Mastodawn

Stuart Celarier May 18

OTD 45 years ago, at 8:32 AM, Mt. St. Helens erupted, displacing a cubic mile of debris, killing 57 people, darkening skies, and raining ash on 11 states.

I was camping with my girlfriend about 150 miles away in the Three Sisters Wilderness and we heard the blast. We heard a second big boom as it echoed off Mt. Jefferson or Mt. Washington. We got back to Portland in the mid afternoon in time to see the huge plume of ash trailing off as far as the eye could see.

Where were you?

Greg Johnston May 18

@VisualStuart Was sitting in my living room watching TV, at the time lived in Montesano WA, maybe 60-70 miles away. Heard the boom, news came on that it had erupted, looked out the window and could see the giant plume. Couple weeks later, on June 1, we got ash fall from a secondary eruption, really fine-grained stuff I used for a couple years to clean my hands after working on my truck and boat. Have climbed the mountain three times since.

@GPJohnston @VisualStuart we visited Mt St Helens a couple of times in the last 15 years. It’s quite spectacular to see.

Greg Johnston May 18

@annecavicchi @VisualStuart It sure is. I just posted a photo taken during one of my climbs.

Bob Tregilus May 18

@GPJohnston Impressive photo! Looks like it may be from those two skiers who were on a nearby peak? Cool that you heard it! There were almost 58 people killed. I had seriously planned a trip to St. Helens that week and had figured I could sneek into Spirit Lake to see what was going on. I was studying geology in NorCal at the time. But my boss needed me at work and wouldn't give me the time off. That was lucky!

@annecavicchi @VisualStuart

@elaterite @GPJohnston @annecavicchi @VisualStuart
My dad went to look at it a couple days before. Luckily.

Bob Tregilus May 19

@sollat Wow, and then he left before the eruption? @GPJohnston @annecavicchi @VisualStuart

@elaterite @GPJohnston @annecavicchi @VisualStuart
Yeah, I don’t know exactly where he went to “look at it” but I know it didn’t look like anything to him. It was on TV in Seattle for a long time before it blew.

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Stuart Celarier May 18

OTD 45 years ago, at 8:32 AM, Mt. St. Helens erupted, displacing a cubic mile of debris, killing 57 people, darkening skies, and raining ash on 11 states.

I was camping with my girlfriend about 150 miles away in the Three Sisters Wilderness and we heard the blast. We heard a second big boom as it echoed off Mt. Jefferson or Mt. Washington. We got back to Portland in the mid afternoon in time to see the huge plume of ash trailing off as far as the eye could see.

Where were you?

Greg Johnston May 18

@VisualStuart Was sitting in my living room watching TV, at the time lived in Montesano WA, maybe 60-70 miles away. Heard the boom, news came on that it had erupted, looked out the window and could see the giant plume. Couple weeks later, on June 1, we got ash fall from a secondary eruption, really fine-grained stuff I used for a couple years to clean my hands after working on my truck and boat. Have climbed the mountain three times since.

@GPJohnston @VisualStuart we visited Mt St Helens a couple of times in the last 15 years. It’s quite spectacular to see.

Greg Johnston May 18

@annecavicchi @VisualStuart It sure is. I just posted a photo taken during one of my climbs.

Bob Tregilus May 18

@GPJohnston Impressive photo! Looks like it may be from those two skiers who were on a nearby peak? Cool that you heard it! There were almost 58 people killed. I had seriously planned a trip to St. Helens that week and had figured I could sneek into Spirit Lake to see what was going on. I was studying geology in NorCal at the time. But my boss needed me at work and wouldn't give me the time off. That was lucky!

@annecavicchi @VisualStuart

Stuart Celarier May 18

@elaterite @GPJohnston @annecavicchi No kidding, lucky as all get out!

@elaterite @GPJohnston @annecavicchi @VisualStuart
My dad went to look at it a couple days before. Luckily.

Bob Tregilus May 19

@sollat Wow, and then he left before the eruption? @GPJohnston @annecavicchi @VisualStuart

@elaterite @GPJohnston @annecavicchi @VisualStuart
Yeah, I don’t know exactly where he went to “look at it” but I know it didn’t look like anything to him. It was on TV in Seattle for a long time before it blew.

