>> HELLO. I'M ALISON KARTEVOLD AND THAT IS MOUNT ST. HELENS. ON MAY 18th IN 1980, IT EXPLODED IN A VOLCANIC DISPLAY NEVER BEFORE WITNESSED IN MODERN TIMES. IN MERE MINUTES, THE ERUPTION REARRANGED THE MOUNTAIN AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. THE LANDSCAPE HERE HAS CONTINUED TO CHANGE ALMOST DAILY EVER SINCE, LEAVING VISITORS AND SCIENTISTS ALIKE WITH A FEELING OF AWE AS THEY WITNESS THE REBIRTH OF A MOUNTAIN AND THE RESILIENCE OF BOTH NATURE AND MAN. JOIN ME NOW AS WE LOOK BACK AT THAT 1980 ERUPTION WHEN MOUNT ST. HELENS TURNED DAY TO NIGHT AND CAST AN ASHY SHADOW AROUND THE GLOBE. >> Kartevold: FOR YEARS SHE SLUMBERED AFTER THE 1980 EXPLOSION, WHILE MILLIONS CAME TO MARVEL AT THE POWER AND DESTRUCTION UNLEASHED FROM HER GAPING MILE-WIDE CRATER. THEN AFTER 18 YEARS, MOUNT ST. HELENS UNCEREMONIOUSLY BEGAN HER MOST RECENT SERIES OF VOLCANIC ACTIVITY IN THE FALL OF 2004. IN THE DAYS AND MONTHS TO FOLLOW, ASH AND STEAM BILLOW SKYWARD AS IF TO WARN THOSE WITH SHORT MEMORIES THAT THIS IS STILL THE MOST ACTIVE VOLCANO IN THE CASCADE RANGE, AND AS A NEW LAVA DOME BEGINS TO FORM AT THE BACK OF THE CRATER, LIKE A WHALE'S HUMP BREACHING THE SURFACE, IT SERVES TO REMIND US THAT THERE IS A MUCH LARGER DANGER THAT LOOMS JUST BENEATH THE SURFACE. I FIRST CAME TO MOUNT ST. HELENS BACK IN 1994. I CAME TO SEE WHAT WAS HAPPENING AT THE NATION'S THEN NEWEST NATIONAL MONUMENT, AND I ALSO CAME TO LEARN ABOUT THE 1980 ERUPTION FROM THE PEOPLE WHO HAD LIVED THROUGH ITS FURY FIRSTHAND. LIKE EVERYONE WHO WAS IN THE INLAND NORTHWEST THAT MAY, I LIVED THROUGH THE DAY THAT TURNED TO NIGHT WHEN ASH FROM MOUNT ST. HELENS SHROUDED THE REGION IN DARKNESS AND FEAR, BUT AS THE DECADES PASS, TIME HAS A WAY OF ROMANTICIZING SUCH EVENTS, AND THAT'S WHY IT'S MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER THAT WE REVISIT WHAT PEOPLE RECALLED ABOUT THE 1980 ERUPTION BEFORE TIME HAD A CHANCE TO CHANGE THE PERCEPTIONS. THESE ARE THEIR STORIES AS THEY TOLD ME THEN. BEFORE THE SPRING OF 1980, MOUNT ST. HELENS WAS PICTURE-PERFECT. HER GRACEFUL GLACIER-CAPPED PEAK GAVE WAY TO A LUSH GREEN SKIRT OF OLD-GROWTH FORESTS. AS HER YOUTHFUL IMAGE REFLECTED IN THE MIRRORED WATERS OF SPIRIT LAKE, SHE WAS THE BEAUTY OF THE CASCADES AND HER DOMAIN WAS A NATURAL PLAYGROUND. IN SPITE OF HER PRISTINE APPEARANCE, MOUNT ST. HELENS WAS KNOWN TO BE A LADY WITH A TURBULENT PAST. ANCIENT TRIBAL LORE OF BOTH THE KLICKITATS AND COWLITZ REFERRED TO IT WITH REVERENCE AS THE "MOUNTAIN OF FIRE." THE FIRST WRITTEN EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT OF AN ERUPTION OCCURRED IN 1836. NUMEROUS OTHERS WERE LATER WITNESSED THROUGHOUT THE 1840s WITH ACTIVITY CONTINUING CLEAR UP TO 1857. BEGINNING IN THE 1800s, A CONTINUOUS FLOW OF PIONEERS CAME TO SETTLE THE AREA NOW KNOWN AS SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON. THEN AS NOW, LUMBER WAS THE PRIME RESOURCE. IN 1980, HELICOPTER PILOT JESS HAGERMAN WORKED FOR THE WEYERHAEUSER CORPORATION AT ITS ST. HELENS TREE FARM. >> THE ST. HELENS TREE FARM WAS PROBABLY ONE OF THE PRETTIEST PLACES IN THE WHOLE WORLD. SPIRIT LAKE, HARRY TRUMAN'S LODGE, SOME OF THOSE THINGS THAT WE'VE ALL READ ABOUT, IT WAS ABSOLUTELY AN INCREDIBLE AREA. A LOT OF IT WAS STILL OLD-GROWTH TIMBER, BIG SIX, SEVEN-FOOT DIAMETER TREES. IT WAS ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL. >> Kartevold: ON MARCH 27th IN 1980, HAGERMAN HAPPENED TO BE FLYING WHEN NEWS CAME THAT THE MOUNTAIN HAD AWOKE FROM ITS 123-YEAR SLUMBER. >> IT WAS AWESOME TO SEE THAT. HERE THERE WAS A LITTLE TINY CRATER RIGHT ON THE VERY TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN, AND PROBABLY MORE IMPRESSIVE THAN THE LITTLE CRATER, ALTHOUGH THAT WAS IMPRESSIVE ENOUGH, WERE THESE BIG CRACKS THAT WENT AROUND THE MOUNTAIN FROM THE VERY TOP ONLY ON THE NORTH SIDE. IN THE NEXT MONTH AND A HALF BEFORE THE BIG ERUPTION WE WATCHED THE CRATER IN THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN GET LARGER AND LARGER. SOME DAYS YOU WOULD SEE SOME STEAM AND SMOKE COMING OUT OF THE TOP. WE WOULD HAVE SMALL ERUPTIONS AND THEN IT WOULD GO QUIET, AND DEEP DOWN YOU WERE SORT OF HOPING THAT SOMETHING WOULD HAPPEN. >> Kartevold: FROM THIS POINT ON, LIFE WITH ST. HELENS WOULD NEVER BE THE SAME. AS THE MOUNTAIN BECAME MORE ACTIVE, THE GOVERNMENT BEGAN LIMITING ACCESS WITHIN A 20-MILE RADIUS OF IT. THE AREA WAS CALLED THE "RED ZONE," AND PEOPLE LIVING WITHIN IT, IN SMALL COMMUNITIES LIKE COUGAR, HAD TO CHECK IN AT ROADBLOCKS JUST TO REACH THEIR HOMES. MANY WITH PROPERTY AT SPIRIT LAKE BECAME UPSET WHEN THEY COULD NOT GAIN ACCESS AT ALL. >> YOU KNOW, I MEAN, HOW WOULD YOU FEEL? WE'RE PAYING TAXES AND WE'D LIKE TO USE OUR PROPERTY. I'M NOT AFRAID! >> Kartevold: MOST PEOPLE WERE NOT AFRAID. IN FACT, WITH EACH ERUPTION, PEOPLE BECAME MORE AND MORE INTERESTED IN WHAT WAS HAPPENING AT THE MOUNTAIN. THEY COULDN'T RESIST COMING TO THE AREA IN HOPES OF SEEING SOME ACTION. IT DIDN'T TAKE LONG FOR ENTREPRENEURS TO CAPITALIZE ON THIS EITHER BY SETTING UP ROADSIDE SHOPS. THE GOVERNMENT TRIED TO KEEP PEOPLE AT A DISTANCE, BUT THERE WAS ONE MAN WHO REFUSED TO HEED ALL WARNINGS. HARRY TRUMAN AND HIS SPIRIT LAKE LODGE HAD BEEN PART OF THE AREA'S LANDSCAPE AND LORE FOR 50 YEARS, AND HE WASN'T ABOUT TO LEAVE NOW. >> NO, I'M NOT GOING TO LEAVE. DAMN RIGHT, I'M NOT GOING TO LEAVE. I'M GOING TO STAY HERE. IF I LEFT, IT WOULD KILL ME. IF I LEFT THIS PLACE AND LOST MY HOME I WOULD DIE IN A WEEK. I COULDN'T LIVE. I COULDN'T STAND IT. SO I'M LIKE THAT OLD CAPTAIN... BY GOD, I'M GOING DOWN WITH THE SHIP. IF THE DAMNED THING TAKES