and Mt. Hood. When I was at Mt. St. Helens though, I became very interested in the volcanic ash that blew half way across the country during the May 1980 eruption. I collected several samples of the volcanic ash throughout the Mt. St. Helens area. About 1 year later, I decided that I wanted to do a science fair project on volcanic ash, but unfortunately, I didn’t have enough ash. Well, as it turns out I got a second chance to tour the southern part of the Cascade Range in California, such as Mt. Shasta, Lassen Peak, and Medicine Lake Volcanic Area. I collected several ash samples from each of the volcanoes. This is how I began to come up with my explosive idea!
There are several types of volcanoes in the Cascade Range. Composite volcanoes are typically steep-sided, symmetrical cones of large dimension built of alternating layers of lava flows, volcanic ash, cinders, blocks, and bombs. Most composite volcanoes have a crater at the summit, which contains a central vent or a clustered group of vents. Subduction-zone volcanoes, like Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Shasta are composite cones and typically erupt with explosive force, because the magma is too stiff to allow easy escape of volcanic gases.
Lava domes are a steep-sided mass of viscous lava extruded from a volcanic vent, often circular in plain view and spiny, rounded, or flat on top. Lava domes commonly occur within the craters of on the flanks of large composite volcanoes, such as Mt. St. Helens and Lassen Peak.
Medicine Lake Volcanic Area is made up of several shield volcanoes, cinder cones, and a caldera. These different types of volcanoes produce different types of eruptions. Shield volcanoes are built almost entirely of fluid lava flows. Flow after flow pours out in all directions from a central summit vent, or group of vents, building a broad, gently sloping cone of flat shape, with a profile much like that a warrior's shield. They are built up slowly by the accretion of thousands of flows of highly fluid basaltic lava that spreads widely over great distances, and then cools as thin, gently dipping sheets. Cinder cones are built from particles and blobs of congealed lava ejected from a single vent. As the gas-charged lava is blown violently into the air, it breaks into small fragments that solidify and fall as cinders around the vent to form a circular or oval cone. A caldera is a huge depression caused when a large volume of magma is removed from beneath a volcano, and the ground subsides or collapses i
to the empty space.
Volcanic ash is defined as pyroclasts 2mm or less in diameter. There are 3 basic mechanisms of volcanic ash formation; The release of gases from solution because of decomposition within the magma as it reaches the surface of the planet, the chilling and explosive fragmentation of magma during contact with ground and surface water or ice and snow, and the comminution and ejection of particles from vent walls or crater debris during eruptions of steam and hot water. The composition and shape of volcanic ashes may be used to interpret physical properties of erupting magma and its volatile content.
Neutron activation analysis is one way elements can be analyzed in a sample of a substance. In this method, a neuron source is used to bombard a sample with neutrons. The nucleus of an atom in the sample will absorb neutrons. This will make the atom into an isotope. An isotope is an atom with the same number of protons as another atom, but a different number of neutrons. Some isotopes are radioactive and gamma radiation is one type of radiation that can be released. This can be measured using a gamma ray spectrometer.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 38 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Apr 19, 2002 (21:13) * 1 lines
Here's a list of the materails I used for this experiment...TRIGA Nuclear Reactor (Located at UCI)- neutron source, Gamma Ray Spectrometer (Located at UCI), 7 sample vials, 7 ash samples(the ones I posted before), Digital scale, 8 labels, Soldering iron, and Tongs.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 39 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Apr 19, 2002 (21:15) * 4 lines
Okay, now to the confusing part. If I lose anyone let me know. Here's is what I did...7 separate ash samples were weighed using a digital scale. The samples were placed in the empty vials, and each was correctly labeled. Next, a soldering iron was used to seal the covers shut on the vials. The sample vials were placed into a pneumatic tube system, which led them into the nuclear reactor. The samples were then irradiated for about 10 seconds. The samples then returned through the tube system. All the samples were irradiated individually. Then, the samples were individually placed in the gamma ray spectrometer, and the energy released due to the gamma rays was measured. This information was then analyzed with an index of gamma ray energies vs. radionuclides and the elements in the samples were determined. The samples were then saved and 1 week later the samples were again placed into the gamma ray spectrometer and analyzed. Average measurements of the 2 cycles were used to obtain the final results.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 40 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Apr 19, 2002 (22:02) * 1 lines
I need to post the bar graphs, but I don't want anyone to do it for me. I want to do this on my own, if I can. I used Excel. So Marcia, John, someone talk me through this. How do I post them?
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 41 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Apr 19, 2002 (23:36) * 1 lines
Julie, This is spectacular material you are presenting. It is precise, riveting in detail and thoroughly fascinating. As soon as John gets online he will assist you or make suggestions for other methods of posting your graphics. I can't wait till the next installment!
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 42 of 376: Rob Glennie (AotearoaKiwi) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (03:57) * 22 lines
Hi all
I am going to have a look for the negatives of the 1992 US volcano tour (essentially what my 1992 sojourn became). We spent a day at MSH on May 23 1992, and went to Windy Ridge, and the Castle Rock visitor centre. Now I want to return sometime in the next few years to see what progress has been made and compare it with 1992.
I have four things to do in WA next time I am there:
1)See Mt Rainier, and Orting.
2)See Mount St Helens, and compare what I see with 1992.
3)See Mount Baker if possible.
4)See friends in Seattle.
I want to see in CA:
1)The SAF (San Andreas Fault)
2)Mammoth and the LV caldera
3)Hayward Fault
4)Julie (location permitting)
I want to see in Hawaii:
1)Kilauea (in particular Pu'u O'o and Kupaianaha(??))
2)The hostess of Geo, the gracious Marcia Hemming
3)The inundation zone from the tsunamis
Rob
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 43 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (11:52) * 1 lines
Sounds like a great plan Rob. But one thing....What about Lassen and Shasta? *sniff, sniff* *cries* You don't like those volcanoes!! *laughs* I'm just playing with you Rob. They are a little bit far up the state. Kind of a pain to get up to, but quite worth it if you have time. Okay all, I e-mailed John 4 graphs, so he will help me post them when he can. For now, I am going to post a few other things that went along with my science fair project; a little bit more info and a few stories.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 44 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (11:58) * 6 lines
Here is a a BRIEF few sentences on each of the volcanoes that I took the ash samples from. I will post a complete write up about their history and the rest of the Cascades when I have time.
Mt. St. Helens is a strato (composite) volcano that last erupted in May 1980. Since the last eruption, Mt. St. Helens has been growing a lava dome in the middle of the crater floor. Mt. Shasta is a strato (composite) volcano that last erupted in 1786. Medicine Lake Volcanic Area is made up from a caldera, many shield volcanoes, and cinder cones. Little Glass Mountain is a lava dome made of a tephra, rhyolite and obsidian flow that erupted in 885. Glass Mountain is a lava dome made of dacite, rhyolite, and obsidian flow that last erupted in 1910. Lassen Volcanic Field and Lassen Peak is made up from a lava dome that last erupted in 1914.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 45 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (12:02) * 7 lines
I will tell you a little bit about each type of volcano that I was working with.
Strato (or Composite) Volcanoes: Typically steep-sided, symmetrical cones of large dimension built of alternating layers of lava flows, volcanic ash, cinders, blocks, and bombs. Most composite volcanoes have a crater at the summit, which contains a central vent or a clustered group of vents. Subduction-zone volcanoes, like Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Shasta are composite cones and typically erupt with explosive force, because the magma is too stiff to allow easy escape of volcanic gases.Lava Domes: A steep-sided mass of viscous lava extruded from a volcanic vent, often circular in plain view and spiny, rounded, or flat on top. Lava domes commonly occur within the craters of or on the flanks of large composite volcanoes, such as Mt. St. Helens. Cinder Cones: Built from particles and blobs of congealed lava ejected from a single vent. As the gas-charged lava is blown violently into the air, it breaks into small fragments that solidify and fall as cinders around the vent to form a circular or oval cone. Caldera:
A huge depression caused when a large volume of magma is removed from beneath a volcano, and the ground subsides or collapses into the empty space. Shield volcanoes: Built almost entirely of fluid lava flows. Flow after flow pours out in all directions from a central summit vent, or group of vents, building a broad, gently sloping cone of flat shape, with a profile much like that a warrior's shield. They are built up slowly by the accretion of thousands of flows of highly fluid basaltic lava that spreads widely over great distances, and then cools as thin, gently dipping sheets.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 46 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (12:11) * 29 lines
This next story called, "Cascades Adventure 2000" was written a bit after I figured out what I was doing for the science fair.
During the scorching month of August, I received my second chance to see the rest of the Cascade Volcanic Range, which included Mt. Shasta, Lassen Peak, Medicine Lake Volcanic Area, and Lava Beds National Monument. Ever since I had visited Mt. St. Helens last year, I wanted to do a science fair project on volcanic ash. I only had a few samples from Mt. St. Helens, but this trip was my chance to collect enough volcanic ash from several of the other volcanoes to do an explosive science fair project!
When my parents and I arrived at Lassen Volcanic National Park, we went straight to the Visitor’s center to pick up a map of the area. There were so many things to see and do that I realized we wouldn’t have enough time to do everything. First we visited the Devastated Area. The Devastated Area visibly illustrates the slow return of Earth’s green mantle of plants. An air cushion avalanche hit the Devastated Area when Lassen Peak erupted in 1914. The view of Lassen Peak from the Devastated Area was spectacular. This was the area that I took ash sample # 2. Next, we went to Bumpus Hell, which I found extremely fascinating. Bumpus Hell contains some active volcanic features, such as mud pots, geysers, and hot springs. It took about an hour or two to hike the 3-mile uphill climb to Bumpus Hell, but it was defiantly worth it. Bumpus Hell is like a miniature version of Yellowstone National Park.
I had my choice to climb either Lassen Peak or Cinder Cone. I wanted to climb both, but there wasn’t enough time. The climb to Cinder Cone was a very easy beginning hike. The climb to Lassen Peak was a very strenuous climb with a larger altitude increase. I finally decided to climb Lassen Peak. The next day, we woke up very early. My parents and I drove to the base of Lassen Peak. There were quite a lot of people climbing up to the peak. If my brother had gone on this trip, he would have climbed to the top with me, but this time I would have to make the journey by myself. It took about 3 ½ hours until I summitted, only because I was stopping every second to take a picture, study a rock, or drink some water. When I got to the top, I was a little dizzy. I was amazed by the elevation I climbed. The view from the top of Lassen Peak was breathtaking. You could see for miles in every direction. It was like being in a plane and looking out of the window and seeing everything look as small as an ant
In the distance, Mt. Shasta could be seen through the haze. There was also hundreds of orange butterflies flying all around the summit. It was almost magical. It seemed a shame that I would have to hike back down soon. Before I left, I took ash sample #1. The hike down took less than an hour.
The next day we toured Mt. Shasta. When we arrived at the base of Mt. Shasta, I threw some film bottles and a magnifying glass in my bag and hiked past the parking lot and into the avalanche gully area. I dug down in the ash about a foot and took ash sample #3. I then searched around for some interesting volcanic rocks. As I was walking past the parking lot, a car pulled up and a lady poked her head out the window.
“Are you a geologist?” She asked.
“Um, not yet, but I hope to be one soon.” I replied.
“Are you in high school?” She asked.
“Yeah, I’ve got one more year left to go.” I answered. She then began to ask me questions about the rock formations and the geology of Mt. Shasta. It felt good to be able to answer her. Thanks to Geology 100 and Geology 100L. I guess all that studying, reading, and collecting paid off! I guess I must have looked pretty professional.
We didn’t have time to see the entire area of Medicine Lake, but I did get a chance to see Little Glass Mountain. Little Glass Mountain doesn’t look anything like a volcano. It looks more like a huge pile of obsidian that is broken up into all sorts of shapes. I took ash sample #4 close to this area. I wanted to take home a piece of obsidian, but most of the pieces were too big. My parents told me to be careful because they were afraid I was going to get bit by a rattlesnake. Finally after climbing over some big slabs of obsidian, I found the perfect piece that was a little bigger than my hand. I laid on my stomach and reached down to grab it. As I lifted the obsidian up, I felt a sharp pain in my hand. I looked down at my hand to see blood dripping down my fingers. I looked at the piece of obsidian and realized what had just happened. On the backside of the obsidian a sharp piece of glass was sticking out. I guess I must have cut myself on it. Then I thought back and remembered that some India
tribes used obsidian to make spears and knives. Until I cut my hand, I never realized how sharp obsidian was!
The car ride to Lava Beds National Monument seemed to take forever. When we got there though, I was shocked by what I saw. The whole area was like a barren dessert with lots and lots of black and brown basalt. I got to see Mammoth Crater, which actually is one of the volcanoes that produced some of the lava in Lava Beds National Monument. The coolest part about Lava Beds National Monument was the lava tubes. Lava tubes are made when lava flows underground. When all the lava drains out a lava tube is formed.
On the way back home we passed Mt. Shasta for a few hours, but then it disappeared behind the trees. It would have been nice if we had more time. I really wanted to see Crater Lake in Oregon. It would have been fun to learn about the past of the ancient, but violent volcano. Mt. Mazama, (which is now Crater Lake) used to be a tall volcano just like the other volcanoes in the Cascade Range. When it blew up, it formed a caldera, which now contains the deepest lake in America. All the Cascade Volcanoes have the potential to blow up violently like Crater Lake. Let’s just hope that no one is around to see that kind of catastrophe.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 47 of 376: John Tsatsaragos (tsatsvol) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (14:57) * 10 lines
Hi all
I suggest you see in Geo Portal http://www.spring.net/geo/ the
Earth's structure and the Mechanism of changes.
I think that it is interesting.