T. J. Bombadil May 18

@VisualStuart I was in elementary school in New Hampshire 3000 miles away. A few days after that, my father pointed out the fine layer of dust on the car windshield. That made a big impression on young me.

carstenraddatz May 18

@VisualStuart On another continent and very young (pre schooler). The news on TV and even more the following coverage in printed media made a big impression on me as soon as I understood it was the same topic.

@VisualStuart I am as a kid with my mom driving south from Calgary AB on our way home to BC. The further we went, the darker it got as a wall of ash loomed before us. At the time, we were surprised that the ash was so far reaching.
In the coming days, we would find a layer of ash on everything at home. I don’t remember how long that lasted though.

Steve Felten May 18

@VisualStuart We were in Marysville, WA and felt the house jolt. I remember the hucksters selling little vials of ash everywhere. One time I had to swerve onto the shoulder when some assbite stopped dead in the middle of Hwy 5 to take pictures.

Lou_Suth May 18

@VisualStuart I was studying physical geography at the University of Edinburgh, and I swear every essay that year on plate tectonics was about Mount St Helens!

Diana Larsen May 18

@VisualStuart In Coos Bay, getting my kids ready for school in our just-moved-in, new house. Later in the day the ashfall found our street. It’s a straight line distance SSW~180 miles away from the mountain to our former home.

🍓𝔹𝕖𝕣𝕣𝕪𝕊𝕦𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕣🫐May 18

@DianaOfPortland @VisualStuart had no idea the ash made it to the south coast. til thx

The Mïghty Kräcken May 18

@DianaOfPortland @VisualStuart I was just south of Pacific City and also saw the ash fall. My mother was worried that the ash still in the air would trash our engine.

Lot⁴⁹ May 18

@VisualStuart Living in Denver. A few days after the eruption, a light layer volcanic ash covered everything outdoors.

Servelan May 18

@12thRITS @VisualStuart Driving north on I5, heard the boom in south Seattle.

MCDuncanLab May 18

Fishing with my dad and brother and some of my dad’s colleagues in western Idaho. Saw a weird black cloud coming from the west. One of my dad’s colleagues panicked thinking it was a volcano plume from Helen’s 100’s of miles away. He packed up and left, being mocked by my dad et al.

Some time later dunno how long, Dad et al realized it probably was a volcano plume and we left.

By the time the ash hit, we were still 15 miles from home.

MCDuncanLab May 18

We could barely see a few yards in front of the car, Dad had us pull our tee shirts over our noses and told us to breath through our nose and not our mouth. We asked if we were going to die, he said no but didn’t believe it.

Got home, Dad dropped us off and still had to drive to get my sister who had been at Girl Scouts preparing for her first camping trip with her troup.

The next morning there were inches of ash everywhere.

Stuart Celarier May 18

@MCDuncanLab Holy moly! What a story!

MCDuncanLab May 18

Yeah in middle and high school many many essays were where I was when Mount St. Helens blew. Teachers must have been so sick of reading those essays. Like what was it 12 years of St Hellen’s essays each from people who were progressively younger when it happened.

Come to think of it that would have been a really cool perspective.

Chris Deluca May 18

@VisualStuart @wendinoakland This photo was taken by my friends dad that same day.

Callalily May 18

@chris @VisualStuart @wendinoakland
Wow! What a shot!

Jennifer May 18

@Callalily @chris @VisualStuart @wendinoakland yes wow!!

Superb shot.

@VisualStuart @wendinoakland

@chris That is absolutely iconic. @VisualStuart @wendinoakland

GinevraCat May 18

@chris @VisualStuart @wendinoakland Wow!!!

Dave Volek May 18

@chris @VisualStuart @wendinoakland

I was living in Edmonton. I don't recall any physical changes. My parents were in southern Alberta and reported extra dust and slightly darker skies.

wendivibe May 18

@davevolek @chris @VisualStuart I was way far away, lower 48, east coast.