THIS MOUNTAIN, I'M GOING ALONG WITH IT. I'D RATHER BE DEAD THAN TO LIVE WITHOUT IT. >> Kartevold: HARRY DID NOT LEAVE. LIKE SO MANY OTHERS, HE FELT THERE WAS NOTHING TO FEAR. THROUGHOUT APRIL AND INTO MAY, THE MOUNTAIN CONTINUED TO PLEASE TOURISTS AND LULL RESIDENTS INTO A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY, PLAYFULLY BLOWING PERIODIC PLUMES OF ASH. HOWEVER, BENEATH THE SURFACE IT WAS PREPARING FOR SOMETHING MUCH BIGGER. SCIENTISTS MONITORED EARTHQUAKES WHICH SHOOK BENEATH THE MOUNTAIN DAILY, AND THE NORTH FACE OF ST. HELENS HAD BEGUN TO SWELL. THE FLANK WAS MOVING OUT LATERALLY BY AS MUCH AS FIVE FEET A DAY. FOR TWO MONTHS THE MOUNTAIN WAS LITERALLY BEING WEDGED APART. THE BULGE, AS IT WAS CALLED, VISIBLY DISFIGURED THE SYMMETRICAL CONE IN SPOTS RISING MORE THAN 450 FEET HIGHER THAN BEFORE. SCIENTISTS KNEW THIS WAS CREATING A HIGHLY UNSTABLE AND DANGEROUS SITUATION, BUT THEY HAD NO REAL IDEA WHAT TO EXPECT. >> WE DON'T KNOW IF WE'RE VERY CLOSE TO SLIDES AT THIS POINT OR WHETHER WE'RE NOT CLOSE, AND ANOTHER CRITICAL THING THAT WE DO NOT KNOW IS WHETHER OR NOT IT WOULD GO ALL IN ONE GRAND MOTION OR WHETHER IT WOULD GO IN MANY SMALL ROCK FALLS AND AVALANCHES. >> Kartevold: JOEL HARVEY TURNED 10 YEARS OLD ON MARCH 27th IN 1980, THE SAME DAY THE MOUNTAIN ERUPTED FOR THE FIRST TIME. TO CELEBRATE, HIS FATHER TOOK HIM TO SEE THE VOLCANO IN THEIR BACKYARD. THEY MADE THEIR FIRST TRIP MARCH 30th. >> THEN AS THE BULGE KEPT GETTING LARGER AND LARGER, AND THE SCIENTISTS SAID THERE WAS GOING TO BE A MAJOR ERUPTION, WE DECIDED TO GO UP THERE THE WEEKEND BEFORE IT WAS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN BIG TIME. >> Kartevold: DOROTHY STOFFEL AND HER HUSBAND HAD A SIMILAR IDEA. >> BOTH KEITH AND I ARE GEOLOGISTS, AND WE HAD LIVED OVER ON THE WEST SIDE AND USED TO CROSS-COUNTRY SKI AT MOUNT ST. HELENS. WHEN THE EARLY ERUPTIVE ACTIVITY BEGAN IN LATE MARCH OF 1980, WE BECAME VERY FASCINATED WITH WHAT WAS GOING ON. WE HAD RECENTLY MOVED TO SPOKANE AND FELT FRUSTRATED THAT WE WERE HERE AND EVERYTHING WAS HAPPENING OVER THERE. WE WERE IN YAKIMA WHILE HE WAS GIVING LECTURES ABOUT THE ERUPTIONS, AND HE SAID, "GO SEE IF WE CAN CHARTER A PLANE AND VISIT THE MOUNTAIN AND TAKE A LOOK FOR OURSELVES." >> Kartevold: ON SATURDAY MAY 17th, AFTER A RECENT LULL IN ACTIVITY, THE GOVERNMENT GAVE INTO DEMANDS OF SPIRIT LAKE HOMEOWNERS. >> GOVERNOR RAY'S POSITION ON THIS IS THAT SHE WANTS TO BE OF SOME ASSISTANCE TO THE PROPERTY OWNERS AND LET YOU GO IN, AT YOUR OWN RISK, AND TAKE CARE OF WHATEVER YOU HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF. >> Kartevold: PEOPLE WERE ALLOWED INTO THE SPIRIT LAKE AREA TO GATHER THEIR BELONGINGS, BUT THEY HAD TO BE OUT BY NIGHTFALL. ANOTHER EXCURSION WAS PLANNED FOR THE NEXT MORNING AT 10:00 A.M. ON THAT SAME DAY, THE HARVEY PARTY ALSO HEADED TO THE MOUNTAIN. JOEL JOINED HIS MOTHER, FATHER, UNCLE AND NEIGHBOR. >> OUR NEIGHBOR ACROSS THE STREET, WILLY, HAD THIS GREAT DREAM THE NIGHT BEFORE ABOUT IMPENDING DOOM. HE SAW THIS LARGE WAVE CHASING US, AND BEING 10 YEARS OLD, I WAS PROBABLY VERY SCARED ON THE WAY UP THERE, AND MY FATHER HAD TO REPRIMAND HIM FOR SCARING HIS SON ON THE WAY UP. >> Kartevold: THEY CAMPED AT BEAR MEADOWS. IT HAD A GREAT VIEW OF THE MOUNTAIN YET WAS STILL ABOUT TWO MILES OUTSIDE OF THE RED ZONE. THEN EARLY SUNDAY MORNING ON MAY 18th, JOEL'S UNCLE, GARY ROSENQUIST, CAPTURED WHAT TURNED OUT TO BE THE LAST SUNRISE TO TOUCH THIS MAJESTIC PEAK. >> WELL, HE TOOK HIS FIRST PICTURES AT 5:30 IN THE MORNING, AND HE BROKE HIS CAMERA DOWN PROBABLY ABOUT 7:00-ISH, THINKING THAT WE WERE GOING TO ACTUALLY HIKE DOWN INTO SPIRIT LAKE THAT DAY. SO WE WERE BASICALLY BREAKING UP CAMP, AND THEN ABOUT FIVE MINUTES BEFORE, WE JUST HEARD THESE ROCKS FALLING IN THE BACKGROUND. AND THEN I HAPPENED TO NOTICE THAT THERE WERE NO ANIMAL NOISES IN THE FOREST, AND THAT'S -- THAT REALLY PUT THE CHILL IN ME. SO MY FATHER SUGGESTED TO MY UNCLE AT THAT TIME TO SET HIS CAMERA BACK UP, MAYBE SOMETHING WILL HAPPEN. SO MY UNCLE SET IT BACK UP AND TOOK ONE SHOT, WHICH WAS FIVE MINUTES BEFORE. >> Kartevold: AT THE SAME TIME, DOROTHY STOFFEL AND HER HUSBAND WERE FLYING DIRECTLY ABOVE THE SEEMINGLY SERENE MOUNTAIN IN A SMALL PLANE. >> THERE WAS A SMALL HOLE IN THE FLOOR OF THE CRATER THAT WAS VENTING STEAM, BUT THAT WAS REALLY OUR ONLY INDICATION OF ANY ACTIVITY. THEN AT 8:32 WHAT HAPPENED WAS THAT THERE WAS A MAGNITUDE 5 EARTHQUAKE. WE WERE DIRECTLY ABOVE THE NORTH RIM LOOKING AT THE SOUTH FACE. OUR FIRST INDICATION THAT ANYTHING WAS HAPPENING WAS WE BEGAN TO WATCH THE SHOESTRING GLACIER CAVE INTO THE CRATER AND WE GOT EXCITED. WE THOUGHT, "OH, A LITTLE ACTIVITY." SO I SHOT TWO PHOTOGRAPHS JUST AS FAST AS I COULD. AS I WAS SHOOTING THE SECOND PHOTOGRAPH OF THE SOUTH FACE OF THE VOLCANO'S CRATER, DIRECTLY BENEATH OUR FEET A HUGE FRACTURE OPENED UP. IT WAS SEVERAL MILES IN LENGTH. THE BIZARRE THING WAS THAT THE WHOLE NORTH HALF OF THE VOLCANO BEGAN TO VIBRATE, AND THE SOUTH HALF WAS ABSOLUTELY STILL. JUST AS WE DIGESTED THAT THIS WAS HAPPENING, WE BEGAN TO WATCH THE NORTH HALF OF THE VOLCANO IN A BIG SLIDE BLOCK FALL AWAY BENEATH OUR FEET. >> I WAS SITTING IN FRONT OF OUR FIRE, ENJOYING MY CUP OF COCOA WITH A PERFECT VIEWPOINT OF THE MOUNTAIN, AND MY FRIEND WILLY WAS STANDING ABOUT THREE OR FOUR FEET IN FRONT OF ME WITH A PAIR OF BINOCULARS. HE WAS ACTUALLY -- HE COULD ACTUALLY SEE THE CRACKS GOING DOWN THE MOUNTAIN, AND AS HE TURNED TO TELL US THIS, THAT IS WHEN THE MOMENT HAPPENED. >> Kartevold: IN A SPAN OF 30 SECONDS, GARY ROSENQUIST MANAGED TO TAKE 22 SHOTS OF