Regards
John.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 48 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (15:34) * 7 lines
Okay, I am now going to try to post my graphs up, I think. If I screw it up, sorry. Here's the key to my graphs so you can sort of understand them. After I have posted my graphs I will then explain everything.
Red=Lassen Peak
Orange=Lassen Peak (near Park)
Yellow=Medicine Lake Volcnaic Area
Green=Mt. Shasta
Blue=Mt. St. Helens (Lava Canyon)
Violet=Mt. St. Helens (Johnston Ridge Observatory)
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 49 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (15:35) * 3 lines
”![]()
src=”http://www.spring.net/geo/JohnVolos/Public/JULIE/volcano_1.gif”>
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 50 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (15:36) * 1 lines
AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!I messed it up!!! Somebody help!!!*runs around frantic*
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 51 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (17:46) * 1 lines
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Response 52 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (18:13) * 0 lines
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Response 53 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (18:27) * 0 lines
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Response 54 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (18:34) * 0 lines
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Response 55 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (18:35) * 0 lines
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Response 56 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (18:46) * 0 lines
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 57 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (19:11) * 1 lines
The encryption is making posting Julie's graphics just abour impossible. I will continue to try on Geo 71 - our new test site.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 58 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (19:23) * 9 lines
One more try... then I go screaming to Terry. I can make it work on the test page but not here!
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 59 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (19:36) * 15 lines
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src="http://www.spring.net/geo/JohnVolos/Public/JULIE/volcano_1.gif">
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src="http://www.spring.net/geo/JohnVolos/Public/JULIE/volcano_2.gif">
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src="http://www.spring.net/geo/JohnVolos/Public/JULIE/volcano_3.gif">
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src="http://www.spring.net/geo/JohnVolos/Public/JULIE/volcano_4.gif">
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 60 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (19:49) * 9 lines
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 61 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (19:54) * 1 lines
http://www.spring.net/marci/Public/Volcanology/volcano2.gif
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 62 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (20:30) * 7 lines
Finally!! I didn't think this was ever going to work. Okay, I will post the key that explains the graphs. Then I will explain everything.
Red=Lassen Peak
Orange=Lassen Peak (near Park)
Yellow=Medicine Lake Volcnaic Area
Green=Mt. Shasta
Blue=Mt. St. Helens (Lava Canyon)
Violet=Mt. St. Helens (Johnston Ridge Observatory)
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 63 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (20:33) * 3 lines
The results of the graphs......According to the data, the most abundant elements in all the ash samples were aluminum, iron, calcium, sodium, potassium, magnesium, and titanium. The ash sample from Medicine Lake Volcanic Area contained 102 ug/g of chromium. This was more chromium than any other ash sample. There was also a tremendous difference in the amount of chromium in the 2 samples from Mt. St. Helens. Lava Canyon contained 68 ug/g and Johnston Ridge Observatory contained 20 ug/g. Mt. Shasta contained more magnesium, sodium, samarium, and europium compared to the other ash samples. The 2 samples from Mt. St. Helens and the sample from Mt. Shasta contained similar amounts of calcium, aluminum, titanium, manganese, scandium, cobalt, and thorium. Medicine Lake Volcanic Area contained less calcium, potassium, barium, cerium, lanthanum, and thorium than all the other ash samples. Medicine Lake Volcanic Area seems quite unique, and somewhat separate from the other ash samples because of how different the
mounts of aluminum, titanium, manganese, chromium, and cobalt are, when compared to the other ash samples.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 64 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (20:42) * 7 lines
Last but not least is my conlusions, in other words what my results tell me.....First though here is my hyposthesis one last time....I think that the 2 ash samples from Mt. St. Helens will be similar because they were taken physically near each other. I think the 2 ash samples from Lassen Peak will be similar because they were also taken physically near each other. Mt. Shasta will be similar to Mt. St. Helens because they are both “strato” (composite) volcanoes. I think that the ash from Medicine Lake Volcanic Area will be different than the other 3 volcanoes because Medicine Lake Volcanic Area is made up of different types of volcanoes (shield volcanoes, cinder cones, and a caldera), which would probably change the chemical composition of the ash. Okay, here's my conclusions........My hypothesis about Mt. St. Helens, that the ash would be the same, was wrong. The 2 ash samples from Mt. St. Helens were both slightly different in their chemical composition. There are several possibilities for why the 2
sh samples are slightly different. One reason could be because there was an error in the data or an error when the ash samples were put into the spectrometer. However, a more probable reason why the 2 ash samples are different could be because they came from 2 different eruptions. Mt. St. Helens has a long history of eruptions, so it might have been possible that I took ash from another eruption of Mt. St. Helens, and not just from the May 1980 eruption. I would have to use Carbon 14 dating to figure that out. Another reason the ash samples may be different in composition is because when Mt. St. Helens erupted in May 1980, the ash cloud moved over Lava Canyon. The ash from Johnston Ridge Observatory was probably deposited from the mudflow or the debris avalanche that moved north towards Johnston Ridge Observatory during the eruption. One of the reasons why the 2 samples from Mt. St. Helens appear to look different in color and texture could be because of the way Mt. St. Helens erupted. When Mt. St. H
lens erupted in May 1980, the ash cloud moved east and southeast, directly towards Lava Canyon. The debris avalanche, pyroclastic cloud, and mudflow moved north in the direction of the Johnston Ridge Observatory. The particles there were larger than the ones found at Lava Canyon. This accounts for the particle size and texture. The color, difference might be because the debris avalanche contained a lot of mud, which might have mixed in with the ash and made it slightly darker than the ash found at Lava Canyon. On the other hand, the darker color might be due to the higher percentage of iron. By observing the data for Lassen Peak, we can see that there are slight differences in the composition of the ash. My hypothesis about the Lassen Peak ash, that they would be the same, was wrong. This result was unexpected, since one sample was taken at the base and the other at the top of the peak. One of the reasons why the 2 samples are so different again could be because there was an error in the data or when t
ey were put into the spectrometer. Another possibility could be that they came from 2 different eruptions. Once again, the only way to tell if the 2 samples came from separate eruptions would be to use Carbon 14 dating. My hypothesis, that Medicine Lake Volcanic Area would be quite different from all the other volcanoes, was correct. The significantly greater percentage of Iron, Chromium and several other elements sets it apart from the other samples. The ash sample from Medicine Lake Volcanic Area was very different from all the other ash samples probably because of the type of volcanoes that are in the area. Even though, by the map, it looks like my ash sample came from Little Glass Mountain, it could have easily come from Glass Mountain if the wind was blowing in that direction. Also, it may have come from some other kind of volcanic feature in that area. All the volcanoes in Medicine Lake Volcanic Area are shield volcanoes and cinder cones. These types of volcanoes have milder eruptions and proba
ly produce a different kind of ash. The reason the color is so dark maybe because cinder cones and shield volcanoes are made from cinder, basalt, and other dark volcanic rocks, or again, due to the high concentration of iron. My hypothesis about Mt. Shasta, that it would be similar to Mt St. Helens, was correct. The fact that Mt. Shasta is the same type of volcano as Mt. St. Helens probably accounts for the similarity between its ash sample and the Johnston Ridge Observatory and Lava Canyon samples from Mt. St. Helens. The physical distance between them and the time difference between eruptions of each volcano could explain the differences. Because of the half-life of the elements, this experiment could potentially go on forever. The data I have obtained could change or stay very similar over time.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 65 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (20:44) * 1 lines
Argh! Tha spacing got messed up again, but I think you can still read it. Understanding it is another thing though. If there is something you don't understand on any part of my project, let me know.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 66 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (20:55) * 1 lines
Julie, the spacing has nothing to do with you and everything to do with Yapp programming which is what Spring uses. This is amazing stuff. Little wonder you received so many awards. I wish colleges had such high standards. You'd ne appalled at some of the miserable research papers I have been given to edit. I refused to rewrite so they were on their own. This is wonderful. I am SO delighted you came here and feel at home. *HUGS*
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 67 of 376: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (22:11) * 1 lines
julie, i look forward to hearing all about mt st helens (as well as the video). due to time constraints for me, i've not been able to read all of your posts but i will be back and take my time!
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 68 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (23:46) * 2 lines
Thanks! I look foward to sharing it. Before I found you guys and Rob, I had no one to talk to about volcanoes and geology. My friends were always so uninterested in this kind of stuff. Its nice to be able to find people that are, because there isn't too many of us. And about the video, I was thinking, I might want to narrate a little, you know, make it sort of like a documentary. But with the stuff we are doing, I think the video will be more like a cross between one of those exploration documentary's they show on National Geographic and a dramatic natural disaster flick like Dante's Peak. Except ours will be real!! I doubt we will get any eruption footage though, but hey, you never know...*laugh* Yeah I know, dream on Julie! We aren't just volcano touring either. We are also going to go spelunking in some lava tubes and ice caves and hike up to some beautiful cascading waterfalls. So you will get to see a little bit of everything. I just hope the rain doesn't ruin it for me. I will let you al
know exactly where I am going in a few weeks once everything is settled.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 69 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (23:51) * 1 lines
Oh, Julie, I also told son about you. He looked at the portal page things John added this morning (plus his own weather page link) and was delighted. He is most impressed. You'll be hearing from him as time permits.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 70 of 376: Rob Glennie (AotearoaKiwi) * Tue, Apr 23, 2002 (05:24) * 5 lines
Hi all
Julie. With your permission, can I please put the post in which you explained your research into World Volcanism with the intention of giving it a better hearing by others?
Rob
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 71 of 376: John Tsatsaragos (tsatsvol) * Tue, Apr 23, 2002 (05:33) * 8 lines
Hi Julie,
I am sorry but volcanology is something new for me. I read carefully the story of your samples and I studied on your graphic charts. I wonder if exists any connection of the ash content with the type of each eruption. I wonder also if we can understand anything about the Earths interior or for the power of the eruption. I am sorry if I am doing stupid thoughts.
In any case your work is amazing! Congratulations!
I have also one stupid question: Is there any possibility to be some of your samples radioactive? Perhaps this is something serious for your protection.
John
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 72 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Apr 23, 2002 (14:51) * 3 lines
I really DO need to get posting the mecanisms of volcanoes and how the composition of the lava change with the passing of time. Yes, John. The magmatic composition changes and so does the chemical makeup of the lava and ash it produces as volcanoes proceed through stages from seafloor flood basalts through Plinean and Super Pleinean eruptions.
Off I go to create the topic to discuss this.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 73 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Tue, Apr 23, 2002 (15:35) * 2 lines
Ummm...I'm brain dead Rob. What post are you talking about? I'm guessing your talking about my paper about volcanoes and how they work. I think I would like to post it because I added some additional stuff to it after I posted it in World Volcanism. Great suggestion though. My paper might help clear a few things up on how volcanoes work and some of the hazards associated with them. I will post it on the new topic that Marcia made. And John, the answer to your question is yes, the samples that I was working with were radioactive. But Dr. Miller, who is the nuclear physics and chemistry professor made sure I had proper protection. When I went into the area where the nuclear reactor was, I had to wear this beeper that would sound an alarm if things became unstable. And he was the one that handeled the ash samples once they were put in the nuclear reactor and spectrometer. But unfortunatly becuase they were radioactive I never did get them back and unfortunatly I am running out of Lassen Peak ash now
because of that! Argh!!! Oh well, I think you can guess where my next Cascade Volcano trip will be. *laughs*
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 74 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Apr 23, 2002 (15:39) * 3 lines
Julie, that is not comforting. Packing your pockets with radioactive ash is not comforting to those of us who love you!
I need to rewrite my intro post to geo 73. It is a mess and boring. That is what I get when I write under pressure and post after changing a carefully considered introduction of a much different sort. *Sigh*
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 75 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Wed, Apr 24, 2002 (14:49) * 3 lines
I declare today Mt. Shasta Day! Hmmm...can you tell I'm bored? *laughs* Did you know Mt. Shasta is considered a magic mountain to the small village of Mt. Shasta at the wetern base of this volcano? These people believe that Mt. Shasta is home of the Lemurians who are a tribe that came from the ancient kingdom of Mu, which is now submerged beneath the Pacific Ocean. Another group in the area believe that Mt. Shasta has many secret passageways that were built by the Yaktayvians. These passageways were homes to several other lost tribes of the area. But the biggest legend of all is the one about UFO's. Some believe that Mt. Shasta is the landing site for interplanetary travel. UFO's appear to make Mt. Shasta their first stop. The only way this can be explained is by the lenticular clouds which resemble the shape of flying saucers. These eerie clouds are often seen right over the summit. Intersting legends though. Okay, here a little bit about Mt. Shasta's geologic history. Mt. Shasta, standing at 14,
61 feet, is a complex volcanic system containing numerous vents. On the western flank of Mt. Shasta is the 12,300 foot cone of Shastina. Shasta has not had as much erosion as some of the other Cascade Volcanoes mostly because it gets less percipitation than most of them do. The Klammoth Mountains interecept the moist air coming over the Pacific resulting in a drier enviornment. Shasta supports 5 named glaciers, the largest in California. Shasta has also erupted significantly more lava flows than almost any of it northern neighboors. Mt. Shasta is actually 4 big stratovolcanoes of different ages piled on top of each other . On average Shasta erupts about once every 600-800 years. The last eruption was 200 years ago. Shastina's last eruption, where it produced its summit domes, was about 9400 years ago. Black Butte a 2500 foot at Shastina's western base, is a dacite plug dome that dates back to about the same period of Shastina's growth. The youngest part of Shasta began to form about 8000 years ago.
