Essex J. PorterKonto zweryfikowane

I can't believe it was 40 years ago...

I was camping with my family NE of the mountain, in the direct path of the blast but far enough away to survive it. I was nine, and I learned a lot very fast that day.

I had originally had a flight for this day to come out from midwest to buy my house. Cancelled the flight, of course and booked it 1 week later (thinking naww not again on the same day). Well, yeah a week later on the same day! Couldn't get to Oregon by air, so took the last

Last Amtrak about 10 of us, to Portland which was our connection. The sky in Longview/Kelso was black as night. The Tutle River so swollen it was leaning over as the train rode over it and we all moved to the other side hoping we wouldn't fall in. The smoke and ash looked like

the mist you would see in those old black & white movies when Dracula would hide his travels. Of course the ash and the smoke, there was no color that night. In Portland, the same. Ash all over cars and roads, driving ruins your engine. Amazing I still wanted to move here and did

Flying back, the captain of the Delta Flight (then called NWAirlines, announced to the right of the plane Mt. St. Helens is visible for the first time from the air, take your photos and I sure did. Kodachrome slides. It was incredible. 3 years later before the mountain was

officially open...my younger more dare devil self and my similar dare devil friends went around behind the barricades and guards and hiked up the mountain. The ash was 3 inches deep on the side we were on. This was so spooky.