THE MOUNTAIN. EVEN WITH ACTUAL PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE EXPLOSION, IT IS HARD TO COMPREHEND WHAT HAPPENED. >> IT WAS SO FAR BEYOND HUMAN EXPERIENCE THAT WHAT I PERCEIVED AND WHAT THE PICTURES SHOW WERE TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THINGS. >> AT THAT POINT THEY SAY THE BLAST WAS TRAVELLING AT A RATE OF ABOUT 600 MILES AN HOUR, AND OUR PILOT, REALIZING THE PERIL OF THE SITUATION FOR US, PUT THE PLANE INTO A NOSEDIVE TO GAIN SPEED TO TRY TO OUTRUN THE CLOUD. THE PLANE, HE SAID HE WAS RED-LINING IT ABOUT 200 MILES AN HOUR. KEITH RECOGNIZED THAT OUR AVENUE OF ESCAPE WAS TO TURN SOUTH, AND SO HE DID, AND THAT'S HOW WE SURVIVED. >> Kartevold: GEOLOGISTS SAY IT'S DIFFICULT TO BE SURE WHICH CAUSED WHICH, BUT AS THE 5.1 EARTHQUAKE SHOOK, THE MOUNTAIN'S NORTHERN SLOPE FELL AWAY AND THE LARGEST RECORDED LANDSLIDE IN HISTORY. IN MINUTES, IT COVERED 20 SQUARE MILES OF THE TOUTLE RIVER VALLEY TO AN AVERAGE DEPTH OF 150 FEET. BUT BEFORE IT COULD EVEN COME TO REST, THE MOST VIOLENT PART OF THE ERUPTION HAD PASSED IT BY. >> WHEN THE FLANK OF THE VOLCANO FAILED, IT UNROOFED A BODY OF MAGMA, OR HOT MOLTEN ROCK, THAT HAD ACCUMULATED INSIDE THE VOLCANO EDIFICE OVER THE PRECEDING TWO MONTHS, AND IT ALSO NOT ONLY UNROOFED THAT BODY OF MAGMA, BUT IT UNROOFED THE JACKET OF SUPERHEATED GROUNDWATER THAT SURROUNDED THAT MAGMA BODY. AND WHEN THOSE TWO BODIES WERE UNROOFED, THERE WAS A SUDDEN RELEASE OF PRESSURE WHICH CAUSED THE WATER IN BOTH OF THEM TO FLASH TO STEAM IN A VERY VIOLENT EXPLOSION. >> Kartevold: TRAVELLING AT SPEEDS UPWARDS OF 600 MILES AN HOUR, THE LATERAL BLAST OF GAS AND ROCK FRAGMENTS MOVED AHEAD OF THE DEBRIS AVALANCHE. JOEL HARVEY SAYS IT LOOKED LIQUID. LIKE WATER IN A WAVY SURF, IT ROLLED OVER ONE RIDGE AFTER ANOTHER WIPING OUT EVERYTHING IN ITS PATH. >> AS IT ROLLED OVER EACH RIDGE, THE HORROR IN US GOT GREATER AND GREATER AS WE COMPREHENDED THAT IT WAS COMING CLOSER, AND WE -- AS WE SAW THESE RIDGE LINES THAT SEEMED SO VERY SOLID IN THE HUMAN MIND JUST BE OVERTAKEN SO EASILY. WE SAW THE RIDGE LINE THAT WAS IN FRONT OF US, AND I KNOW -- I'M SURE ALL OF US THOUGHT THAT IT WAS GOING TO GO OVER THAT ONE, WHICH IT, OF COURSE, DID NOT. AS IT HIT THE RIDGE LINE IN FRONT OF US, IT WENT COMPLETELY TO THE SIDE. AT THAT POINT THE BLAST WENT AROUND US, TOTALLY ENCOMPASSED OUR CAMP AREA. >> Kartevold: NOT EVERYONE WAS SO LUCKY. 200 SQUARE MILES OF FOREST WAS BLOWN DOWN OR SCORCHED BY THE BLAST. ITS SPEED RANGED FROM 220 TO 670 MILES PER HOUR. AFTER TRAVELLING ABOUT 15 MILES FROM THE VOLCANO, THIS STONE WIND LOST MUCH OF ITS FORCE. IT COULD NO LONGER BLOW THE TREES DOWN, BUT IT REMAINED HOT ENOUGH TO SCORCH THEM. THIS CREATED A STARK NARROW BAND OF STANDING DEAD TREES ALONG THE EDGE OF UNTOUCHED FOREST. DESPITE THE VIOLENCE OF THE INITIAL ERUPTION, PEOPLE IN THE RIVER VALLEYS BELOW MOUNT ST. HELENS WERE UNAWARE THAT ANYTHING HAD HAPPENED. HERE ON THE SOUTH FORK OF THE TOUTLE RIVER PEOPLE HAD NO IDEA THAT A GIANT MUDFLOW WAS NOW HEADED STRAIGHT FOR THEM. >> THE DEBRIS AVALANCHE THAT CAME FROM THE VOLCANO CONTAINED A LOT OF WATER IN IT, WET SEDIMENTS, FRAGMENTS OF GLACIERS THAT WERE INCORPORATED IN THE DEBRIS AVALANCHE, AND AFTER THE DEBRIS AVALANCHE WAS IN PLACE, IT BEGAN TO DEWATER. WATER JUST STARTED SEEPING OUT OF IT. >> Kartevold: WATER FROM THE MELTED GLACIERS COMBINED WITH EVERYTHING FROM BOULDER TO SAND-SIZED SEDIMENTS TO CREATE MUDFLOWS, OR LAHARS, THE CONSISTENCY OF WET CEMENT. THEY SWEPT DOWN THE TOUTLE RIVER TO THE NORTH AND MUDDY RIVER AND PINE CREEK TO THE SOUTH. DOWNSTREAM, RESIDENTS LIKE JEANNIE GAZE SUSPECTED NOTHING. >> WHEN THE MOUNTAIN BLEW, THE SOUND WENT NORTH AND SOUTH AND WE DIDN'T EVEN HEAR IT DOWN HERE. IN FACT, I WAS STANDING OUT ON THE DECK AT 8:30 WHEN IT BLEW AND I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW IT. THEN WHEN I WENT BACK IN THE HOUSE, ALL OF A SUDDEN, I NOTICED IT WAS GETTING DARK. I SAID, "BOY, THE MOUNTAIN MUST HAVE BLOWN AGAIN." SO WE TURNED ON THE RADIO AND THEY SAID IT REALLY WAS BAD. >> Kartevold: THE FIRST MUDFLOW CAME DOWN THE NORTH FORK OF THE TOUTLE RIVER AT MID-DAY AND THE GAZE'S HOME WAS UNTOUCHED. >> AFTER THE FIRST FLOW AT 12:00 THAT CAME THROUGH, THEN WE HAD LEFT THE AREA. THEN AT 5:30 WE THOUGHT, "WELL, WE'LL GO BACK AND SEE WHAT'S HAPPENING AT THE RIVER." >> Kartevold: JEANNIE WATCHED FROM THE FAR BANK WHILE HER HUSBAND CROSSED THE RIVER AND WENT BACK TO THEIR HOUSE. >> HE WANTED TO GO OVER AND GET THE CAT, YOU KNOW, AND HE JUST -- HE DIDN'T THINK IT WAS GOING TO BE THAT BAD. BECAUSE WHEN IT CAME THROUGH BEFORE, IT WAS UNDER THE DECK. IT DIDN'T TOUCH THE HOUSE. SO HE THOUGHT WE WERE GOING TO BE OKAY. WE DIDN'T REALIZE WHAT WAS GOING ON UP IN THE GORGE. >> Kartevold: AT HOLLYWOOD GORGE THE MUDFLOW HAD BACKED UP BEHIND A DAM OF DEBRIS. >> AS IT FLOWED, IT JUST KEPT JAMMING UP, JAMMING UP, JAMMING UP CLEAR BACK TO THE START OF THE GORGE. SO THAT'S A LOT OF MESS. >> Kartevold: WEYERHAEUSER'S CAMP BAKER HAD BEEN WIPED OUT EARLIER AND THE LOGS STORED THERE WERE NOW BEING CARRIED DOWNSTREAM. LOGS AND DEBRIS TORE DOWN THE VALLEY. 