This part is called the Hotlum cone. Shasta's last outburst may have possible been in 1786, when some eye-witnesses sailing offshore in the Pacific noticed a flame rising above the cone. Most activity has been concentrated at the Hotlum cone for the last 9000 years but new vents can be expected top pop up anywhere. A collapse of the dome on the western slopes could send pyroclastic flows over the towns of Mt. Shasta and Weed, which are built on top of pyroclastic deposits. The town of McCloud stands on top of old mudflow deposits and almost every eruption of Mt.Shasta has accompained mudflows. Happy Mt. Shasta Day!!
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 76 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Apr 24, 2002 (18:54) * 4 lines
In honor of Mount Shasta Day I post their webcam
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 77 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Apr 27, 2002 (14:28) * 1 lines
Woooohoooooo!!! Thank god. State Highway 503 is finally opened again. Gez, I was begining to really worry. State Highway 503 is one of the main roads to Mt. St. Helens. Last week, a canal broke washing a huge section of the road out. I was literally starting to panic. I shouldn't though, this is a state road, a main road. No matter what happens to it, it will be fixed immediatly. I am just worried thats all. Things are looking very good for the Grifford Pinchot National Forest. Almost all the roads and trails near Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Adams are opened and acsessable. And the ones that aren't, I'm pretty sure will be opened by the time that I go. The problem now is Mt. Baker and possible Mt. Rainer. Road coniditions and trail conditions are actually looking worse, so its hard to say what will happen. But I will keep my fingers crossed.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 78 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Apr 27, 2002 (16:14) * 3 lines
Why isn't it updating? I need to go find one that does!
Julie, we NEED you to go but we also NEED you to be safe. MSH will wait as will the rest of the Cascades, no matter how impatient we are! Keep us posted!
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 79 of 376: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Sat, Apr 27, 2002 (16:39) * 1 lines
indeed, be careful julie!!
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 80 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Apr 27, 2002 (16:45) * 4 lines
MT SHASTA WEBCAM
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 81 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Apr 27, 2002 (17:50) * 1 lines
Yikes!! What happned to Mt. Shasta? Is the camera being covered up by an eruption cloud? *laughs* Yeah, right!!! I bet its snowing there. The whole west coast has been having a lot of percipitation this past week or so. That is good for us down here in the dry desert of southern California, but not so good for the already super saturated Pacific Northwest. *sigh*
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 82 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Apr 27, 2002 (18:22) * 0 lines
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 83 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Apr 27, 2002 (18:41) * 3 lines
Mount St Helens
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 84 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Apr 27, 2002 (19:21) * 6 lines
At the time of this writing, it is not a very good day to be messing
around in the Cascades. The above view of Shasta is the only one I have
ever had. From the large parking lot in Weed, it looked exactly like
this.... complete wipeout.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 85 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Sun, Apr 28, 2002 (20:31) * 50 lines
Woooooohoooooo!!!!!!Finally!!!! I can't believe it! Sean and I have
finally planned everything out for our trip. The only thing that can go
wrong now is the weather or an eruption. *laughs* We decided to take the
bus. It will be a terrible ride, but hey, its the cheapest and we don't
have to worry about security now. We will be leaving at around 8pm
Sunday, May 26th.
We will be sleeping on the bus (Sean will, I will keep watch) *laughs*
and arriving in Portland sometime around 9:00pm on the 27th. We will
then rent a car and spend the first night at a hotel. The 28th, we will
go to Mt. Hood and spend the day there probably climbing half way to the
summit if we are on the south side and then camp out some where around
Mt. Hood area. The 29th is go climb Mt. St. Helens Day!!
Wooohooo!! I look foward to that. We will camp around Mt. St. Helens
area and then spend part of the 30th hiking around Mt. St. Helens as
well. The other half of the day we will explore the ice caves around
Mt. Adams and camp out near the base of Mt. Adams.
The 31st we will try to climb to the summit of Mt. Adams. I think we
will have to camp out that night around the area as well. On the 1st,
we will go to Mt. Rainer and spend the whole day hiking and exploring
the waterfalls in the area.
We will camp out that night near Mt. Rainer. On the 2nd, after finishing
with Mt. Rainer we will head over to the unfortunate town of Orting and
take some pictures and maybe get a few samples. Then its off to Glacier
Peak where we will spend the night. On the 3rd, we will drive across
the border of Canada and see the most northern part of the Cascades, Mt.
Garabaldi.
Then we will go down to Mt. Baker and spend the rest of the day skiing
(I don't know if I will). On the 4th, we will hike some of the trails
around Mt. Baker and explore the ice caves and waterfalls in the area.
Then we will head over to Bellingham where I will get to take a tour of
Western Washington University which is the #2 school on my list of
schools to transfer to.
We will then drive down to Seattle and spend the night there. On the
5th, I will get to take a tour of University of Washington, my #1 school
and hopefully get to see their fantastic geology department. Then we
will drive back down to Portland and board the bus around 7pm and arrive
in Santa Ana, CA some time around 7pm on the 6th.
Well, thats our trip I think and I hope. But I doubt things will work
out so perfectly. Road conditions, trail conditions, and the weather are
our 3 biggest enemies on this trip. We will just have to change our
plans and work around them if something does go wrong.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 86 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Sun, Apr 28, 2002 (21:02) * 1 lines
Oh, and about the video tape, I will try to tape as much as I can and a little bit of everything. I will not have enough tape to show both summit climbs, and if I took a vote I know almost all of you would rather me tape of Mt. St. Helens, than of Mt. Adams. If anyone has any preferences to what they want to see on the tape let me know as soon as possible because this tape is for all of YOU, no so much for me. I am taking my own 30 rolls of film as well. *laughs* Yes, I take a lot of pictures.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 87 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Apr 28, 2002 (23:21) * 1 lines
YES yesyesyesyesyesyes. Mount St Helens it is. Be safe and return to us intact. We need you more than we need your photos! As for travelling and not sleeping, I'm with you.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 88 of 376: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Mon, Apr 29, 2002 (18:43) * 1 lines
just be careful, julie!!!
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 89 of 376: Rob Glennie (AotearoaKiwi) * Fri, May 3, 2002 (01:22) * 5 lines
Hi all
MSH please. Pretty please. Pretty pretty please. *Kneels down with a small box*. Lol
Rob
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 90 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, May 3, 2002 (01:57) * 1 lines
Julie, you can't turn that down! MSH it is!
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 91 of 376: S B Robinson (SBRobinson) * Fri, May 3, 2002 (11:07) * 1 lines
What is MSH?
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 92 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Fri, May 3, 2002 (14:22) * 2 lines
MSH is an abriviation for Mt. St. Helens.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 93 of 376: S B Robinson (SBRobinson) * Fri, May 3, 2002 (15:53) * 1 lines
Ah..... thank you. :-)
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 94 of 376: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Fri, May 3, 2002 (18:14) * 1 lines
thank you EsBee, i was gonna ask the same thing!
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 95 of 376: Rob Glennie (AotearoaKiwi) * Sat, May 4, 2002 (06:02) * 23 lines
Hi all
On Thursday March 20, 1980 the United States Geological Survey (USGS)seismograph in a Seattle basement suddenly made a decisive twitch at or about 3.46PM Pacific Daylight time). It was recording an earthquake generated by magma breaking rock directly below Mount St Helens. Within hours it was followed by more earthquakes. The USGS was curious, and sent a geophysicist called Dr Craig Weaver with a portable seismograph to the volcano on March 21. The swarm continued unabated over the weekend and on March 24, Dr Weaver called the USGS headquarters in Denver and said that an ongoing swarm which would have to be classified as volcanic, was going on at Mount St Helens.
On March 27, Mount St Helens upped the ante. A small phreatic eruption of steam and old ash punched a crater 65 metres across on the summit. It began to widen and five days later on April Fools Day, was joined by second crater "the volcano seemed more like a living, growing organism than a big dead heap of rock and ice" (Documentary, "Anatomy of a volcano" 1980).
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Imgs/Jpg/MSH/SlideSet/3.jpg
Throughout April and early May, St Helens continued to puff steam and ash sporadically with the occasional small lahar (volcanic mudflow)thrown in for good measure. During this time the north face of the volcano, was being grossly deformed by magma pushing into the volcano and giving the mountain a bloated appearance.
A danger zone around the volcano was set up. It barred anyone within 10 miles of the volcano from entering the closed zone. There were protests especially from home owners who had property at the foot of a volcano now being deformed by magma rising within. The north face continued deforming at a rate of 5 feet a day and by mid April anyone with eyes to see could spot the bulge. A local man named Harry R. Truman who had lived there for 53 years however was not going anywhere in a rush and defied the local authorities who wanted to move him.
Media interest, initially was minimal. President Carter had just announced the US boycott of the Moscow Olympics in retaliation for their invasion of Afghanistan and all eyes were on Washington DC. But it changed rapidly and soon visitors were flocking to Washington state to see the volcano, some even flying over it, not caring a hang for the safety risk.
The eruptions were all small though some were punctual with explosions sending bombs and blocks flying. They rattled the piano at Harry Trumans lodge and scared of the birds he fed. The earthquakes rocked and rattled the volcano with incredible frequency, sometime often as many as 30 magnitude 3.0+ events daily!!! Magnitude 4.0s were also popular and on May 8 or 10 a magnitude 5.0 earthquake rocked the volcano sending a small avalanche cascading downslope.
In early May the explosions stopped, and many thought this was the end of the eruptive phase. People began wanting to go home, but the Washington State government and law enforcement agencies refused to let them back in, for the USGS had decided that the grossly deformed north slope posed a direct avalanche hazard.
David A. Johnston knew just how dangerous the bulging north flank was - his observation post was essentially in the sights of a gun now being loaded.
See the link below for more.
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Imgs/Jpg/MSH/SlideSet/4.jpg
On May 11, the explosions resumed, and then stopped again on May 14. For three days the earthquake activity remained steady, the bulge continued to grow and the north face continued to deform. On May 17, the State government allowed a convoy of vehicles into the red zone around the volcano to go back and collect belongings. A second convoy was due to go on Sunday May 18, at 10.AM.
On May 17 Johnston relieved another volcano watcher who was going to see a post-graduate student off at the airport. Mindy Brugman and Carolyn Dreidger came up to the Coldwater observation post to see Johnston and watch the volcano. Both wanted to overnight at the ridge, but Johnston said no. He was scared for his own safety. At his request they left the ridge a mere 5 miles from a volcano now grossly deformed to the extent it scared anyone who knew what they were looking at.
Part two following soon
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 96 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, May 4, 2002 (12:54) * 1 lines
*Getting popcorn and something to drink* This is great stuff, Rob. I think I mght include the little dome collapse gif I made for you last year after your continuation.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 97 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Sat, May 4, 2002 (19:30) * 2 lines
ARGH!!! I can't believe this! I was trying to get a tour at the Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, Washington last summer when I was in Oregon and Washington. I called them up on the phone and they said they don't give tours and there is nothing to see anyway. Ummm, okay, then what is this?! Go to the web site below and see what I am talking about. UGH!!! I'm going to Washington on the 26th not the 18th!!! ARGH!! Not fair!!! I think I will call them again anyway just to make sure.
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/News/Announcements/cvo_open_house_2002.html
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 98 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Sat, May 4, 2002 (19:52) * 6 lines
If you would like to keep track of the earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest go to this site below my post. You may notice a few interesting things. First of all, if you go to http://spike.geophys.washington.edu/SEIS/PNSN/WEBICORDER/welcome.html
you will find the seismograms of seimsographs that are stationed to most of the major Cascade Volcanoes and places with significantly high earthquake risk in Oregon and Washington. Be careful what you think is an earthquake and what is just static interference. I have been fooled many times, but I know how to tell the difference now. I have studied the recordings every day and found a few things that you might want to take notice of. Mt. Baker and Glacier Peak seem to have a simalar pattern to them with their seismic activity. Also just recently in the past few weeks, there has been some micro quakes near Mt. Rainer and Mt. St. Helens. Most of the seismograms for the other Cascade Volcanoes don't usually have much activity on them. So watch carefully, because with the Pacific Northwest's infrequent but sometimes violent earthquake and volcanic history you never know what might happen.
http://www.ess.washington.edu/SEIS/PNSN/
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 99 of 376: Rob Glennie (AotearoaKiwi) * Mon, May 6, 2002 (04:23) * 54 lines
PART 2 OF THE MOUNT ST. HELENS STORY
CONTINUED FROM LAST POST
Johnston was now alone with a volcano so deformed by the bulge that it scared even him. The dimensions of the bulge were huge, and still growing, but the bulge not be there for much longer. From top to bottom the bulge was a mile long, growing outwards by more than 100 metres and nearly 300 metres wide. It was facing due north staring David Johnston straight in the face.
SUNDAY MAY 18, 1980
The Sun rose at 5.37AM from the east, highlighting the bulge. As it rose, Johnston got out in the chilly but clear morning air, possibly awoken by a USAAF reconnaisance jet flying high over the volcano getting the last infra red images of the pre-May 18 1980 cone. The images would show, when they were analysed two days later, a heat source just below the surface driving fumaroles.
Johnston radioed his superiors with an update on the situation.
http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/msh/rosen1.jpg
At 8.30AM geologists Dorothy and Keith Stoffel were flying over the volcano, which to those on the ground was still drowsy in appearance. They noted two fumaroles high on the north lip of the crater..... it was 8.31AM.
There is an earthquake.... magnitude 5.1.
http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/msh/rosen2.jpg
In an instant the whole north flank begins sliding downhill in one of the biggest landslides known to man. Two black clouds explode out of the gaping hole and merge with impossible speed. Johnston radioes Vancouver, WA, where the nearest USGS station is located. Accelerating to nearly the speed of sound, a HUGE lateral blast spreads north, northeast and northwest.
http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/msh/rosen3.jpg
http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/msh/rosen4.jpg
Harry Truman was the first to go - either buried by a huge tongue of the landslide that poured into Spirit Lake at 300kmh or roasted alive by a huge pyroclastic flow (the huge black cloud rushing across the landscape). His lodge (or what remains of it)is now 66 metres below the level of Spirit Lake in a mass of mangled trees, volcanic debris and the wreckage of the other houses.