Katzedecimal May 18

@davevolek
In Calgary there was a grey stream of ash, high up, like a mare's-tail cloud, stretching across the sky
@chris @VisualStuart @wendinoakland

Stuart Celarier May 19

@Katzedecimal @davevolek @chris @wendinoakland Whoa, I didn't know that!

➴➴➴Æ🜔Ɲ.Ƈꭚ⍴𝔥єɼ👩🏻‍💻May 18

@chris This was his last photo ever?

Chris Deluca May 18

@AeonCypher lol. No, he’s still alive and kicking!

Chris Deluca May 18

@AeonCypher For more of the story behind the photo, there are many websites that have it. Some of the details aren’t 100% right on, but they are close.

https://www.hemmings.com/stories/mt-st-helens-pinto-photo/

Flaming Cheeto May 18

@chris @VisualStuart @wendinoakland

"When it's the end of the world: Ford Pinto (dirt bike sold separately)"

smellsofbikes May 18

@chris @VisualStuart @wendinoakland That's a pretty famous pic!

Bob Tregilus May 18

@chris Kind of a double wow, the way they are towing that bike with that Ford Pinto, lol!

@VisualStuart @wendinoakland

@elaterite @chris @VisualStuart @wendinoakland my thoughts exactly! What an amazing photo

@chris What a terrifying, beautiful capture. Wow.

Stephen Foskett May 19

@chris @VisualStuart @wendinoakland Great story about that photo: https://www.hemmings.com/stories/mt-st-helens-pinto-photo/

Stuart Celarier May 19

@sfoskett @chris @wendinoakland That was an excellent article, so many thanks for posting it. What a wild ride, eh?

Chris Deluca May 19

@VisualStuart @sfoskett @wendinoakland Thank you for kicking this off with a great memory from when I was like 14. Some great memories in that Pinto and riding that dirt bike.

Weird Socks May 19

@chris @VisualStuart @wendinoakland
That's not a family photo.
That's an action movie poster.
"The Pinto and the Volcano"
"The only question was which would get them first."

Rated PG for adult language

Chris Deluca May 19

@ohmu @VisualStuart @wendinoakland I had my money on the Pinto…

Weird Socks May 19

@chris @VisualStuart @wendinoakland
Well yeah. Obviously.

Weird Socks May 19

@chris @VisualStuart @wendinoakland

Chris Deluca May 19

@ohmu @VisualStuart @wendinoakland 🤣🤣

Chris Heilmann May 19

@chris @VisualStuart @wendinoakland nerves of steel allowing anything on the back of a pinto.

Samuel Smith ✅May 18

@VisualStuart I was probably in a crib, playing with toys.

A few years after, we moved to Washington. In 5th grade, I got topological maps of the before and after, carefully traced and cut each elevation line into cardboard making a model of Mt. St. Helens with a removable top.

FeloniousPunk May 18

@VisualStuart @Lazarou I was a kid in West Virginia, 2,644 miles away. While we certainly did not hear it, we received a light dusting of ash a few days later.

VA7XF CN89 May 18

I soiled myself that day. Not because of the volcano erupting, but because I was only 2 months old. 😁

My grandfather saved a film canister full of ash he collected off his car here in Vancouver, BC.

@VisualStuart I was in Victoria, BC: I felt the earth move… for the next week or more every morning we had a fine layer of ash covering everything.

Jennifer May 18

@VisualStuart I was too far away to know about it. My husband was backpacking in Montana. He said they saw a weird cloud moving towards them and the next day everything was covered in light ash.

@VisualStuart I was in Utah, but I had a road trip planned with a friend through Washington and Oregon, there was ash out at Cascade Head, our friend in Tolovana Park on the coast had heard it. Then after we went around the Olympics, we drove back through and saw the Toutle River flooding debris. We broke down in Portland and killed the time overnight scooping up ash from the gutter as souvenirs.

Lockpick Extreme May 18

@VisualStuart I was in southeast Wyoming. We were lucky enough to only get a little ash a few days later. About as much as heavy pollen in Atlanta might dump on your car

@VisualStuart i remembered nothing as a callow

Pottery by Osa May 18

@VisualStuart I was a one year old living in Virginia. 20 years later, I would move to Portland, Oregon and learn about this catastrophic event. Amazing photos!