12 BRIDGES AND 221 HOMES WERE DESTROYED. >> WHEW! WHEW! >> IT EXTENDED BEYOND THE MOUTH OF THE TOUTLE VALLEY INTO THE COWLITZ RIVER, BEYOND THE MOUTH OF THE COWLITZ RIVER INTO THE COLUMBIA RIVER AND ACTUALLY DEPOSITED ENOUGH DEBRIS IN THE CHANNEL IN THE COLUMBIA RIVER THAT IT STOPPED SHIPPING UNTIL THE CHANNELS COULD BE DREDGED SOMETIME AFTER THE ERUPTION. >> Kartevold: BACK AT THE MOUNTAIN, THE OTHER HALF OF THE LANDSLIDE HAD FLOWED TO THE NORTHEAST AND CRASHED INTO SPIRIT LAKE CREATING A TIDAL WAVE. THE DISPLACED WATER SCOURED THE SURROUNDING HILLSIDES AND WASHED THE BLOWN-DOWN TREES BACK INTO THE LAKE. THESE LOGS CREATED A MAT WHICH COVERED MOST OF THE WATER'S SURFACE. PYROCLASTIC FLOWS, WHICH ARE SUPERHEATED PUMICE AND GAS REACHING TEMPERATURES OF 1100 DEGREES, STERILIZED THE MOUNTAIN'S NORTHERN FLANKS. HERE, NO LIFE WAS SPARED. THE MOUNTAIN CONTINUED TO ERUPT OVER THE NEXT NINE HOURS, BLOWING ASH 16 MILES UP INTO THE AIR. PREVAILING WINDS CARRIED IT NORTHEAST PRODUCING A TRAIL OF ASH THAT RANGED FROM MORE THAN THREE FEET DEEP NEAR THE VOLCANO TO VISIBLE TRACES SETTLING IN THE MIDWEST. YAKIMA WAS THE FIRST LARGE TOWN TO GO DARK. THEN AS THE CLOUD SPREAD TO THE NORTHEAST, DRIVING IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN WASHINGTON BECAME IMPOSSIBLE. THE POPULATION OF RITZVILLE, WASHINGTON, DOUBLED FROM 2,000 TO 4,000, AS STRANDED TRAVELLERS MADE THEIR WAY TO THIS OASIS IN THE GRAY DESERT. ON THE EASTERN EDGE OF WASHINGTON, SPOKANE RESIDENTS COULD ONLY WATCH AS A BEAUTIFUL SPRING DAY TURNED DARK AS MIDNIGHT. AN EERIE SILENCE FELL AS THE BLANKET OF ASH CAUSED THE CITY TO GRIND TO A HALT. IN A MATTER OF SECONDS THE ENTIRE REGION HAD CHANGED. BEFORE THE EXPLOSION, THE SUMMIT OF MOUNT ST. HELENS WAS JUST OVER 9600 FEET. NOW IT'S 8300 FEET TALL. 1300 FEET OF MOUNTAIN WAS GONE. AND RESCUE EFFORTS SEEMED IMPOSSIBLE. JESS HAGERMAN HAD BEEN IN WASHINGTON'S AIR NATIONAL GUARD SINCE 1976. HE WAS CALLED TO DUTY THE DAY OF THE ERUPTION. BY THE TIME GUARDSMEN HAD GATHERED IN THE TOWN OF LONGVIEW, 35 MILES FROM THE MOUNTAIN, REPORTS WERE ALREADY COMING IN THAT NO ONE COULD HAVE SURVIVED IN THE BLAST ZONE. UNWILLING TO BELIEVE THIS, HAGERMAN GOT PERMISSION FROM HIS COMMANDING OFFICER TO BEGIN SEARCHING THE AREA WITH FIVE HELICOPTERS. >> WE FLEW UP THE SOUTH FORK OF THE TOUTLE AND, OF COURSE, AS WE ALL KNOW NOW, THE SOUTH FORK OF THE TOUTLE REALLY WASN'T DAMAGED THAT BADLY, AND THEN WE SWUNG ON UP AND WENT ON OVER INTO THE NORTH FORK OF THE TOUTLE AND PAST CAMP BAKER, OR WHERE OLD CAMP BAKER USED TO BE. >> Kartevold: THIS IS WHEN THEY GOT A REPORT OF TWO VEHICLES DRIVING DOWN THE NORTH FORK OF THE TOUTLE RIVER. IT IS ALSO WHEN THEY STARTED RUNNING INTO ASH. >> I KIND OF LIKEN IT SOMETIMES TO FLYING AROUND IN A MILK BOTTLE. IT WAS THE SKY, THE GROUND, EVERYTHING WAS PRETTY MUCH THE SAME COLOR FLYING AROUND IN THE ASH. WE CAN SORT OF SENSE BY THIS TIME THAT, YOU KNOW, THERE PROBABLY AREN'T TWO VEHICLES ON A ROAD BECAUSE THE ROADS ARE ALL CLOBBERED WITH TREES AND THERE'S ASH EVERYWHERE. >> Kartevold: BUT THEN THROUGH THE DISMAL LANDSCAPE, HE AND HIS CREW CHIEF SPOTTED A TRUCK. >> WE SWUNG AROUND TO HAVE A CLOSER LOOK, DROPPED DOWN A LITTLE BIT, AND WHAT WE DID SEE WERE FOOTPRINTS LEADING FROM THIS RIG DOWN THE ROAD. OF COURSE, THEN YOU'RE EXCITED BECAUSE YOU HAVE FOUND SOME LIVE PEOPLE WHO HAVE OBVIOUSLY BEEN UP HERE SINCE THE ERUPTION BECAUSE THEIR FOOTPRINTS WERE MAKING TRACKS IN THIS ASH, AND THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN WE CAME AROUND THE CORNER THERE AND WE FOUND TWO PEOPLE LAYING ON THE ROAD. INITIALLY WE THOUGHT WE CAN'T LAND THIS IN THIS STUFF BECAUSE YOU GET CLOSE TO THE GROUND YOU CAN'T SEE THE GROUND. YOU NEVER WANT TO DO THAT FLYING HELICOPTERS. >> Kartevold: BUT AT GREAT RISK TO HIMSELF AND HIS MACHINE HAGERMAN DID LAND, AND WHEN HE DID, HE WAS SHOCKED BY WHAT HE SAW. >> THESE FOLKS WERE PROBABLY 15 MILES FROM THE MOUNTAIN. THEY WERE ON THE BACK SIDE OF TWO RIDGE LINES, COULDN'T SEE THE MOUNTAIN AT ALL FROM WHERE THEY WERE, WHERE THEY HAD BEEN WORKING, AND THEIR FACES WERE COMPLETELY BURNED. I THINK JIM SCYMANKY, WHICH WAS ONE OF THE GUYS WHO FINALLY DID SURVIVE OUT OF THAT GROUP OF FOUR, BUT ANYWAY, HE HAD SEVERE BURNS ALL OVER HIS FACE, HAD OPEN SORES ON HIS FACE. HIS HANDS WERE BLACK, YOU KNOW -- FIRST LOOK, YOU'D THINK THAT HE HAD BLACK WORKING GLOVES ON, BUT THEY WEREN'T. THEY WERE JUST HIS HANDS HAD BEEN BURNED THAT BADLY. >> Kartevold: AS THE RESCUE CONTINUED, OTHERS WERE PULLED FROM THE BLEAK LANDSCAPE. SOME WERE ALIVE, BUT MANY WERE DEAD. PEOPLE LIKE HARRY TRUMAN AND UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY GEOLOGIST DAVID JOHNSTON, WHO WERE RIGHT IN THE MOUNTAIN'S SHADOW, PROBABLY HAD LITTLE TIME TO REACT AND WERE NEVER FOUND. BUT FOR OTHERS, HAGERMAN WITNESSED A DIFFERENT STORY. >> THEY OBVIOUSLY HAD SEEN THE ERUPTION, THEY HAD JUMPED IN THEIR TRUCK AND STARTED OFF, THEY WERE HEADING AWAY FROM THE BLAST WHEN IT HIT THEM, AND YOU KNOW, IT WAS PROBABLY PRETTY MUCH AN INSTANTANEOUS DEATH, I THINK. THE DRIVER STILL HAD HIS HANDS ON THE WHEEL. HIS HEAD WAS STILL UP. THEY WERE JUST SITTING THERE DEAD. AND THE PASSENGER WAS SITTING IN THE PASSENGER SEAT JUST WITH HIS HANDS IN HIS LAP. WITH THIS WHOLE RESCUE EFFORT, YOU LOOK AROUND AND YOU SAY, "WHO ELSE CAN DO THIS? IT'S GOT TO BE DONE." SO YOU SORT OF BUCK UP AND YOU DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO. >> Kartevold: HAGERMAN SAYS IT'S THE POSSIBILITY OF FINDING SOMEONE ALIVE THAT KEEPS YOU GOING. >> IDENTIFYING AND TRYING TO VERIFY LICENSE NUMBERS AND THOSE KINDS OF THINGS, YOU KNOW, THAT'S NOT A FUN PART OF A SEARCH AND RESCUE MISSION. ANY TIME YOU CAN FIND LIVE PEOPLE, IT'S FUN AND EXCITING, AND THERE'S A LOT OF VARIATIONS IN YOUR ENTHUSIASM FOR DOING THAT KIND OF A JOB. >> Kartevold: RESCUE CREWS LIKE HAGERMAN SAVED ALMOST 200 PEOPLE FOLLOWING THE ERUPTION, BUT IN ALL, 57 LOST THEIR LIVES. MILLIONS OF BIRDS, FISH AND SMALL GAME, ALONG WITH THOUSANDS OF DEER, ELK, MOUNTAIN GOAT AND BEAR, WERE ALSO KILLED. THE CLOUD OF