David Johnston lasted a few seconds longer, and managed to get this final message out to the USGS headquarters in Vancouver. Gerald Martin, a retired USAF pilot to the north and also watching MSH for the USGS reported calmly that the trailer on the ridge over from him was covered in ash. "And it is going to get me too". It did. From his observation post there was no way out.
"VANCOUVER!! VANCOUVER!! THIS IS IT!!". The radio went dead as the Coldwater observation vanished into oblivion. No trace of Johnston or the Cold Water observation station have been found.
http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/msh/rosen5.jpg
http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/msh/rosen6.jpg
Expanding at speed the blast spread outwards to form a vast fan of devastated land with a zone on the edege where the blast was hot enough to singe the trees but leave them standing as markers to the extent of the maelstrom. After ruining 550 square kilometres of the American northwest, the blast began contracting and soon a Plinian column was jetting to an altitude of 19km. For the next 9 hours the volcano blasted a huge plume of volcanic ash high into the stratosphere. Ash fall was recorded in Yakima where 600,000 tons or 12 tons per person fell on a town of 51,000. It was recorded in Ritzville where some of the heavier concentrations fell. Denver in Colorado was dusted on May 20. Two weeks later the cloud crossed the West Coast again having circled the world in just 17 days.
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Imgs/Jpg/MSH/SlideSet/6.jpg
On the ground lahar sped down both fork of the Toutle River, demolishing 200 houses, covering farmland, wrecking bridges, and cars. The North Fork mudflow rose 30 feet above the normal level of the river and for a time threatened Interstate 5.
As the sun set on a Sunday that would be remembered as Ash Sunday, the pace of the eruption decreased, but continued far into the night.
As the sun rose on Monday May 19, a moonscape of steaming volcanic debris, punctuated by explosions from ice and hot material making contact, was revealed. Spirit Lake was covered in logs, all washed down by a wave that rushed up and down the lake when the smaller of the two tongues of the avalanche slammed into the water.
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Imgs/Jpg/MSH/SlideSet/10.jpg
The much larger tongue poured 14 miles down the Toutle River valley to an average depth of 200 metres.
Gone was the Fujiyama of the continental 48 states, and in it's place was a smouldering truncated cone of 8364ft - a far cry from the glorious 9677ft high cone that graced southwestern Washington for so many years.
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Imgs/Jpg/MSH/SlideSet/2.jpg for the view in April 1980
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Imgs/Jpg/MSH/SlideSet/8.jpg for the post May 18 view.
8 people were killed initially. When the deathtoll was finally counted, 57 were dead, of which about 40 bodies were recovered. The rest including David Johnston and Harry Truman have never been found. 200 people were injured (ash inhalation, burns, broken bones, to name a few causes). The economic damage of the May 18 event was US$1 billion. But it could have been a LOT LOT WORSE. To the credit of the American authorities, strict enforcement of the red zone kept most out. If the volcano had erupted on a Monday, it would have killed hundreds.
Throughout the rest of 1980, Mount St Helens erupted in much smaller but no less spectacular events, notably on July 22, and August 7 1980. Ash fell at least 3 more times in Yakima and air traffic was diverted on more than one occasion (ash can clog aircraft engines and potentially cause the aircraft to crash - more than one instance of engine failure from volcanic ash causing a scare). On October 16 the dome which currently occupies the crater made its first appearance and today is nearly 300 metres high by about 800 across. If at this rate MSH continues to rebuild, she will restore her crown to it's former glory in about 200 years. But one should not hold their breath. Mount St Helens is notoriously unpredictable, and it is conceivable the volcano will blow the dome to bits.
Rob
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 100 of 376: Rob Glennie (AotearoaKiwi) * Mon, May 6, 2002 (04:24) * 5 lines
Hi all
WHAT AN EPIC!!!!
Rob
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 101 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Mon, May 6, 2002 (16:50) * 1 lines
You covered MSH's perfectly Rob. I don't see one thing missing. Every little fine detail is there embeded into your fascinating reaccount of the eruption. Great job! Couldn't have done it better myself. Hopefully if things settle down a bit here I will give you all an account of the Lassen Peak eruption. Fortunatly, I can take my time because Lassen Peak was countinously active from May of 1914 to far into 1915. I will post it when I can.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 102 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Mon, May 6, 2002 (19:53) * 3 lines
YIKES!!! This is SCARY!!! Check this web site out....
http://www.ess.washington.edu/SEIS/PNSN/HIST_CAT/STORIES/geology.html
This what I am doing my research essay on in English. I thought this was very interesting. If Japan has a record of this, I bet you other countries aound the Pacific have records as well.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 103 of 376: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Tue, May 7, 2002 (18:18) * 1 lines
wow!! thanks julie!
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 104 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, May 7, 2002 (21:48) * 1 lines
Julie and I discussed it on IM. We even discovered seismogrphic tracings of "Ice Quakes" on the Cascades. But I will leave that to her telling. She discovered them.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 105 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Wed, May 8, 2002 (00:41) * 3 lines
Yup! Ice Quakes they are. Very fascinating! I have studied the seismograms of the Cascades for about a year now and I always noticed that Baker, Glacier Peak, and sometimes Rainer would have a lot of acitivty on them. At first I thought they were earthquakes, but after a while I began to realize they were too frequent to be quakes. So after being puzzeled for a while, I looked up some info about the webicorders and it shows you exactly what quakes will look like on there and what "other" things will look like. Seismographs are EXTREMLY sensitive. You can have an earthquake in Turkey for example and find it on the seismogram of Mt. St. Helens! I know, because I saw this exact thing happen. I don't remember the date, but in August of 1999 there was a large quake in Turkey. I was at the Johnston Ridge Observatory watching the seismograph right at that moment. It was amazing watching the needle go, although many people thought it was from Mt. St. Helens and started screaming that she was going to eru
t! *laughs* But unfortunatly, seismograms are so sensitive that they also record things like trucks going by and even people walking near by. It can be very confusing if you don't know what you are looking for. But, look at the website below and go to Glacier Peak. All the activity that you see on there is ice quakes (the lines that seem to go straight down). Glacier Peak, Baker, and Rainer have extensive ice and snow on them, more so then the other Cascades. The temperatures are warming up now and the snow and ice is slowly begining to melt. Keep watch for this, because if I am correct the activity will increase as the temperatures get warmer. But for people that are in the Cascades this is a very serious problem that means only one thing....Severe Avalanche Danger!! Don't worry guys, Sean and I are going to take some serious percautions when we go out there in 3 weeks!
http://spike.geophys.washington.edu/SEIS/PNSN/WEBICORDER/welcome.html
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 106 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, May 8, 2002 (00:55) * 1 lines
This teleseismicity is very important in determining the precise magnitude and epicenter for earthquakes. At HVO we have the tracings of the Good Friday Quake that hit Anchorage, Alaska some years ago. The seismograph tracings are kept files for years for correlation and research purposes.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 107 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Wed, May 8, 2002 (01:18) * 2 lines
And if you see whats on this seismogram below......its major intereference!
http://spike.geophys.washington.edu/SEIS/PNSN/WEBICORDER/FMW_EHZ_UW.2002050800.html
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 108 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, May 9, 2002 (21:03) * 1 lines
Good Grief, Julie! It looks like modern art, not a seismogram.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 109 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Tue, May 14, 2002 (16:08) * 1 lines
There has been a slight change of plans to my dissapointment. Sean has to go to some mandatory meeting on June 5th so we have to cut our trip a day and a half short and it looks like we will be taking the plane back instead of the bus. No big deal though,I'm just going to have to go the 2 universities all in one day. Interestingly enough, when I get back, I may be going on a another hiking/camping/backpacking trip with a few of my friends up to Mammoth because one of them has a cabin up there. All this hiking and I just bought new hiking boots yesturday! Ugh! I need to break them in fast for the next 12 days or my feet are going to die. Ouch!! So far conditions in the Cascades seem to be improving. But to my dissapointment, the road to Windy Ridge at MSH's is still closed and won't be opened till mid June. But who knows, maybe conditions will change again. Too bad the Pacific Northwest isn't having some of our nice hot weather. It was 90. F (32. C) yesturday!!
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 110 of 376: Cheryl (CherylB) * Tue, May 14, 2002 (18:26) * 1 lines
Hope that you break in your new hiking boots without much trouble, Julie.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 111 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, May 14, 2002 (18:44) * 1 lines
Mammoth?! Julie, how fantastic. My son and his wife spent last weekend there (in honor of his birthday) and hiked around in Long Valley Caldera. They liked the 50°F temperatures there much more than th 94°F on their return home near San Francisco. Lots of snow is still in the Sierras so you will have a really great time. Take notes and be sure Julie has a good time and stays safe. *HUGS*
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 112 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Fri, May 17, 2002 (09:56) * 76 lines
Rob, you got quite a treat last night. Hehehe! Okay, guys, check this out! I wrote a song 4 weeks ago about the May 18th, 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens. So.....for her 22nd anniverary, I thought I would post it for all of you to sing. It is sung to "Oh, My Darling Clementine." Enjoy!!
"Oh, Mt. St. Helens
On a Sunday
In 1980
Was the 18th of May
We all expected to be normal
Was no ordinary day.
Then at 8:32am
An earthquake rocked her flanks
Mt. St. Helens now awoke
With a fury all so great.
First the pressure of molten rock
Had increased beneath the crater
It blasted out in a huge explosion
On the north face of her slopes.
Then the landslide
Sped down the valley
As a scorching avalanche
Rushing right through Spirit Lake
And the North Fork River too.
Then the blast cloud
Roared down the mountain
In a pyroclastic flow
Going top speeds down the valley
Wiping all out in its path.
Now the ash cloud
Shot up skyward
Like a mushroom growing tall
Spreading outwards across the country
And diffused around the globe.
Last the mudflow
From melting snow
And the slosh from Spirit Lake
Came roaring down the streams and rivers
Taking all up in its wake.
When it was over
All was silent
57 lives were lost
Including that of David Johnston
Who will remain here in our hearts.
Mt. St. Helens
Mt. St. Helens
Why’d you shake and blow your top
Now you have part of you missing
And a crater filled with dust.
Now your slopes
Look like a moonscape
But there still is life to grow
Someday mighty Mt. St. Helens
Will have some beauty of her own.
Look inside your barren crater
You have grown a lava dome
Hope the pressure is not building
Deep within your deformed cone.
Mt. St. Helens
Though you’re quiet
You may soon erupt again
Stunning us with your destruction
And bringing life back once again.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 113 of 376: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Fri, May 17, 2002 (18:14) * 1 lines
i was actually singing it!!!!!
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 114 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, May 18, 2002 (21:26) * 2 lines
Julie, the Poetess Laureate of Geo!
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 115 of 376: Rob Glennie (AotearoaKiwi) * Mon, May 20, 2002 (03:21) * 5 lines
Hi all
Are you people aware of the treasure that you are awaiting, whose voice actually puts some "pop sensations" to shame??
Rob
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 116 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Mon, May 20, 2002 (10:47) * 1 lines
*blushes* Thanks Rob. *sings* I'm off to see volcanoes, the wonderful volcanoes of Washington....3 more days left! Woooohoooooo!!! Things are really hectic right now. While I am busily studying for exams, during breaks Sean and I are trying to do prepare last minute things for our trip which is in about 156 hours!!! I think things will be worse Thursday, Friday, and Saturday because we have so much to do and there is hardly any time left. Thank goodness I took out the camcorder yesturday. The battery recharger is missing. But no worries, everyone is searching for it, so it should turn up by Saturday. I think I will hold in the rest of my excitment until after exams. I need to stop thinking of volcanoes and instead think Afrcia, Asia, Austrailia, and Porifera, Cnidaria, Platyhelminthes, Nematoda, Annelida, Mollusca, Arthropoda, Echinodermata, and Chordata! Yikes! I need to take a geology class again fast before I turn into a biologist! UGH!!!
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 117 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, May 20, 2002 (16:03) * 1 lines
Go Julie!!! I think our Poetess Laureate has a groupie already. I could not sing if my leife depended upon it. Genetic throat formation, I hear. Whatever it is, you will not hear music from me other than from my inept fingers. I see there are tornado warnings aroung the NW USA. Please be careful. Weather was not something I had though to be a problem!
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 118 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Fri, May 24, 2002 (00:56) * 2 lines
Wooooooohoooooooo!!!!!!My semester is finally over. Now I can focus on more exciting things like my volcano trip that I will be going on in less than 72 hours! Unfortunatly though, conditions in the Pacific Northwest are worse than we anticipated. Sean and I looked at the weather satalites and it looks like it will be raining and snowing every single day we will be there. The weather just doesn't seem like it wants to coroperate. I thought we would be safe in just our hiking boots and side step crampons, but now with these conditions, we will have to have full boot crampons, an ice axe, and snow shoes. We are still climbing MSH's, but we may have to wait a few days until the weather is a little less brutal. Sean and I got full body rain suits. We will probably have to wear them the whole time we are there. *sigh* Why am I complaining? I love the rain and I love the snow. I just hope it doesn't ruin our trip completely. It doesn't llok like we will be climbing Mt. Adams though. The road to the trail
s blocked, so we would have to hike about 12 miles to get to the trail and about 6 or so to the top. As for Mt. Rainer and anything north of that...your guess is as good as mine. But like I said before, we will make the best of it some how. And YES, for the 10th time, WE WILL BE CAREFUL!! Mom said she will kill me if I try to slide down a glacier. Glaciding is what its called. A fun trick, but if your not careful you can go flying right off the mountain or volcano in this circumstance!
