An Artifact On Mt. St. Helens

This last weekend I took a trip to Mt. St. Helens for the 3rd time in my life. Mt. St. Helens is the mountain in southern Washington that errupted in 1980, turning rich forests into lifeless deserts within one day's time. Some of the molten ash traveled all around the world.

The first two times I attempted to climb to the summit all by myself. This year I was unable to attain a permit, so I hiked a trail in the blast zone on the northern side. Much of the trees that fell over from the shockwave of the blast are still there. Many artifacts from the blast are viewed at the numerous visitor centers in the national monument. Cars that were crushed and destroyed from the explosion are displayed at each of the visitor centers. Scientific radio equipment that was recovered after being damaged from the eruption can be seen as well. Houses that are buried up to the 2nd story can be seen as roadside attractions. Each of these artifacts tells a story of a person's remarkable and terrifying experiences. Some did not make it out alive.

One notable person who perished in the eruption was Mt. St. Helen's old man of the mountain named Harry R. Truman. Mr. Truman aged 84 at the time of the eruption, owned and operated a lodge on Spirit Lake on the north east side of the mountain. The authorities advised him to evacuate the area. But he declined, saying he lived his whole life there and if the mountain goes, than so will he. His lodge was blown to smithereens from the blast and covered under several feet of ash. Spirit lake filled with volcanic sediment and fallen trees. Truman was never to be seen or heard from again.

I took a walk off the designated trail to head to the shores of Spirit Lake. It was not an easy walk now that much of the plant life has returned to the area after 36 years, and there was no real trail that led there. Spirit lake still looks like a logging pond since many of the trees that fell in the explosion still float in the lake. There are no longer any roads that lead to Spirit Lake, not since the eruption. Therefore any large manmade object would be very difficult to transport down there after the eruption. It was on the shoreline of Spirit Lake that I discovered a large propane tank that appeared to have been rusting there for decades. Could this have once belonged to Harry Truman? I think it's a remarkable find considering how famous he made himself to be. I do not believe many other people owned property on the side of the lake aside from him. I don't believe anyone else knows this propane tank is there. If it were, I'm sure the authorities and park officials would relocate it to one of the visitor centers.

 

I'm surprise to hear the trees have been in the lake for 36 years. Wouldn't they have rotted away by now?

 

Notice how all the downed trees have fallen in the same direction. This is from the blast. Spirit lake is filled with these trees as they've washed down the mountain.
Spirit Lake is filled with trees like this. So to find a propane tank inside of all that mess is definitely a pre-eruption artifact.

This is the remains of a car belonging to a family that didn't make it out in time.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgRnVhbfIKQ

 

the eruption is one of my earliest tv memories seeing it on the news

i also remember that Truman was played by Art Carney in the film...(the cool neighbour from the honeymooners)


trees in lakes are preserved ...they dont rot much...just ask anyone who lives near a place that has been flooded for dams....everything above water rots away quick but the deadheads last hundreds of years

 

to me, i don't find anything unusual about any of this. i'm not so sure about other people not having property there. at any rate it could have been his, or not. its kind of cool. i don't think cool things have to be a big deal to be cool things. i'm sure the reason the park service or whoever didn't want people wandering off the trail there, was precisely to allow the environment to recover. that and not being able to quickly rescue them if they should get hurt. now that it seems to be doing so, letting a few people wander around, as long as it isn't a thundering hurd, seems like it would be harmless enough. i'm guessing that's why they have a permit process and only issuing a limited number of them.

i was living in eugene oregon the year of the eruption (81, the same year ragun took office, you want to talk about signs and wonders, i'll connect those two, if you want to think gods or a god had something to do with, i don't believe it/they found ragun terribly amusing). we got some of the dust, and everyone wore dust masks for a couple of days. portland appearantly had to shovel the stuff (grey volcanic ash dust), if what i saw on tv at the time was any indication.

 

I guess you are lucky that propane tank was so large... Other wise it would be in your livingroom.

 

Somehow I don't think molten lava was following the election.

 

for those who are into such things, one is as much as another.

 

I agree with you that it doesn't have to be Truman's tank in order to be a cool find. I like to think that it WAS his though. The fact that it was something manmade that was there before, during, and after the eruption makes it a marvel. I didn't tell anybody about this find outside a few family members and posting this here on HF. I know exactly where to find it again if I were to go back.

I'll say regarding the environment recovering, it's been quite amazing how much it's recovered. The young trees are now tall enough to provide antiquate shade inside the blast zone. Wildflowers and bryophytes are flourishing like crazy. Even though it is not recommended to get off the trail, some interesting things can be found. I know the stewardship of treading lightly when moving off the trail.

 

Heh, yeah I would've taken it home if it would'a fit in my backpack. I haven't told anybody about it, but I bet there's a certain someone who'd be interested in recovering any bits and pieces of memorabilia that went through the erruption.

 

Actually dead trees submerged in water decay much slower than those exposed to wet then dry conditions over and over again. Have you never watched " swamp loggers " on tv?