ASH DISTRIBUTED 540 MILLION TONS OF ASH OVER AN AREA OF MORE THAN 22,000 SQUARE MILES AND EVENTUALLY CIRCLED THE GLOBE. IT WAS MISERABLE TO DEAL WITH AND DAMAGED ALL EQUIPMENT THAT HAD TO OPERATE IN IT. BUT IN EASTERN WASHINGTON, THE EFFECTS FROM THE ERUPTION WERE RELATIVELY SHORT LIVED. HOWEVER, ASH WAS ONLY ONE OF THE PROBLEMS FOR PEOPLE RIGHT AROUND THE MOUNTAIN. CLEANING UP AFTER THE ERUPTION WOULD TAKE YEARS. AND FOR MANY, LIFE WOULD NEVER BE THE SAME. EVEN AFTER 15 YEARS, IT WAS STILL HARD FOR JEANNIE GAZE TO COME BACK TO THE AREA. >> THIS IS WHAT MY YARD WAS LIKE. YOU KNOW. THEN TO HAVE IT ALL -- I DON'T KNOW. I JUST LOVE IT OUT LIKE THIS. IT'S SO PEACEFUL. >> Kartevold: SHE AND HER HUSBAND BUCK LOST THEIR HOME ALONG THE NORTH FORK OF THE TOUTLE DURING THE MUDFLOWS. >> I SAID, "HEY, IS THERE A BEER UP THERE?" AND I WOULD BE REACHING THIS HIGH TO GET A BEER OFF THE DECK, AND THAT'S WHERE IT WOULD BE, THE TOP OF THE DECK WAS RIGHT THERE. SO THAT WOULD BE ROUGHLY SEVEN FEET, I WOULD FIGURE, YOU KNOW, THAT WE'RE STANDING ON THIS MUD RIGHT NOW, MUDFLOW. >> Kartevold: THE GAZES WERE NEVER ABLE TO REBUILD. BECAUSE THIS PART OF THE DISASTER WAS CLASSIFIED AS A FLOOD, THE GAZES' HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE WOULDN'T COVER THEIR LOSS. THE GOVERNMENT AWARDED THEM $30,000 IN FLOOD INSURANCE, BUT THAT WAS LESS AN THIRD OF THE HOME'S VALUE. NOTHING BUT DEBRIS REMAINED, BUT THE MONEY HAD TO GO TO THE BANK TO PAY OFF THEIR MORTGAGE, A FACT THAT HAUNTED BUCK UNTIL HIS DEATH. >> HE JUST NEVER COULD ACCEPT IT. YOU KNOW, EVERYTHING HE HAD WAS IN THE HOME. YOU KNOW, WE WERE NOT ABLE TO SAVE MONEY WITH RAISING SIX CHILDREN, AND THEN TO LOSE EVERYTHING YOU OWN... SO HE ALWAYS SAID, "WHEN I GET TO HEAVEN," HE SAYS, "I'M GOING TO ASK GOD WHO'S IN CHARGE OF VOLCANOS?" SO I GUESS HE KNOWS NOW AND WE DON'T. >> Kartevold: THE AREA IS SLOWLY COMING BACK, BUT JEANNIE SAYS MANY OF THE PEOPLE WHO LIVED HERE HAVE NOT. >> I MEAN, YOU CAN SEE THERE'S BEEN NO ACTION ON THEIR ROADS, THEIR CABINS. >> Kartevold: WHY IS THAT, FEAR THAT THE MOUNTAIN WILL DO IT AGAIN? >> IT'S JUST AN INNER FEELING. IT'S JUST AN INNER FEELING. IT'S A -- THE DEVASTATION. YOU KNOW, THE BEAUTY'S GONE. I GUESS THAT'S IT, THE BEAUTY'S GONE. AND THE RIVER HAS BEEN A MESS AND IT'S BEEN CHANGING BACK AND FORTH. BUT LIKE I SAY, NOW IT'S CLEARING AND THINGS ARE GROWING. SO THE YOUNGER GENERATION WILL COME BACK AND USE IT. >> Kartevold: DESTRUCTION OF THE AREA'S NATURAL BEAUTY AND STRICTER REGULATIONS KEPT SOME FAMILIES FROM EVER COMING BACK. BUT PRIVATE LANDOWNERS WERE NOT THE ONLY ONES WHO SUFFERED. COMPANIES DID AS WELL. THE LARGEST WAS WEYERHAEUSER. TEN YEARS AFTER THE BLAST, ITS RECOVERY EFFORTS WERE STILL ONGOING. AFTER THE 1980 ERUPTION, THERE WERE 150,000 ACRES WITHIN THE BLAST ZONE WHERE TREES WERE STREWN ABOUT LIKE TOOTHPICKS. 68,000 ACRES OF THIS LAND BELONGED TO WEYERHAEUSER. >> OF THAT, 36,500 ACRES WAS MERCHANTABLE TIMBER, TIMBER THAT WAS OLD ENOUGH TO BE SALVAGED. THE REST OF IT WAS YOUNG STANDS. OUR FIRST EFFORTS WERE SIMPLY TO BE ABLE TO GET TO THE AREA. ALL THE ROADS, MANY OF THE BRIDGES WERE ALL WASHED OUT. WE ENDED UP OPENING UP, RECONSTRUCTING OVER 600 MILES WORTH OF ROADS. >> Kartevold: IT WAS THE FALL OF 1980 WHEN WEYERHAEUSER MOVED EQUIPMENT INTO THE BLAST ZONE AND BEGAN SALVAGING THE MERCHANTABLE TIMBER. ABOUT 1,000 MEN WORKED UNDER DANGEROUS AND AGGRAVATING CONDITIONS. TREES WERE TANGLED OR UPROOTED AND THE ASH CONSTANTLY DULLED THE CHAINS ON THEIR SAWS. >> SALVAGE EFFORTS TOOK TWO YEARS TOTAL. WE FINISHED IN 1982 AND PULLED OUT ENOUGH TIMBER TO BUILD 85,000 THREE-BEDROOM HOMES, 850 MILLION BOARD FEET. AT DAYS DURING PEAK HARVEST PERIODS THERE WERE AS MANY AS 600 TRUCKLOADS OF LOGS A DAY COMING DOWN THE NORTH TOUTLE VALLEY FROM THAT BLAST ZONE AREA. >> Kartevold: IT LOOKED LIKE BUSINESS WAS BOOMING, BUT WEYERHAEUSER SPOKESMEN SAY THAT IS NOT THE CASE. THE COMPANY'S TOTAL LOSS DUE TO THE ERUPTION IS REPORTED TO HAVE BEEN $66 MILLION. NEVERTHELESS, WEYERHAEUSER IMMEDIATELY BEGAN LOOKING TO THE FUTURE. BETWEEN 1981 AND 1987, THE COMPANY PLANTED MORE THAN 18 MILLION TREES IN THE BLAST ZONE. >> THIS STAND WAS ONE OF THE ORIGINAL AREAS THAT WE CAME BACK INTO, FAR AWAY FROM THE MOUNTAIN AS WE COULD GET. WE PUT ABOUT A MILLION DOLLARS INTO SOME RESEARCH, SOME PLANTINGS IN THE BLAST ZONE TO TRY AND SEE WHAT WOULD WORK AND WHAT WOULDN'T WORK, WHAT KIND OF PROBLEMS WE MIGHT RUN INTO, AND WE DISCOVERED THAT ANYTHING MORE THAN, OH, MAYBE SIX INCHES OF ASH, WE WERE GOING TO HAVE TO DO SOMETHING SPECIAL. YOU JUST COULDN'T PLANT THE SEEDLINGS IN THE ASH. IT WAS TOO STERILE. IT DID NOT HAVE THE NUTRIENTS THAT TREES NEEDED TO GROW. WHERE WE SALVAGE LOGGED, IT STIRRED THE AREA UP WELL ENOUGH THAT THAT WAS EXCELLENT FOR PLANTING. >> Kartevold: IN OTHER AREAS, THE ASH HAD TO BE SCRAPED AWAY TO EXPOSE THE MINERAL-RICH PARENT SOIL BEFORE EACH SEEDLING WAS PLANTED BY HAND. RIGHT AFTER THE 1980 ERUPTION, THE BLAST ZONE LOOKED LIKE THIS. 15 YEARS LATER, SOME OF THE SEEDLINGS PLANTED BY WEYERHAEUSER WERE OVER 40 FEET TALL. NOW THEY ARE 70 FEET TALL AND A FOOT IN DIAMETER. THE REGENERATION IS GOING SO WELL THAT WEYERHAEUSER HAS BEGUN THINNING THE STANDS OF TREES IT PLANTED RIGHT AFTER THE 1980 ERUPTION. >> OUR DESIGN WAS TO DO OUR NORMAL PLANTING OF 400, 435 TREES PER ACRE, KNOWING THAT BY AGE 25 THAT'S TOO MANY. ONE OF THE THINGS THAT'S CHANGED IS TECHNOLOGY, BECAUSE WE HAD ORIGINALLY THOUGHT OF THINNING UP HERE AT ABOUT AGE 30, BUT THE TECHNOLOGY HAS IMPROVED SO MUCH THAT WE NOW HAVE EQUIPMENT THAT CAN GO INTO THESE YOUNGER