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 119 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, May 24, 2002 (15:55) * 1 lines
It's raining there now according to my sources, Julie. Nothing is much more miserable than hiking and camping in cold rain. Take care, Sweetie! *HUGS*
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 120 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Sun, May 26, 2002 (11:59) * 1 lines
I thought I would say my last goodbye to all of you, since we are leaving tonight. We have a fun and amazing trip planned, as long as the weather doesn't screw us up too much. I hope to get some great shots both with the camcorder and my regular camera to show you all eventually. Marcia, since I won't be here on your special day, I would like to wish you a wonderful, fantastic, amazing, and memorable birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARCIA!! Take care all. I will see you in about 2 weeks!
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 121 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, May 26, 2002 (14:22) * 1 lines
Thank you, Julie! Have a splendid time and return to us intact. Don't fall off the edge of the earth! *HUGS*
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 122 of 376: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Mon, May 27, 2002 (20:52) * 1 lines
oh julie, i missed your bon voyage! please be careful out there and take plenty of pictures for those of us living vicariously through you!!!
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 123 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, May 28, 2002 (00:07) * 1 lines
Rob misses her already. So do I. I wish I felt better about the weather, but they are experienced climbers and ber brother is old enough to take care of her.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 124 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Wed, Jun 5, 2002 (13:26) * 1 lines
Hi all! I'm back! Not like I really want to be. They had to drag me on to the plane in Portland kicking and screaming.*laughs* When our plane landed in John Wayne Airport this morning I felt like I had walked into a foreign country. For some reason I don't feel like I belong in southern California anymore. Okay, anyway, about my trip. Some things we wanted to do we did not get to do and things we thought we couldn't do we did get to do. Overall we had an excellent time! Right now I am exhusted from not sleeping in 2 days and sore from a double sunburn and scrapes. I will tell you this though, I got some things on tape you wouldn't believe, including a real natural disaster taking place right before my eyes. AND I GOT IT ALL ON TAPE!! WOOHOOO!! You will have to wait and see. I will tell you about my trip in another day or so.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 125 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jun 5, 2002 (14:24) * 1 lines
WooooooooooHoooooooo Julie!!! I fly to Oakland tomorrow. Ever been to Vacaville? Welcome home. I hdld Rob's hand for you. Busy packing - look in your email shortly!
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 126 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jun 5, 2002 (14:39) * 1 lines
I have to be hauled kicking and screaming away from eruptions. Each and every time. You really are my little twin sister! *BIG HUGS*
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 127 of 376: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Wed, Jun 5, 2002 (19:35) * 1 lines
excellent news, julie--good to have you back and i can't wait to see your footage!!!
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 128 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Thu, Jun 6, 2002 (20:47) * 19 lines
Lukcy for me, I kept a jounral my entire trip so all I have to do is cut and paste. I recorded everything that we saw and everything that was happening. Here is Cascades Adventure 2002.....enjoy!
Sunday, May 26th: We took the bus from Santa Ana station to L.A. There weren’t many people going from Santa Ana to L.A, but L.A station was packed. The station was very confusing because there were so many lines. We were at the end of the line for our route, so by the time we got on the bus there were no seats left. We had to seat separate from each other. I sat next to this one guy who just slept and snored very loudly the whole time. Sean sat in back of me next to some other guy. I couldn’t sleep at all that night. My neck hurt really badly from seating up and being tossed around. I looked around the bus to find everyone asleep, including Sean. What was my problem? While I tried to drift off, this man kept getting up to go the bathroom every 10 minutes and every time he passed my seat he hit me. That’s what I get for seating in the aisle I guess. We did make two rest stops in Bakersfield at 12am and Fresno at 2am. I watched the moon for half of the night. It looked very eerie with clouds sca
tered all over it. Finally, I could see the sky getting lighter in the east. I couldn’t tell where we were going or where exactly we were because people’s heads were in the way. The bus smelt really bad, especially when that same man kept going by our seats to use the bathroom. I don’t think he had taken a shower in a very long time. Another man had gotten some perfume at the last stop to spray all over the bus so it wouldn’t smell so bad. Eventually we ended up at Sacramento station at 5am. When we got there, we decided to wait in line by the door so we could finally get a seat together on the bus.
Monday, May 27th: We were back on the bus at 7am. Sean and I got the last seats on the right side of the bus. We wanted to have views of Shasta and Lassen. Sean took a nap while I studied the California map and its geography for the central and northern part of the state. Just as Sean woke up, I pointed out the Sutter Buttes. The clouds began to form unusual pattern in the sky; long wavy rows of cirrus, altostratus, and altocumulus. We then made another stop at Williams. Once on our way again we saw the snow covered peak of Lassen far in the distance above the clouds. We stopped again in Willows. Everyone wanted to get off the bus to have a smoke! Back on the road I saw two deer on the side of the road in the bushes grazing. We began to get closer to Lassen Peak, but not close enough. The Coast Range Mountains had lots of low clouds on them, but their peaks could easily be seen above the white cloud blanket. We made another stop at Red Bluff. I was starving, but I didn’t feel like getting of the
us at the rest stop, so I had trail mix for the next 4 hours! Ugh! A few hours later we stopped in Redding. I was finally getting excited now. Mt. Shasta was coming up in the next few hours. We drove over Shasta Lake, but so far there was no sign of Mt. Shasta. Suddenly, this guy in the middle of the bus opens the emergency exit and tries to jump out. The girl seating a few seats in front of us, yells out, “Holy #$@%, the homeboy is going out the window!” The bus driver pulls off the side of the road and comes back and closes it. He looks quite pissed. As we drove off, I began to get impatient. Waiting for Mt. Shasta to appear behind the forest was torture! Suddenly this guys eating in the seat next to Sean asks him where he could buy some Weed. The guy says, “You look like the type that smokes Weed.” Sean and I had quite a laugh about that the rest of the bus ride. After about 30 minutes or so, Mt. Shasta appeared as big and as beautiful as ever, with lenticular clouds swirling over the summit.
Mt. Shasta’s other volcanic neighbors, Chaos Crags and Black Butte were also seen in this area. As we came into the town of Weed, we took pictures of the 3 volcanic features. We then stopped in Weed to get some lunch and buy some postcards of Mt. Shasta. It was already starting to sprinkle out. Later, after we went over the Klamath River, we began to see beautiful basalt formations in the area surrounded by bright yellow flowers. I finally drifted off to sleep for about 2 hours and woke up as we made our stop in Medford for a rest break. A few moments later the bus pulled into a gas station and we all got out to get some dinner at the mini-mart. We decided to get Taco Bell and save it for later, since it was only about 4pm and way to early to eat dinner. Then we began our drive towards Eugene. As we left Eugene we saw a beautiful rainbow over the sky. This cute little girl who looked about 8 or 9 had gotten on with her parents in Eugene. She and her father sat in the seats behind us. She kept telling
all these funny jokes to her father, but loud enough so we could hear her. She sort of reminded me of myself when I was younger; cute, funny, asking lots of questions, and keeping everyone well entertained. And I defiantly needed to be entertained because my CD player broke about the time we got to Weed and I was going bored out of my mind. Finally, after driving everyone crazy on the bus by imitating cartoon characters, we arrived in Portland. It was still slightly raining as we reached the bus station. We then got off and took a taxi to Alamo Rent A Car and drove out about 20 minutes later in a white 4 door Mitsubishi with a CD player! We drove through Vancouver to the Best Inn and Suites and after repacking everything we went to bed.
Tuesday, May 28th: We woke up at 7am and ate the hotel breakfast they were serving in the lobby. As we ate, we began to plan our day out. We then came back to our room to decide again what we were doing. Then we packed the car and checked out of the hotel. We first stopped at the AAA to get maps of the specific areas we were going to in Washington. Next, we made a stop at Target and bought some extra supplies. Then we drove over to the Gifford Pinchot National Forest Headquarters, bought some maps and asked about hiking, camping, and trail conditions. The weather didn’t look good for Wednesday, which was the day of our climb. Finally, we drove to Woodland area where we went to Jack’s Climbing Store to see if we could change the day of our climb. They sent us down the road to the Mt. St. Helens National Monument Headquarters to change our day and find out the conditions again. We actually could climb both Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Adams if we wanted too. The conditions at Mt. Adams had actually impro
ed since the last time we had checked, which was way before our trip. But our final decision was to just do Mt. St. Helens. We drove back to Jack’s and bought our permits. After we had our permits, we headed back towards Vancouver and had a quick lunch break at Arby’s. Then we headed south again to Jansen Beach and went to REI. At REI, we rented our crampons, ice axe, and snow boots. Then we headed to Mt. Hood, finally! We stopped in the town of Gresham to buy some more camp food at Safeway. Then we drove towards Timberline Lodge and Government Camp to look for a campsite. Most were snowed in and the roads were closed. After going back and forth several times, we finally pulled into the Trillium Lake Snow-park area and decided to camp in our car, since it was still raining quite heavily. For dinner we had bread, peanut butter, and trail mix. I was a little worried about sleeping in the car because I didn’t want to freeze to death like I almost did in Arizona. Sean said not to worry though because
the temperature won’t get below freezing like it did in Arizona. He was wrong though, because later that night I was shivering to death again! But I curled up and suffered through it this time, until 5am, when Sean woke up and turned on the heat. We then headed up towards Timberline Lodge.
Wednesday, May 29th: As we were driving up, we saw dozens of mini waterfalls on the side of the road coming down from the mossy slopes. When we got to Timberline Lodge though, it was closed. Since Mt. Hood was still in thick clouds, we headed back down the mountain. Along the way, we picked up two ash samples and took some pictures of the waterfalls. We then headed out of Mt. Hood National Forest. As we drove down HWY 35, we saw another rainbow. And as we entered Colombia River Gorge Scenic Area, we saw yet another rainbow. After a quick bathroom and snack stop at McDonalds, we headed down towards the Mt. Adams turn off where we saw another rainbow. I couldn’t believe how many rainbows we had seen in the past few days. It was incredible! We first went into the Mt. Adams Ranger Station in Trout Lake to find out about hiking and attractions in the area. Since Ice Cave was really close by, we decided to go there first. When we got to the cave entrance, we had to put on our ski jackets, gloves, cram
ons, and use our ice axe to climb down the mouth of the cave. The cave itself was spectacular looking. Icicles, some 10-12ft long, hung from the ceiling to the floor. Each one was dripping water into a frozen or semi-frozen pool. I went over to lick one of the huge icicles hanging from the ceiling. Suddenly, I heard it crack, and before I could move out of the way, the whole icicle fell right on top of my head. It stung for a second, but then I stumbled ahead of Sean. There were 2 chambers. The main one was about 300 yards or so and it extended into a smaller ice cave that I had to crawl thru to get to. Sean was reluctant to crawl on his stomach like I was, so I didn’t go in very far. After taking some shots of the ice cave, we climbed out and had some snacks at the car. We then drove up to the South Climb Trail, but we had to turn back because the road was blocked by snow. After getting some rock and ash samples and trying unsuccessfully to find Mt. Adams through the clouds, we headed back down
owards Vancouver. We took the toll bridge to HWY 84 through the beautiful Colombia River Gorge Scenic Area. The basalt cliffs were amazing looking, especially with the low clouds hugging it. We stopped at Multanomah Falls to take some pictures and then bought a few things at the gift store to the right of the falls. Multanomah Falls flows over an ancient lava flow 620 feet tall. As we headed back towards Portland on HWY 84, we could see several of the waterfalls cascading down the basalt cliffs. This scenic road was one of the most beautiful and magical things I had seen on the trip so far. With the clouds starting to clear, we might be able to see some of the Cascades someday! Ugh! As we were driving on Hwy 503, we could see the base of Mt. St. Helens peaking out through the clouds. She looked to be completely covered by snow. What a beautiful sight! We decided to stay at the Cresap Bay Campgrounds. These campgrounds were next to a beautiful lake, called Merwin Lake. The forest that surrounded t
e campgrounds was its own little tropical paradise, with ferns, thick trees, mosses, and plants growing densely and thickly along the shore of the lake. After setting up camp, we put our backpacks together for our Mt. St. Helens climb the next day. Once we had our packs together, we ate macaroni and cheese and soup for dinner. Then we took a little hike to the lake at twilight where we saw the alpine glow light up the surrounding area. By that time, we hiked back and got ready for bed. I watched as the sun set into a thin layer of clouds, casting a pinkish glow throughout the sky. All night long we kept hearing this strange sound. Sean said it was a peacock, but I never heard a peacock sound like that before. I called it the creature of the Cascades. Whatever it was, it was doing a good job keeping me up most of the night.