AGES THAT WE'RE AT NOW WITH 25 YEARS IN THESE CROWDED CONDITIONS THAT WE HAVE AND THIN OUT SOME OF THE WEAKER AND DIEING TREES AND SOME OF THE TREES THAT HAVE NATURAL DEFECTS THAT DON'T MAKE LUMBER, BECAUSE EVERYTHING WE HAVE HERE IS GROWN FOR LUMBER. WE ARE PLANNING RIGHT NOW TO ENTER TO THESE STANDS AND START THINNING PROJECTS, PROBABLY A THOUSAND ACRES A YEAR ON THE AVERAGE FOR THE NEXT 10 YEARS. >> Kartevold: FOR THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN HERE THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE PROCESS, THE TRANSFORMATION IS UNFORGETTABLE. >> I REALLY WASN'T ANXIOUS TO COME UP HERE AND LOOK AROUND AND SEE EVERYTHING DESTROYED. PLUS, I HAD A SMALL CONTRACT CREW THAT WAS KILLED UP HERE, AND THAT, IN ADDITION TO SEEING ALL THE DEAD TREES, WAS SOMETHING THAT JUST DIDN'T MAKE ME ANXIOUS TO GO LOOK AT IT. BUT EVENTUALLY A MONTH OR SO AFTER THE BLAST, I HAD TO START THE PLANNING PROCESS FOR THE REGENERATION. SO I DID COME UP. I CAN REMEMBER MY FIRST TRIP AS THOUGH IT WAS YESTERDAY. IT WAS NOTHING BUT BLOWN-DOWN TREES COVERED WITH ASH. ALL THE SAME COLOR. NO SOUNDS. LIFELESS. AND TO ME, TO LOOK AT IT THEN AND SAY, "HEY, WE'RE GOING TO PLANT THIS," IT WAS A CHALLENGE THAT I HAD NEVER FACED BEFORE. >> Kartevold: NOW THE HEALTH AND SIZE OF THE NEW FOREST MAKES IT DIFFICULT FOR VISITORS TO TELL WHERE THE BLAST ZONE BEGINS. THERE IS A CLEARLY VISIBLE LINE BETWEEN WHERE WEYERHAEUSER PLANTED SEEDLINGS AND THE BOUNDARY OF WHAT IS NOW A NATIONAL MONUMENT. HOWEVER, BY THE TIME VISITORS GET TO THIS POINT, THEY HAVE ALREADY PASSED THROUGH 11 MILES OF THE ORIGINAL BLAST ZONE. >> WHEN THEY DRIVE INTO THIS, THEY SAY, WHEN AM I GOING TO GET TO THE BLAST ZONE? THAT'S THEIR FIRST REACTION. THEY DO NOT BELIEVE THEY'RE HERE. THEY THINK WHEN THEY GET TO THE MONUMENT WHERE YOU'VE NOW HAD SLOW NATURAL REGENERATION THAT THAT'S WHEN THEY ENTER THE BLAST ZONE. >> Kartevold: THAT SLOWER NATURAL REGENERATION, WHICH IS OCCURRING WITHIN THE MONUMENT'S BOUNDARIES, IS PROVIDING SCIENTISTS WITH A UNIQUE AND VALUABLE CHANCE TO OBSERVE THE COURSE NATURE TAKES RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING. BACK IN 1994, MONUMENT SCIENTIST PETER FRENZEN SHARED WHAT THEY HAD LEARNED SO FAR. >> IT WAS REALLY A WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITY BECAUSE WE HAD A CHANCE TO LOOK AT A LARGE-SCALE DISTURBANCE, SOMETHING ON THE ORDER OF 100 OR MORE SQUARE MILE AREA AFFECTED BY THE ERUPTION AND LOOK AT A PROCESS THAT HAS INFLUENCED THE FORESTS OF THE CASCADES FOR MANY, MANY THOUSANDS OF YEARS AND WATCH KIND OF THE REBIRTH OF AN ECOSYSTEM ONE STEP AT A TIME FIRSTHAND. >> Kartevold: THE INITIAL EXPECTATION WAS THAT EVERYTHING HAD BEEN DESTROYED, BUT CLOSER EXAMINATION PROVED DIFFERENT. IT HAS ALSO SHOWN THAT NATURE DOESN'T ALWAYS ACT THE WAY WE THINK IT WILL. >> WE'RE STANDING HERE AT META LAKE WHICH IS ABOUT EIGHT MILES NORTH OF THE VOLCANO, AND THE AMAZING THINK ABOUT THE META LAKE BASIN IS THAT IT KIND OF SHOWS HOW THE BLAST WAS CHANNELED BY THE MOUNTAINTOPS, BY THE TOPOGRAPHY, THAT IT CAME OVER ON ITS WAY FROM THE VOLCANO TO HERE, BUT ALSO IT PROVIDES AN EXCELLENT PLACE TO SEE HOW LIFE SURVIVED EVEN IN THE MIDST OF THE TREMENDOUS BLAST OF FRAGMENTED ROCK AND ASH THAT SWEPT OVER HERE. PROBABLY THE CLOUD WAS TRAVELLING AT A FEW HUNDRED MILES AN HOUR WHEN IT CAME OVER THIS POINT, AND IT CAME INTO THE BASIN, AND IT SWIRLED AROUND US, AND YOU CAN SEE ACROSS THE LAKE HOW THE TREES ARE LAYING EVERY WHICH WAY AND HOW THE BLAST MUST HAVE JUST KIND OF CIRCLED AROUND IN THIS BASIN. AND IF YOU LOOK BEHIND US, ON THE RIDGE BEHIND US, YOU SEE THE TOPS OF THE TREES THAT ARE STICKING UP ABOVE THE RIDGE TOP, HOW THE BLAST THAT SKIPPED OVER THE RIDGE TOP SNAPPED THEM OFF, SHEAR, CLEAN BREAKS ACROSS THEM. YOU CAN IMAGINE THE FORCE THAT THAT TOOK. AND YET, EVEN WITH THAT MUCH FORCE, AND THAT MUCH FRAGMENTED ROCK SWEEPING THROUGH HERE AND SHATTERING THE FOREST, YOU CAN LOOK AROUND US AND SEE THE EVIDENCE OF SURVIVING PLANT AND ANIMAL LIFE ALL THROUGH THE AREA. MAY 18th IN THIS LANDSCAPE IS STILL LATE WINTER, VERY EARLY SPRING. SO AT THAT TIME THERE WAS A LOT OF SNOW IN THE AREA, A LOT OF ICE. THE LAKE WAS ICE COVERED. AND THE EVIDENCE OF THE SNOWCOVER AND ITS IMPORTANCE TO SURVIVAL CAN BE SEEN IN THIS PACIFIC SILVER FIR TREE RIGHT HERE. THIS SILVER FIR WAS PROBABLY ON THE ORDER OF THIS TALL AT THE TIME OF THE ERUPTION. AND SO WHEN THE ERUPTION CAME ALONG AND BLASTED OFF THE OVERSTORY, THE LARGER TREES, THESE SMALLER TREES WERE PROTECTED UNDER THE SNOWPACK. AFTER THE SNOW MELTED, THE MORE FLEXIBLE ONES WERE ABLE TO POP UP FREE OUT OF THE ASH, AND THESE TREES ARE BEGINNING TO GOING TO PRODUCE CONES NOW AND THEY'LL PROVIDE A VERY IMPORTANT SOURCE OF SEED IN THE BLAST ZONE. >> Kartevold: OTHER SEEDS, LIKE THAT OF THE TENACIOUS FIREWEED, BLEW IN ON THE WIND AND TOOK ROOT IN EROSION GULLIES, TEACHING SCIENTISTS YET ANOTHER LESSON. >> NORMALLY PEOPLE THINK OF EROSION AS A NEGATIVE PROCESS. THEY THINK OF EROSION AS SOMETHING, "OH, NO, WE HAVE TO STOP EROSION, SEED IT, STABILIZE IT." BUT HERE WE WERE DEALING WITH A DEPOSIT THAT WAS ON THE ORDER OF A FEW INCHES TO A FOOT THICK. SO WE'RE LOOKING AT A RELATIVELY THIN CAP ON THE SURVIVING MATERIAL. SO IT WAS JUST A MATTER OF EROSION COMING ALONG, WASHING THAT OFF, AND THE SURVIVING PLANTS SPROUTING THROUGH. SO EROSION WAS REALLY THE FOUNDATION OF THE RECOVERY. SO WHAT NORMALLY WOULD BE A NEGATIVE THING WAS A VERY POSITIVE ONE. >> Kartevold: ANOTHER POSITIVE DISCOVERY WAS THAT SOME ANIMALS HAD ALSO SURVIVED THE ERUPTION. >> THE SAME THING THAT WAS