Thursday, May 30th: After a short sleep, we woke up at 4:45am and got ready for our climb. We ate some Cliff Bars as we were driving towards Jack’s Climbing Store. The sky looked very clear today, finally! We could see Mt. St. Helens very well now. A thick snowy blanket of white covered her. Once we got to Jack’s Climbing Store, we signed in, figured out our climbing route, and drove to Marble Mountain Snow-Park. We began our climb at around 7am, but before we were a little bit more than half way from the summit, we realized our pace was too slow and it was already getting late. The snow was extremely slushy, and it just got worse as the sun got higher into the sky. Every time we would take a step, we would sink down to our ankles or higher. The crampons didn’t seem to be very useful and all they did was slow us down. What we really needed was skis, poles, and snowshoes. Finally, after a painful decision, we decided to turn around. We may attempt the summit again on Sunday or a Monday if we can
et another permit. If we did go, we would have to start our climb at 4am. After a tiring and defeating walk to our car, we drove over to Ape Cave, where we decided to explore the upper level. The upper level was very treacherous because of all the loose lava rocks. Since we were still tired from our climb, we decided to explore the lower level again instead. Then we drove over to the Trail of Two Forests where we got to see what the 2,000-year-old lava flow did to an ancient forest. We got to crawl through a lava cast tree cave as well. I got a little freaked out though after I heard this scratching sound at the other end of the cave. It’s the creature of the Cascades! Ahhhhhh! On our way back to the campgrounds, we stopped at some viewpoints of Mt. St. Helens and then stopped back at Jack’s to sign out. We then called Mom who sounded frantic on the phone. She told us about the 2 fatal accidents that had occurred on Mt. Hood and Mt. Rainer. Everyone at home was going crazy because we had not been
y a phone for several days and my cell phone hardly ever had a cell. Everyone back at home thought we had been the ones in the accident because we had been thinking about climbing Mt. Hood and some of Mt. Rainer. Mom told us we better call every single day now so everyone will know what’s going on. Once we got back to the campgrounds, we ate chicken stew and spaghettios. Then we cleaned up while watching the stars and went to bed.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 129 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Thu, Jun 6, 2002 (20:53) * 12 lines
Friday, May 31st: We woke up later that morning and ate cinnamon buns, oatmeal, and cocoa for breakfast. As we were packing up our stuff and taking the tent down, we fed the chipmunks some nuts. We then left the campgrounds, and drove back to Portland to return our equipment back to REI. Then we headed towards the north side of Mt. St. Helens by way of a quick stop at Castle Rock. We listened to my Dante’s Peak soundtrack as we drove up HWY 504. Before we reached Johnston Ridge Observatory, we stopped at several vistas to see Mt. St. Helens. Once at Johnston Ridge Observatory, Sean suggested I give them a copy of my Mt. St. Helens song. I was sort of embarrassed to do something like that, but I did it anyway and now I am glad I did. The ranger told me it was excellent and that it would be a great way to teach kids and adults about the eruption of Mt. St. Helens in a fun way. My song is now being put on display at Johnston Ridge Observatory! Woooohooo! After touring Johnston Ridge again very quickly
we headed back down the road. We stopped a few times along the way to drink some real Mt. St. Helens water from the waterfalls cascading out through the cracks in the rocks. On the way down, we stopped at a turn off where we say about 4 or 5 other cars pulled off too. We decided to hike up the trail to see what was going on. We reached the top of the cliff to find a small group of people watching hang gliders take off and land on the ridge. It would be awesome to hang glide near Mt. St. Helens. As we were driving back, we saw a rainbow halo around the sun. We pulled into Seaquest State Park, which was right in front of Mt. St. Helens Visitor’s Center and got a campsite near a beautiful fern and moss forest. There were a few trails leading from our campsite. After a dinner of soup and lasagna, we hiked 2 of the trails to see where they went. But we didn’t get very far because the plants were too thick. After the hike, we went back to call Mom and then went to bed.
Saturday, June 1st: We woke up at 6:30am and ate a nauseating mixture of granola, raspberries, and powdered milk with peaches. Then we packed up and headed up to Johnston Ridge Observatory again to begin a 4.5 mile hike to Harry’s Ridge where we would get up close and personal with Mt. St. Helens, her lava dome, and Spirit Lake. The hike went through some of the slushiest snow I had ever seen. As we were hiking up, I fell through a slushy snowdrift and cut my hand open on a sharp piece of rhyolite. Once we got to the top of the ridge, the wind started to really blow and the wind-chill went down to about 25. F. We could see Mt. Adams as well from the top, but clouds again covered the summit. At the top of Harry’s Ridge there was an old earthquake station situated at the very end of the ridge. We found out later that there was also a machine up on top of the ridge that bounced laser beams off of the lava dome to see how much it was growing. Spirit Lake looked bigger now than when I had last seen it
n 1999, probably because of more snow melt, rain, and due to the fact that more of the logs have sunken from the surface to their watery grave at the bottom of the lake. We had a quick lunch of trail mix at the top, while admiring the magnificent views. On the way down, we sloshed though ankle deep snow and I walked across a creek that I thought was frozen over, but I learned very quickly that it was not, once I fell in knee deep in ice cold slushy water. As we were hiking back towards Johnston Ridge Observatory, we saw other people coming up. You can tell the people that know how to hike and those that don’t. Some people were wearing sandals and shorts down the trail! Hehe, they have no idea how wet and cold they are going to get! We then got back to the car and drove down to Cold Water Ridge Observatory where we got some more postcards. We tried to make it down to the Mt. St. Helens Visitor’s Center, but they closed before we had even parked the car. We then headed back I-5 and took HWY 12 towards
the south entrance of Mt. Rainer. As we got closer, the views were quite impressive, but soon we were too close to the snowy slopes, and eventually the trees covered everything up. We were going to stop at Longmire, but since I had gone there last time, we headed to Cougar Campgrounds to set up camp. There was big signs everywhere saying… CAMP AT YOUR OWN RISK! THIS AREA IS SUBJECT TO LAHARS, AVALANCHES, MUDFLOWS, AND OTHER GEOLOGICAL HAZARDS! But since this was the only campground around the area, we pitched out tent up anyway. Though I began to wonder, what if… For dinner we had a nasty chicken rice meal, mashed potatoes that stuck to the back of my throat, and pasta. We then took the firewood we had bought earlier, and made a small campfire while toasting marshmallows. I threw a few into the fire. It was neat watching them expand, sizzle, and run like molten lava. The campgrounds were inside a valley with mountains on either side of us. We could see a large waterfall flowing down high up on the
mountain. The snow in the area was hard packed and the temperature went down to the low 40’s that night. It will probably be very cold when we wake up. After we cleaned the dishes, we put out the fire and went to bed. The waterfall was so loud though, that I heard it all night long. A few times I woke up from it thinking it was the roar of some geological force heading towards us, but I ignored it and went back to sleep.
Sunday, June 2nd: We woke up at 6:30am. It was freezing out. It took me about 20 minutes, just to have enough guts to unzip my sleeping bag and crawl out. I reached over on the other side of the tent for my jeans, but found them completely frozen. I had forgot to put them in my sleeping bag last night. Opps! I reluctantly put them on anyway. We then packed up and Sean ate a quick breakfast. I was too cold to even take my hands out of my pockets! We headed up to Paradise and went into the Paradise Inn. It was very fancy inside. It sort of reminded me of the lodge at Crater Lake. We went in to raid the gift shop anyway though. The views of Mt. Rainer from Paradise were incredible. No wonder they called it Paradise. Though, I’m sure it would look better with all the wild flowers that bloom every time in the later summer months. From there, we went over to Henry M. Jackson Memorial Visitor Center, but it was closed until 10 am, so we had a snack by the car as we were figuring out what we were g
ing to do next. Suddenly this Stellar Blue Jay lands right by my feet. I take out the camera and start shooting. Just then, a Gray Jay lands on top of the car door. I turn the camera for a blurry but close up shot. We decided to head over to Ohanapecosh Visitor Center to find out about the hiking in the area. As we drove, we saw hundreds of waterfalls cascading down old basalt cliffs. Some of the waterfalls even hit the car as we were going by. We also saw some deer cross the road and go to drink at one of the miniature waterfalls. After the Visitor’s Center, we headed over to Silver Falls to take the .5-mile trail through a moss-covered forest along side the Ohanapecosh River. We had to climb down the rocks to get a better view of the falls. After we had hiked back up, we headed over to Falls Creek and then stopped at a vista of Mt. Rainer. Finally we got to Box Canyon, which is very beautiful in the fall and summer months, but now since there was so much snow, it wasn’t as impressive in my o
inion. Box Canyon is 180ft to the water surface. We stopped on the way back up to get pictures of the waterfalls splashing on the road by the two lava tunnels we had to drive through. After seeing some more views of Mt. Rainer, we headed back to the Henry M. Jackson Memorial Visitor Center to look around. I was getting a little sick of having Cliff Bars for lunch, so I talked Sean into getting a volcano chicken sandwich with fries at the cafeteria they had inside. We then headed back towards Paradise Inn and parked the car. We began to get ready for out hike on the Skyline Trail. We put on out ski pants and gators, but it was still warm enough to just wear a t-shirt. We then hiked up the slopes of Mt. Rainer admiring the views, as we seemed to get closer and closer to the summit. Okay, not really. The summit was still about 4 miles away or so. But it looked so close! We could see the Nisqually and Wilson Glaciers very clearly from the trail. We then had fun slogging and sliding back down the sl
pes. I wanted to go faster so I took the steepest ways down, only to do a face plant and eat some snow! Once down, we left Paradise and headed over to the Wonderland Trail and crossed the Nisqually River, where we collected some ash and rock samples. We then headed out of Mt. Rainer National Park and towards the town of Orting by HWY 161. When we arrived at the town of Orting, we explored the Carbon River coming from the Carbon Glacier on the slopes of Mt. Rainer. We saw the sirens all over the town and lots of volcano evacuation signs. The people in Orting are so friendly. They all seem to go on with their every day lives not worrying about the danger that stands in shadowy views in front of them. We saw Mt. Rainer from Orting at sunset. We took some pictures as the Alpine Glow spread across the mountain. It was so peaceful watching Mt. Rainer as twilight turned into night revealing a clear starry night sky. It’s hard to believe how dangerous and destructive Mt. Rainer can really be. It was alre
dy past 9pm, so we decided to eat dinner at the McDonalds in Orting. They had the cleanest bathrooms I have ever seen! After buying some more water at Safeway, we headed over to the town of Puyallup to find a campsite. We found it about an hour after going in circles, but realized it was just for RV’s. So we drove around through Puyallup and then trough Tacoma, but finally pulled over on a quiet street in Tacoma. I argued with Sean for about 45 minutes how I didn’t want to sleep here because it didn’t feel safe. But Sean was tired from driving so much so I soon gave up and let Sean get some sleep. As I locked the doors, I decided I would keep watch. But like in the movies, the person that keeps watch always falls asleep too and that I did. I was almost sound asleep when I heard this voice coming from outside the car. I looked up, horrified to find a man standing outside my door. He must have wanted something because he kept yelling at me to open the door. I shook Sean awake and I think he was ho
rified just as much as me if not more. He really freaked out. He fumbled for the keys and put them in the ignition and drove out of there about 40 mph above the speed limit! We drove through the city of Tacoma once more, this time trying to look for a motel. Finally, we found a cheap motel for $30.00, but it only had one bed. So I gave Sean the bed and I took in my sleeping bag to sleep on the floor. The room was nasty looking and quite a fire and earthquake hazard. The T.V was high on a tilted shelf in the corner and was only loosely glued down. The 3 picture frames on the wall were completely shattered. Any sudden movements and the glass was sure to fall out all over the bed. The heater looked very old, the kind that can easily leak carbon monoxide out into the room. But I suppose the room was better than trying to find a place on the side of the road again. It was 12:30am when we went to bed.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 130 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Thu, Jun 6, 2002 (20:55) * 17 lines
Monday, June 3rd: We woke up at 5:30am, gathered our stuff up and left the nasty motel at 6:30am. After getting gas, we took I-5 to Seattle. As we drove through Seattle, we could see the Seattle Space Needle, the downtown area, and Mt. Olympus in the west. Mt. Olympus is the highest point in the Olympic National Park. We went past Everett and took HWY 2 to the 204 to the 9 to the 92 towards the Mt. Baker and Snoqualmie National Forest. We could see Mt. Baker in the distance covered with a few scattered clouds. We headed over to Big Four Ice Caves trailhead and parked the car. As we got our gear ready, I heard a faint roar in the distance. I turned towards Big Four Mountain and to my surprise I saw snow coming down in a huge white blanket. “AVALANCHE!” I yelled out to Sean. I grabbed the camcorder and began to record. I could barely hold it still though because I was beginning to tremble. Fortunately, the avalanche was too far away to reach us, but I began to tell Sean how staying in this area
as a bad idea. There was signs everywhere saying… WARNING! HIKING IN ICE CAVES IS NOT RECOMMENDED DUE TO AVALANCHES. DANGER! SEVERE AVALACNHE CONDITIONS. There was also another sign that said we could hike as far as Stillaguamish South Fork River. So we did exactly that. As daring and adventurous as I am I certainly didn’t want to venture any further, so we turned back towards the car. Big Four Mountain is made from sandstone that was uplifted about 60 million years ago, which makes them way older then the Cascades and maybe even older than the dinosaurs. After a snack, we drove towards North Fork Falls to find the road was snowed in at Barlow Pass. We stopped off at the Mt. Baker and Snoqualmie National Forest Ranger Station to look for Glacier Peak postcards. We found none, so we drove to Jordan Road out of Granite Falls to Arlington. As we went through Darrington, we stopped at a few stores trying again to find postcards of Glacier Peak. The man who owned one of the stores told us that maybe G
acier Peak was not a very photogenic volcano. Yeah, right! We then headed 10 miles up this little paved dirt road to the White Chuck trailhead. Along the way we could see some of Glacier Peak through the trees. Once at the trailhead, we got out of the car to look around and tried to see if we could find Glacier Peak through the thick forest. Suddenly, I heard a loud familiar roar. I chill ran down my spine as I figured out what it was. The roar was so loud I had to cover my ears. As I ran terrified across the snow to the car, Sean ran after me. My pulse must have been racing at 300 beats per minute because I could feel it in my throat. I sank down near the side of the car sobbing waiting for the snowy white wave of death to crash down upon us. This was the worst way to die, I thought. But strangely, nothing happened. I stood up, and Sean and I looked towards the sky and the trees trying to find something. The noise began to fade though, and finally Sean pointed through the trees. It wasn’t an
valanche at all! It was the sound of two fighter jets flying very low! I collapsed near the car relieved. After pulling myself back together, we took the White Chuck trail about a mile and a half. We saw a brown and yellow stripped snake and some strange fungus along the way. We hiked across 12-inch deep creeks and ankle deep slushy snow to obtain some ash and rock samples of Glacier Peak. Once back at the car, we headed back down into Darrington and stopped at the Ranger Station. Then we continued up towards Mt. Baker. After a long drive, we finally saw Mt. Baker rise up above the clouds. We drove around trying to find a campsite with a view of Mt. Baker. Boulder Creek Campgrounds was the best. After we set up the tent, Sean and I climbed down to Boulder Creek and explored the area. Boulder Creek came from Boulder Glacier from the slopes of Mt. Baker. I looked around to find some interesting rocks and took a few ash samples. I think I got a little too close to the river. The current was movin
very fast, but I walked half way across the river on a rotting log. On our way back up to our campsite, we caught two tiny brown frogs that we had fun playing with before they hoped under a huge piece of polished rhyolite. Dinner was pasta, beans, and mashed potatoes. As we ate dinner, we burned the rest of the remaining firewood. Then later, as we ate hot cocoa and toasted marshmallows, I told Sean some volcano stories. Finally, the last of the flickering flames died out to glowing orange embers. A thin layer of clouds covered the starless night sky. Sean and I both crawled into our sleeping bags exhausted and went right to sleep. That night, I had a dream that I was flying back home in the airplane and right when we were over Mt. Shasta, it erupted and caused the plane to crash. I guess I was still worrying about the plane trip home, since this was going to be my first plane ride since 9-11.
Tuesday, June 4th: We both woke up that morning to hear a rhythmic beating on the tent. After nearly a week of partly cloudy skies, it was starting to rain again. Fortunately, we had put the rain fly on the tent the night before, but taking it all down and trying to fold it back up was a disaster. Finally, after we had everything packed up, we drove back to HWY 20 and then took HWY 542 up towards Mt. Baker Ski Resort. We could see Mt. Shuskan, but not Mt. Baker. There were just too many clouds. We then drove down a ways and took some shots of Mt. Shuskan and got some samples of the column basalt from the cliffs. Then we headed to Nocksack Falls. The falls were somewhat impressive, but not at all like Proxy Falls or Multanomah Falls, which I find to be the most beautiful and scenic waterfalls in all of the Pacific Northwest! As we were driving back down again, we saw 2 newborn fawns and their mother cross the road. A few hours later, we ended up in Bellingham where we took a tour of Western Washingto
University. The campus was beautiful. It overlooked the North Cascades and Bellingham Bay. The geology department looked great! It almost looked like a museum because there were so many samples and displays all over the building on 3 different floors! Finally, we were on the road again driving on I-5 back towards Seattle. I fell asleep for a few hours, but woke up just as we were passing Everett. Suddenly, this depression came over me as we were driving down the state of Washington. I didn’t want to leave tomorrow. The Pacific Northwest felt like home to me. I loved it here. I didn’t want to go back to my boring, ugly, pollution infested city in California. Why couldn’t I stay here, in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, where temperate rainforests and breathtaking waterfalls cover the most scenic chain of volcanoes on earth, the Cascades? We drove into Orting again, this time to get some information. I went into the City Hall and was given evacuation info, a map, and a USGS info sheet about his
oric lahars in Orting and Puyallup. She also gave me the phone number of fire chief, Ron Splain. She said he would probably be a lot of help because he knew more about the historic lahars in Orting than anyone else in the town. I thanked her for her help and we began to drive towards Tacoma. In Tacoma, we went to Mail Box Etc to mail some of our bulky items home. Because of the strong airline regulations, we didn’t have enough room in our bags to bring home everything, so we decided to mail our ski clothes and our sleeping pads. We then finally began our decent towards Portland. The clouds were still very thick, but we could see just the base of Mt. Rainer as we passed Olympia. As we passed Chehalis, I saw Mt. St. Helens in the distance surrounded by gray clouds. And as we got closer to Portland, we could see both Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Adams through the storm clouds. Finally, as we were nearly in Portland, we saw the peak of Mt. Hood for the first time the whole trip. We decided to drive up HWY
4 again along the Colombia River Gorge Scenic Area. We drove over to a viewpoint of Mt. Hood on the north side, where we finally saw the whole volcano poking up through the storm clouds. There were lenticular clouds swirling around the summit. The whole sky turned a pale pink as the sun set in the westerly sky. The whole sky was covered with pink and purple lenticular clouds now, casting a spectacular alpine glow on top of Mt. Hood. After taking some pictures, we drove across the toll bridge again and headed to Trout Lake near Mt. Adams Recreation Area. We finally arrived at Mt. Adams way after sunset, but we could still see the outline of the volcano in the darkening sky with purple lenticular clouds covering up the summit. The speed limit on the road was 60 miles an hour so Sean went exactly at 60, but unfortunately he was going a little too fast for what happened next. Suddenly, the headlights of the car, fell upon a huge porcupine walking across the road. Sean couldn’t stop in time, so he tried
to swerve the car to the right a bit so the porcupine would go under the car and not the tires. But I guess the clearance of the car from the ground was not high enough. We hit it with a sickening thud. I screamed at Sean to go back. This was a hit and run! Well, sort of. Finally I made Sean go back, but we couldn’t find the body anywhere. Maybe it flew up and landed in the bushes. When we got to a gas station down the road, Sean looked under the car to see if maybe we had dragged the poor animal with us. There was no sign of it, except for one thing. The whole underside of the car was covered with quills. Little ones and big ones, some 6 inches long, stuck underneath the entire car. It looks like maybe the porcupine may have gotten away alive. Its quills are very thick and used to protect itself from predators. But the question is could it protect itself from a car? I guess we will never find out, but we do have a nice souvenir of quills to bring home. It was 11:00pm by the time we reached th
hotel in Portland. It took hours to clear out the car and pack everything back up. We had missed dinner and now it was 2:30am and then 3:00am. Sean got about an hour of sleep. I didn’t get any at all, because I was too worried about the plane ride home.
Wednesday, June 5th: We got up at 4am, ate a quick breakfast, and loaded our bags into the car. Then we brought the car back to the rental place, where the shuttle brought us to the airport. We waited in the check in line first. When we got to the front, the lady said there was an earlier flight that left at 6:40am and asked us if we wanted that instead, so we said yes. Then she said that our 4 bags that were going to be checked in needed to be searched. A man with a big cart took our bags to a big x-ray machine. Other people were waiting around for their bags to be searched as well. We waited for our bags to go through. And not surprisingly, they didn’t like them, maybe because of all the camping equipment that was metal or my rock hammer that defiantly looked like a weapon. So they searched all 4 of our bags right in front of everyone. It was sort of embarrassing as they held different items up and asked questions about it. The lady inspected the lantern and then the rock hammer, which I think s
e thought looked like a gun when she saw the handle sticking out! On the other side another guy was growing through another one our bags and asking Sean questions about it. I watched him take out the rest of our remaining food and all the dishes. Finally, our bags checked out okay, so we left the area and went to part 2, the security check in point. I went through the metal detector no problem at all, but then a lady said she had to pat me down just to make sure. “Hold your arms out and spread your legs.” She then asked me to take off my shoes. As I was taking of my shoes, the guy next to me was doing the same thing. He and I exchanged glances. Both of us knew how crazy this was, but I guess it was okay to be safe. Then he said, “We should just run through naked. Then we could go through a lot quicker.” He was right, we could. Suddenly, this huge alarm goes off a few lanes down. Somebody must have brought a scissors in their carry on bag. Tsk, tsk, tsk. The back of my leg and my foot kept going
off when she waved the wand over me for some reason. I don’t have any metal plates in me. It must have been some interference. Then she made me lift my shirt up part way so she could make sure I didn’t have a bomb strapped to my waist. I felt very violated, but still, I knew things needed to be done this way to be safe. After both Sean and I got through, we thought the checking was over. Wrong! When we got to our gate number and gave the lady our tickets to board the plane, she told us our carry-on bags and our bodies needed to be searched again. Is it just me or are we being picked on today? We waited in line for our turn. We were the very last ones to get checked. Two security personal looked through our bags, while the other ones patted us down and made us strip off our shoes again. We were the last ones on the plane. As we walked through the terminal, they shut the door and the minute we were seated, the plane took off. We thought we were on the right side to see the rest of the Cascade Ran
e, but we weren’t, so we had to switch sides to the other side of the plane to see the Cascades. We took some shots of the Southern Cascades in Oregon and Northern California. Later we passed over the Sierras and then the San Andreas Fault. Once we landed in John Wayne Airport, I felt very depressed to be back in southern California again. Suddenly I heard an announcement. The plane that we just got off of was now flying to Portland! If there weren’t so much security, I could easily slip on! I muttered some rude comments about how much I hated southern California, as Sean and I walked to the baggage claim area. Sean and I decided on our trip that we will try to come back again next year in August. But next time, we will try to stay a whole month so we can have time to see the entire Cascade Range and plenty of time to climb Mt. St. Helens, the South Sister, Mt. Shasta, Mt. Adams, and maybe a few other of the Cascade Volcanoes. Until next time, I guess I will be hiking and climbing them in my dreams
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 131 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Thu, Jun 6, 2002 (21:08) * 2 lines
So I bet you all want to know what of my trip do I have video footage of, huh? Well, I'm sure you have figured out now that the natural disaster I got on tape was of an avalanche. I hope none of you thought it was an eruption. I wish it had been! I got both the ice cave and Ape Cave, many waterfalls, all the Cascade Volcanoes in Washington, a few and Oregon and all in California. the San Andreas Fault, the Sierras, all kinds of wildlife. Fortunatly, I didn't get a shot of the porcupine being run over but I did take a shot of something dead. You will have to see for yourselves. I narrated the whole video, messing up only on a few times. You will notice the camera scanning things a little too quickly in some parts and shaking in some parts, but hey, this is my first time making a video! There is also pictures of the moss and fern forests and many other things that I can't even remember. Sean is in some parts, and yes, I am in alot of parts. Sean wanted to shoot me doing some of the stupid things I
do as insurance and to show Mom and Dad so they can lay in to me. *laughs* Thats okay, wait till Mom and Dad hear about the side street in Tacoma that Sean took us to sleep for the night. And I was the one who told him we should leave! *laughs evily* I will be sending my tape to Marcia in a few weeks, so please be patient.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 132 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Jun 7, 2002 (01:24) * 1 lines
Before I call Rob Splain of Orting, I want to know if anyone has any questions you want me to ask him about Orting, their evacuation plans, the geologic history of Orting, Mt. Rainer in general, anything, please let me know in the next week or so because I will be giving him a call by the end of next week. Rob, I bet you have some questions.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 133 of 376: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Fri, Jun 7, 2002 (03:20) * 1 lines
That's great Julie, thanks for sharing your journal. I don't have time to read it this morning, but plan on printing it out to read over breakfast or lunch later today.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 134 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Jun 7, 2002 (11:50) * 1 lines
I can't believe this, but I think I have a volcanic rock stuck in my hand! The day we climbed Mt. St. Helens, I remember stopping in the snow because my hand was hurting. Sean looked at it and said something was in there, but it definatly wasn't a splinter and I do remember falling quite a few times before then on the rocks. Sean said we would take care of it after the climb, but I guess we forgot and it stopped hurting anyway. Well, now its starting to hurt again and it all red around the wound so I think I have an infection. Now I have to go to the doctor's and get it removed. OUCH! I hope it is a volcanic rock though, then I can add one more thing to all my souviners!
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 135 of 376: S B Robinson (SBRobinson) * Fri, Jun 7, 2002 (13:53) * 5 lines
*laughing*
Julie, i hope for your sake it REALLY is a volcanic rock... are you going to frame it??? ;-)
*kiss* (to make it better) :-)
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 136 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Jun 8, 2002 (01:37) * 3 lines
Julie! Fantastic! Tomorrow WE are going to Shasta. I think our visit will be less traumatic than yours but hardly as memorable. I will print out the epic of Sean and Julie and read it to David and Iris on the way!
Please... you are scaring me. I worry about your safety. Btw, you are the only one with whom I managed to have a conversation via IM yesterday. Today it is not working right and I am left with only email and Geo to contact people. How frustrating!
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 137 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Sun, Jun 9, 2002 (14:06) * 3 lines
I learned a little bit about one of the lesser known Cascade Volcanoes on my trip, Glacier Peak. I bet you had no idea that Glacier Peak is the most explosive volcano in Washington. I don't know why its not considered one of the "major" Cascade Volcanoes, but if it were to erupt again, the ash would circulate around the globe causing temperatures to drop as much as 5. F. Let me give you a little background information on Glacier Peak. Glacier Peak is not one of your most stunning volcanoes to look at, nor is it the tallest. It rises above some of the neighbooring peaks and trees at only 10,451 feet tell. In fact, Sean and I had a hard time finding it because there aren't even any roads that go close enough to it. Glacier Peak has erupted about 6 times in the past 15,000 years. Its eruptions have been enormous and one of them, about 12,000 years ago has deposited the largest layer of ash in all of the Pacific Northwest! Glacier Peak seems to erupt massive quantities of pumice. Glacier Peak and Mt.
t. Helens are the only volcanoes in Washington to produce large, explosive, and violent eruptions. About 13,100 years ago Glacier Peak erupted tephra 9 times. The largest ejected was more than 5x as much ejected from the May 18th, 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens. The eruption was also the largest in the Cascade Range since the last ice age. Lava domes have also formed in the summit during many of these eruptive cycles. These domes would collapse and cause pyroclastic flows. Disappointment Peak is the reminant of one of these lava domes. Glacier Peak has also produced some very large lahars that have severely effected river valleys, including the two that I was near, the White Chuck River and the North Fork Stillaguamish River. I saw huge walls of lahar deposits. Glacier Peak is very much eroded now and I think the possibility of an eruption is probably very slim, but we should still keep an eye on this one because you never know. And just because it is 70 miles northeast of Seattle and in a desolit
and remote location doesn't mean that it won't effect us. The deposit layer is huge! If you thought Crater Lake erupted alot, you should look at the layer of Glacier Peak's eruption nearly 12,000 years ago. The layer for Crater Lake is about 6x smaller!