TRUE FOR ROOTS, PLANT ROOTS THAT SURVIVED BELOW THE GROUND, WAS TRUE FOR ANIMALS. THE ANIMALS THAT WERE UNDERGROUND AT THE TIME OF THE ERUPTION WERE ABLE TO SURVIVE, THINGS LIKE THE POCKET GOPHER, WHICH LIVES ITS LIFE COMPLETELY UNDERGROUND, CAME UP THROUGH THE ASH DEPOSIT. THEY WERE ABLE TO FEED ON THE ROOTS OF THE SURVIVING PLANTS. >> Kartevold: THE GOPHERS WERE JOINED BY A WIDE ARRAY OF OTHER CREATURES WHICH HAD THEIR HEADS DOWN DURING THE ERUPTION. IT DIDN'T TAKE LONG FOR MOBILE ANIMALS LIKE BIRDS AND ELK TO BE SEEN IN THE BLAST ZONE EITHER. INITIALLY THEY ONLY PASSED THROUGH, BUT NOW THEY STAY YEAR-ROUND. >> AS THE FOREST HAS COME BACK AND AS SHRUBBY VEGETATION, SHRUBS AND SMALL TREES BEGIN TO COME IN, THE HABITAT IS CHANGING. SO THERE'S MORE OF A PLACE FOR ANIMALS TO NEST AND FEED, AND SO YOU CAN KIND OF SEE A REAL PICKING UP IN THE PACE OF REGENERATION. AS ANIMALS SPEND MORE TIME IN THE AREA, THEY DROP THE SEEDS OF THEIR FAVORITE FOOD IN THEIR DROPPINGS. SO IN EFFECT, THEY'RE PLANTING MORE AND MORE OF THEIR FOODS. SO THE WHOLE PACE OF THE REGENERATION AND THE ANIMAL HABITAT IS INCREASING OVER TIME. >> Kartevold: GRAZING ANIMALS ARE ALSO SPENDING MORE TIME INSIDE THE NATIONAL VOLCANIC MONUMENT DUE TO THE SUCCESS OF THE PLANTING OPERATIONS AROUND IT. EACH YEAR, AS THE TREES GET BIGGER AND THE FOREST DENSER, THE FOOD SUPPLY THERE DECREASES. >> THAT BIG OPEN BLAST ZONE IS QUITE A BOON IN TERMS OF AVAILABLE FORAGE. SO WE SEE LOTS OF ELK AND DEER IN THE MONUMENT. WE ALSO SEE THINGS LIKE COYOTES AND EVEN SIGNS OF COUGAR. WE'VE EVEN FOUND SOME INTERESTING SIGHTINGS OF THINGS EVEN LIKE MOUNTAIN GOATS BACK IN THE HIGH COUNTRY. SO AS THE FOOD BASE HAS RETURNED AND AS THE HABITAT HAS RETURNED, THE ANIMALS ARE RETURNING IN GREAT NUMBERS. >> Kartevold: THE WATERWAYS AROUND ST. HELENS TELL ANOTHER STORY OF AMAZING RECOVERY. DURING THE 1980 ERUPTION, ENTIRE WATERSHEDS WERE PHYSICALLY ALTERED AND BECAME HOSTILE TO TRADITIONAL MARINE LIFE. >> WE TOOK A TEMPERATURE OUT OF THE COWLITZ RIVER DOWN NEAR THE MOUTH AND IT WAS 95 DEGREES A DAY AFTER THE ERUPTION. THE TOUTLE WAS LITERALLY JUST STEAMING IN PLACE. IT WAS JUST A QUAGMIRE OF MUD AND WATER. AND MY INITIAL IMPRESSION WAS THAT WE HAD LOST EVERYTHING. >> Kartevold: THOUGH THE CONDITIONS WERE FAR FROM IDEAL, NATURE SHOWED SURPRISING RESILIENCE. IN SIDE STREAMS, SOME FISH DID MANAGE TO SURVIVE. >> WE WERE ABLE TO GO INTO SOME OF THOSE TRIBUTARIES AND FOUND ALL SORTS OF LITTLE JUVENILE TROUT, STEELHEAD AND SALMON, AND THESE ARE THE FISH THAT ARE GOING TO BE THE SEED SOURCE FOR CONTINUING THE RUNS. SO EVEN THOUGH EVERYTHING IN THE MAIN STEM WAS FRIED WITH THE TEMPERATURES AND THE SEDIMENT THAT WE GOT, WE HAD A SOURCE OF RECOVERY THERE IN THE TRIBUTARY STREAM. BEFORE MAN WAS HERE, THE RIVER HAD ERUPTIONS AND RECOVERED AND DID QUITE NICELY. AND SO IF WE'RE PATIENT AND DON'T TRY TO INTERFERE TOO MUCH, I THINK THE RIVER WILL BE BACK TO WHAT IT WAS. >> Kartevold: THE ERUPTION ON MAY 18th NOT ONLY ALTERED WATERWAYS, IT CREATED NEW ONES. WHEN THE LANDSLIDE CAME DOWN THE TOUTLE VALLEY, IT BLOCKED OFF SIDE CHANNELS, CREATING CASTLE AND COLDWATER LAKES. COLDWATER IS NOW OPEN TO VISITORS. >> TO CREATE A LAKE OF THAT SIZE IS JUST AMAZING, TO HAVE SOMETHING LIKE THAT JUST KIND OF POP UP OVERNIGHT. THE FISHERMEN HAVE BEEN EXTREMELY EXCITED. WE'RE MANAGING THAT FOR LARGE FISH WITH LIMITED CATCH, JUST A ONE-FISH LIMIT. PEOPLE JUST CANNOT BELIEVE THEY'RE CATCHING FISH OF THAT SIZE WEST OF THE MOUNTAIN. >> Kartevold: THE DEPARTMENT OF FISH & WILDLIFE PLANTED FISH IN COLDWATER IN 1989. THIS WAS POSSIBLE BECAUSE IT ONLY TOOK THE LAKES A FEW YEARS TO CLEAN THEMSELVES AFTER THE ERUPTION. EVEN SPIRIT LAKE, WHICH WAS HARDEST HIT, HEALED ITSELF QUICKLY. WHEN THE DEBRIS AVALANCHE SLID INTO THIS VALLEY, IT PHYSICALLY RAISED THE LAKE'S LOCATION BY SEVERAL HUNDRED FEET. THE BOTTOM OF THE LAKE NOW SITS ABOVE THE FORMER SURFACE. PART OF THE LOG MAT STILL FLOATS ABOUT THE LAKE. AT THE TIME OF THE ERUPTION, THE ABNORMALLY HIGH AMOUNT OF ORGANIC MATERIAL WHICH WAS WASHED INTO THE WATER MADE IT THE CONSISTENCY OF SEWAGE SLUDGE. >> ALL OF THE ORGANIC MATERIAL, ALL OF THE LEAVES AND THE BRANCHES FROM THE FORESTS THAT WERE VAPORIZED AND SHREDDED BY THE ERUPTION ENDED UP BEING LEACHED INTO THE WATERS LIKE TEA FROM A TEA BAG AND THAT CAUSED BACTERIAL POPULATIONS TO EXPLODE. SO THE LAKES WERE LITERALLY BOILING WITH CARBON DIOXIDE AND METHANE. >> Kartevold: IN THAT STATE, THE LAKES WERE UNINHABITABLE FOR MARINE LIFE, BUT BACTERIA WERE ABLE TO CLEAR THE WATER WITHIN JUST THREE YEARS OF THE ERUPTION. >> THERE REALLY WASN'T A PRECEDENT FOR THIS KIND OF ALTERATION OF A LAKE ENVIRONMENT. AND ESSENTIALLY EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED WAS A SURPRISE, AND WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT HOW FAST BACTERIA REPRODUCE AND THEN THE GENERATIONS OF THEM THAT CYCLE, YOU CAN IMAGINE THEY WOULD BE ABLE TO PROCESS QUITE A BIT OF ORGANIC MATERIAL. AND OBVIOUSLY THE WONDERFUL RAINFALL WE GET IN THE NORTHWEST, THERE WAS A LOT OF DILUTION OF INCOMING RAINFALL AND SNOWMELT AND A LOT OF STIRRING OF OXYGEN INTO THE LAKES WITH WIND AND WAVES AND THINGS LIKE THAT. SO THE PHYSICAL PROCESS HAS HELPED OUT AS WELL. >> Kartevold: IT HELPED OUT SO MUCH THAT IN 1993, A FISH WAS FOUND IN SPIRIT LAKE. IT WAS APPROPRIATELY NICKNAMED "HARRY" AFTER THE CANTANKEROUS LODGE OWNER WHO LIVED AND DIED HERE. >> IT'S A LITTLE RAINBOW THAT WE DID SOME GENETIC WORK-UP ON. PEOPLE THINK THEY HAVE BEEN PLANTED UP THERE, BUT IT'S A WILD FISH AS FAR AS WE CAN DETERMINE. >> JIM BIRD IS THE MAN WHO