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 138 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jun 10, 2002 (21:30) * 1 lines
I'll download my pictures and post them here. Thye Cascades were glorious to day and the weather in Weed was perfect. I thought of you, Julie!!!
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 139 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Tue, Jun 11, 2002 (22:49) * 1 lines
*stomps her foot angrily* NOT FAIR!! Just less than 2 weeks after I get back from the Cascades, Gifford Pinchot National Forest decided to open HWY 99 that leads up to Windy Ridge near MSH'S! UGH!! I'm packing my bags and leaving tomorrow! I wish! ARGH! I miss MSH's, Mt. Hood, Mt. Rainer, Mt. Adams, Mt. Baker, and Glacier Peak. I actually waved goodbye to them as we took off in the plane! *Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa* Take me back, take me back!!!
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 140 of 376: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Wed, Jun 12, 2002 (05:03) * 1 lines
You're really leaving tomorrrow? Or were you just being metaphoric?
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 141 of 376: Rob Glennie (AotearoaKiwi) * Wed, Jun 12, 2002 (06:38) * 5 lines
Hi all
Methinks metaphoric. Though I know that if she had a realistic chance of going to Windy Ridge immediately, that girl would be gone from CA faster than lightning jumps between clouds, and that is pretty fast.
Rob
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 142 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Wed, Jun 12, 2002 (12:39) * 2 lines
No, I ain't really going (don't think I wasn't serious though), but....I was talking to Sean last night before I went to bed about next year. We are already planning the next trip. Both of us agree we didn't stay long enough this year, so next year we are definatly going for 3 to 4 weeks. We think that will be plenty of time to drive up there by car and start in northern California and work our way up to B.C. We will go in August so there is no worry about snow, avalanches, freezing weather, and roads and trails being closed up. Until then, I need to train like mad because obviously I wasn't ready for such a trecherous volcano climb to the top of MSH's (in the snow). So as soon as my ankle is all healed up, I'm going back on the track team and running probably the whole spring semester of next year. I also need to practice hiking with a 40lb pack on. Its not that easy hiking up the slopes on loose volcanic rocks and ash in 95. F weather with a heavy backpack on. I have hiked level ground with a 45lb
ack in 115.F heat in the Grand Canyon, but if I were going uphill doing that, I think I would have died.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 143 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Thu, Jun 13, 2002 (14:15) * 1 lines
WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!!! I am now an officialy licenced driver in the state of California! I passed my drivers test! WOOOOOOHOOOOO!! Do you know what this means? Now next year when Sean and I go back to the Cascades, I will be able to drive there and Sean will be seating in the passanger seat! And if Sean doesn't want to go back to MSH's again, well too bad, because I will be driving. Hehehehe!
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 144 of 376: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Thu, Jun 13, 2002 (18:46) * 1 lines
look out!!! mad woman on the loose!!!
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 145 of 376: Rob Glennie (AotearoaKiwi) * Fri, Jun 14, 2002 (03:46) * 5 lines
Hi all
Now you can take me to see the resurgent domes of Mammoth! WOOOOOHOOOOO!!!!!! Well done Julie. Considering your other news today was hardly flash, this is brilliant. Anyway I plan to get my learners this summer coming (New Zealand is in winter incase you have forgotten), and my full license the following summer. How does that sound? I figure I have at least another year to go at University so it is not too surprising that I am going to do it during the summer months.
Rob
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 146 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Jun 15, 2002 (12:07) * 3 lines
Oh Lordy, and my son is a risk now!!! Julie, seriously - congratulations and well done. You have over-achieved me already.
When we were at Lassen just about all trails were still closed and a whole lot of things were still buried under many feet of snow
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 147 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Thu, Jun 20, 2002 (15:47) * 2 lines
Hello everyone! Surprise, surprise! Hehe! Did you guys honestly think I could stay away from the computer for more than 3 days? I think not! I knew I would find a way, even if it was uncomforatable. Its quite interesting typing laying down, although I don't recomand you try it unless you have a lot of patience. The surgery went great. My anesthesiologist looked like Tom Hanks! He was hot! *laughs* The pain isn't so bad because I've been taking lots of pain pills. But the pain pills make me dizzy and make things look blury. Its only been 2 days since the surgery and I am so bored. I am so sick of watching t.v, videos, and listening to music. Thank god for my lap top! I just wish I could figure out another way to use it without laying down. But I have to keep my foot elevated until Saturday or Sunday. This is really annoying though. I am so used to doing things myself, but now I have to let Mom, Dad, and Sean do them for me. I feel like I am 3 years old. Oh well, as soon as I can get around better
I think things will be a little easier on everyone else as well.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 148 of 376: Cheryl (CherylB) * Thu, Jun 20, 2002 (18:08) * 1 lines
Hope that you're feeling better soon, Julie.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 149 of 376: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Thu, Jun 20, 2002 (18:51) * 1 lines
maybe you can prop your head up a bit? hope you got good drugs and not motrin!
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 150 of 376: S B Robinson (SBRobinson) * Thu, Jun 20, 2002 (19:01) * 2 lines
Glad your surgery is a thing of the past Julie! :-)
Feel better soon -we miss your cheerful post around here when your gone *hug*
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 151 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Thu, Jun 20, 2002 (19:47) * 1 lines
I've been missing you guys too! Marcia is right, Geo is very addicting, no matter what shape I am in. I have so many friends here and its just so much fun. *HUGS*
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 152 of 376: John Tsatsaragos (tsatsvol) * Fri, Jun 21, 2002 (01:40) * 12 lines
I understand you completely Julie. But your case is very simple I believe. I will tell you my fresh experience. See it as an example. Existing more bad cases...
I had my leg up for five months. Pain was very strong but I had my computer as pain alleviating medicine. Now I can walk but not absolutely free and without a little pain. I have 100% of my leg in the morning, 50% at noon and do not ask for later. I was using my computer with legs up for five months and for many hours per day. I was sitting in a big office chair having my legs on a writing desk on my computer's left side. I had the keyboard on my abdominal regions. Add also a live TV transmission from my laboratory a few days after the major surgery…
Have you seeing some dream in the operation theatre? I had a strange one. I want forget it but I can't. *Laughs* I must return in the operation theatre for the second half in a few months…
I suggest you patience. You can find an easy avocation and accommodate it to your case. Three days is not the eternity. My experience says that your leg will show you itself, when and how you can use it.
Feel better soon
John
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 153 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Jun 21, 2002 (02:54) * 1 lines
Wow, John you are very right. I am very sorry. My case is very simple compared to yours. Good luck with your operation. I hope everything goes well. I'm here for you if you need anything.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 154 of 376: John Tsatsaragos (tsatsvol) * Fri, Jun 21, 2002 (05:14) * 3 lines
It's OK Julie. Thank you. I was trying to give you some courage comparing my case with yours. I think that our pain exists also in our familial and chummy environment. A smile is the best gift for all. It is enough also for me. Unfortunately, none can go against to his destiny.
John
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 155 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Jun 22, 2002 (17:21) * 2 lines
Guess what guys? For several years now I have been entering stuff in the Orange County Fair. Well, this year, I entered quite a few things. Mom and Dad helped me this afternoon to take in two photos and a bunch of my volcano stuff. The two photos were of Terry at the beach during sunset and Lower Proxy Falls in the Cascades of Oregon. The volcano stuff I entered in the Collections catagory included a bunch of my volcano postcards, volcano pins, volcanic rocks, and of course volcanic ash. Both these things are going to be judged and then put on display during the fair. I don't care if I win, but I always think its so cool to have my stuff on display so everyone can see it. But if I do win, there is money prizes for the photos. I am also going to be working at the fair too. Crutches and all, lol. The club I belong to, Santa Ana Rock and Mineral Club, puts on a display every year to teach kids about rocks, minerals, and geology. Should be fun, even if I can't walk around the fair like I usually do. The
Orange County Fair is from July 12th to July 28th.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 156 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Jun 24, 2002 (15:34) * 7 lines
GOOD LUCK JULIE!!!
Kisses on all the places that hurt, Julie. Ouch! Jus my luck that everything possible that can go wrong with my computer DID go wrong. I cannot put Yahoo on my host's computer so I will make do until mine gets back to me. Or for certain I will buy a B\NEW one. I have never felt so frustrated in my life, and now I have let Julie down. I feel terrible. Just wne you needed me the most.
I can vouch for John's tale and the impossibility of being unable to do anything for a long time. I did my best to entertain him. Geo is addictive, but only because the people here are what makes it this way. *HUGS*
A hui hou
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 157 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Mon, Jun 24, 2002 (22:41) * 1 lines
Marcia, you have not let me down at all. How can you possibly think that? I may be having a difficult time right now, but I am trying to manage. I understand totally about all your computer problems. Stuff like that happens. Really, its okay. I hope everything works out for you. Hope to hear from you soon. *HUGS*
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 158 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jun 25, 2002 (12:03) * 5 lines
Ackkkkk!!! Just when I think all is well with that laptop, I find another email from David in my inbox telling me what else is wrong with it. Now that the new hard drive is installed the CD ROM player will not work so I must have that fixed then perhaps it might be shipped to me. Thanks to all of you for hanging in there - and hugs to those of you who are ailing.
Special hugs and thanks to John for sharing his chair in the summer house with me and ekeeping Geo interesting. This really IS a nice place to come when you are far from home. I never saw it from this angle before!
Big sister Hugs to you, Julie. I have a whole new flashcard full of digital images to share but NO volcanoes in this part of the world in the last billion or so years. Coal, though! More on the Appalachian chain soon!
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 159 of 376: John Tsatsaragos (tsatsvol) * Wed, Jun 26, 2002 (07:27) * 6 lines
Geo was excellent pain alleviating medicine in my case. It was also equilibrating the constrictions of life inside the house for long time. I must thanks Marcia and Geo for that.
I feel comfortable in Geo as on my chair in the summerhouse. I hear also soft music there during the hot summer nights. It is the other face of life. Hebetic enthusiasm is decreasing by the time and gives more space to perfectionism. It is an excellent place for philosophical thoughts.
John
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 160 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jun 26, 2002 (14:23) * 5 lines
My delight is knowing you have such a refuge from the stresses of life and you can contemplate in serene beauty in your summer house. Think of me occasionally as I do of you. You have enriched my life and Geo immeasurably. In fact, I think my host is tiring of hearing your virtues extolled.
As I said beforer, Yahoo will be my first installed program on my new computer so I can talk to you and to those who wish there. Julie, that means you, too. I miss our discussions of those things "closest to our hearts"... YOu know who they are!
HUGS!! John and Julie. My heart is with you even if my body is far from where it usually is!
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 161 of 376: Julie (cascadeclimber) * Wed, Jun 26, 2002 (20:44) * 2 lines
HUGS!! Marcia, where ever you are right now. You are right about Geo being excellent pain alleviating medicine, John. And its a good thing too because the pain pills are not working for me anymore. In fact they are making me very sick. Maybe thats because I have taken 30 of them in just one week! I decided I would rather stand the pain in my ankle than be so sick in the morning that I can't even get out of my bed. Nothing is worse than having your head stuck over a toliet bowl for hours at a time disposing your stomach contents while your head is spliting in two. So no more of those pain pills for me. I will just grit my teeth for the next few weeks or months. 4th of July is just a week away. This has always been my favortie holiday, but this year without Terry and not being able to walk, it isn't going to be the best. But I will tough it out. We will still go on our usual picnic at Irvine Park, but I don't think I will be hiking or climbing this year for obvious reasons. As for celebrations at nig
t, we usually have our own. There is only 3 cities in Orange County that allow fireworks and Santa Ana and Costa Mesa are two of them. But this year, we will be going to a firework display probably on the beach and maybe lighting some sparkelers or fountains later. And some ground bloomers. I love those things! Hehe. Usually I am the lucky one that gets to water the roof every year, but this year I guess Sean will do it. Everyone in our neighborhood has to water their roofs becuase of the problems with illegal fireworks (most of which are rockets that shot up 100's of feet into the sky). People buy them in Mexico and take them back across the border. They are very very dangerous. 2 years ago we saw one shot up and land in the house in back of ours and we watched in horror as it caught fire. Luckily, no one was in the house at that time. So please, all of you that decide to set off a few...be careful.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 162 of 376: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jun 27, 2002 (13:47) * 3 lines
Julie, I will be spending the 4th in kentucky or somewhere near it. Down here they do such things as "shooting the anvil" - you take two anvils - like blacksmiths use. Place a charge of powder in one and set the other on top of the other anvil but upside down. Light the powder and see how far it tosses the top anvil. Yikes!!! It has been ages since I celebrated the 4th in anywhere but Hawaii. There it is not hardly celebrated at all. It will be fun I think. I have already heard a lot of illegal fireworks going off - just like Hilo! My son is planning a weird celebration. They are getting a new little kitten for Critter to play with. Critter is a regal and older cat of very sober mein. He will NOT be amused. Poor Critter!!!
Julie, I'm with you on those pain pills. They make me very sick so I "bite bullets" or do what is necessary to ride it out. HUGS!!! I miss talkling wityho you but this coming week should determine what laptop I use - a whole new one or the rebuilt Toshiba now in California.
Topic 70 of 99 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
Response 163 of 376: John Tsatsaragos (tsatsvol) * Thu, Jun 27, 2002 (23:02) * 20 lines