CAUGHT "HARRY." >> WELL, WE CAME UP HERE WITHOUT REALLY EXPECTING TO GET ANYTHING, AND I SET A COUPLE NETS AND LEFT THEM FOR TWO DAYS AND CAME BACK AND WAS REALLY SURPRISED TO FIND "HARRY" IN THERE, LITTLE 8-INCH RAINBOW. >> AT LEAST THIS WIND IS BLOWING THAT WAY. IT PUSHED THOSE LOGS AWAY. >> Kartevold: THIS SUMMER DAY IN 1994, BIRD IS LOOKING FOR VINDICATION. >> I'M NOT SURE EVERYONE BELIEVED ME ORIGINALLY THAT I GOT THE FISH OUT OF HERE. >> Kartevold: TO SEE IF "HARRY" HAS ANY RELATIVES LIVING IN SPIRIT LAKE, BIOLOGISTS HAVE SET SOME MORE NETS. THIS LAKE WAS BEING STUDIED AS IF ONLY AMPHIBIANS WERE IN THE WATER. IF THIS IS NOT THE CASE, THE STUDIES MUST BE REVISED. >> JOHN, WHAT DID YOU GET? >> WHEW! >> Kartevold: MUCH TO BIRD'S DELIGHT, A FISH IS CAUGHT IN THE THIRD NET. THIS FISH IS AN AMAZING DISCOVERY. ONE, BECAUSE OF ITS LOCATION. AND TWO, BECAUSE OF ITS SIZE. >> I THOUGHT WE MIGHT HAVE A FISH. I DIDN'T THINK IT WOULD BE AS BIG AS THIS ONE. >> Kartevold: THIS PROVES THAT CATCHING "HARRY" WAS NOT A FLUKE OR FRAUD. HOWEVER, IT DOESN'T TELL US HOW MANY MORE MIGHT BE OUT THERE. THE FEMALE FISH IS 18 INCHES LONG AND WEIGHS 2-1/4 POUNDS. IT'S OBVIOUS THAT SHE'S BEEN EATING WELL HERE, BUT IT IS STILL UNDETERMINED EXACTLY HOW SHE GOT HERE. >> DEFINITELY, IT IS A SURPRISE THAT ANYTHING COULD COME BACK SO SOON AFTER THE ERUPTION HERE IN THE LAKE, BUT THERE ARE A FEW TRIBUTARIES THAT I THINK MIGHT HAVE HELD A FISH IN THEM, ESPECIALLY IF THEY HAD SOME ICE OVER THEM, WHICH WOULD HAVE MADE THE CHANCES FOR THEIR SURVIVAL A LOT BETTER, IF THE STREAMS WERE ICED OVER AND HAD A LITTLE SNOW ON TOP OF THAT. >> Kartevold: AS THE YEARS PASSED, SCIENTISTS HAVE SEEN THE FISH POPULATION IN SPIRIT LAKE GROW, BUT SINCE FISH ARE THE TOP PREDATORS IN THE SYSTEM, THEY INFLUENCE THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE OTHER ANIMALS AND PLANTS THERE. THIS, IN TURN, HAS AN IMPACT ON THEM. >> THEY MAY RUN INTO THE WALL, IF YOU WILL, AGAINST THE AVAILABLE FOOD SUPPLY THAT THEY HAVE IN THE CAPACITY OF THAT LAKE TO SUSTAIN THEM. SO IT'S NOT CLEAR THAT A POPULATION OF FISH THAT SIZE AND THAT LARGE WILL BE ABLE TO SUSTAIN ITSELF. >> Kartevold: NO MATTER WHAT THE OUTCOME IS, IT WILL BE ONE DICTATED BY NATURE. >> SPIRIT LAKE AND THE CORE OF THE MONUMENT, THE AREA AND THE VALLEY DIRECTLY NORTH AND WEST OF THE VOLCANO, ARE INSIDE A DEDICATED RESEARCH AREA, AND THAT AREA IS SET ASIDE FOR LONG-TERM STUDIES OF NATURE TAKING ITS COURSE. SO SPIRIT LAKE IS BASICALLY BEING LEFT TO RECOVER ON ITS OWN, AND SO THOSE FISH IN THE LAKE WE'RE WATCHING AND BIOLOGISTS ARE WATCHING AND BASICALLY WATCHING THAT NATURAL ENVIRONMENT PROGRESS ON ITS OWN. >> Kartevold: THE MOUNTAIN AND ITS SURROUNDINGS WERE DECLARED A NATIONAL MONUMENT BACK IN 1982, AND HAVING SUCH A LARGE SECTION OF LAND UNDER EXCLUSIVE FEDERAL CONTROL HAS PROVED TO BE ADVANTAGEOUS DURING THE MOST RECENT ACTIVITY. >> ONE OF THE CHALLENGES WITH VOLCANOES IS THAT THEY DISTURB LARGE AREAS, ESPECIALLY WITH THINGS LIKE MUDFLOWS THAT CAN TRAVEL MANY MILES FROM THE VOLCANO. IT'S CERTAINLY MUCH EASIER WHEN THE AREA AROUND THE VOLCANO IS WHOLLY INSIDE OF FEDERAL OWNERSHIP, AND WE'RE ABLE TO ESTABLISH THINGS LIKE THE FIVE-MILE RADIUS CIRCLE AROUND THE VOLCANO AND REALLY PULL PEOPLE BACK BEYOND THAT. SO THAT MAKES IT MUCH EASIER TO MANAGE, AND ALSO TO SEE WHAT'S HAPPENING AROUND THE VOLCANO. >> Kartevold: BY STUDYING IN THE MONUMENT, GEOLOGISTS CAN SEE HOW MOUNT ST. HELENS IS CONNECTED TO A HISTORY THAT DATES BACK MILLIONS OF YEARS. >> BELOW THIS LEVEL, BETWEEN THE HERE AND MY FEET, WE'RE DEALING WITH A PERIOD OF TIME THAT EXTENDS FROM 1480 A.D. BACK TO ABOUT 3300 YEARS BEFORE THE PRESENT. >> Kartevold: WHAT THEY LEARN HERE CAN HELP PROVIDE INSIGHT TO THE REST OF THE CASCADE RANGE AND TO OTHER VOLCANOES AROUND THE WORLD. THE MOST UNIQUE LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES RESULTING FROM THE EVENTS IN 1980 HAD TO DO WITH THE DEBRIS AVALANCHE AND BLAST. PICTURES AND EYEWITNESS INFORMATION PROVIDED BY PEOPLE LIKE GARY ROSENQUIST AND DOROTHY STOFFEL GAVE SCIENTISTS A CHANCE TO UNDERSTAND A PHENOMENA THEY HAD NEVER WITNESSED BEFORE. >> BECAUSE OF THE OBSERVATIONS AT MOUNT ST. HELENS OF THE EVENT AND THEN OF THE DEPOSITS THAT IT PRODUCED, WE'VE COME TO REALIZE THAT EVENTS LIKE THAT SECTOR COLLAPSE WITH ITS LARGE LANDSLIDE HAVE OCCURRED MANY TIMES AT EXPLOSIVE VOLCANOES AROUND THE WORLD. SO IT'S A COMMON EVENT BUT ONE THAT WE WERE REALLY NEVER PREPARED TO APPRECIATE BEFORE. >> Kartevold: THEY ARE ALSO ABLE TO WATCH CLOSELY AS THE VOLCANO REBUILDS ITSELF. >> AFTER THE ERUPTION ON MAY 18th, THE CRATER FLOOR WAS RELATIVELY FLAT. IN FACT, THERE WAS KIND OF A DIMPLE OR DEPRESSION WHERE THE VENT WAS BENEATH WHERE THE PRESENT DOME IS, AND SEVERAL TIMES DURING THE SUMMER OF 1980 A SMALL INCIPIENT DOME BEGAN TO GROW IN THAT VENT, BUT EACH TIME A LATER AND SMALLER EXPLOSIVE ERUPTION THAN THE ONE ON MAY 18th DESTROYED THE LITTLE DOME AND THE DOME HAD TO START OVER AGAIN. AFTER THAT SUMMER WAS OVER, THEN THE DOME BEGAN TO BE ABLE TO GROW WITHOUT BEING DESTROYED, AND IT GREW IN A SERIES OF ABOUT 17 DOME-BUILDING EPISODES THAT OCCURRED FROM LATE 1980 THROUGH OCTOBER 1986 AND THEN PETERED OUT. THE DOME STOPPED GROWING AT THAT TIME. >> Kartevold: THE 1980 DOME IS ABOUT 3,000 FEET WIDE AT THE BASE AND OVER 800 FEET TALL. IT IS THE RESULT OF GAS-DEPLETED MAGMA LEFT OVER FROM THE ERUPTION ON MAY 18th. THE SERIES OF SMALL ERUPTIONS THAT BUILT THIS DOME WERE SPREAD OUT ACROSS MORE THAN HALF A DECADE. AFTER THAT, MOUNT ST. HELENS FELL SILENT. IT WAS A SILENCE SHE WOULD KEEP FOR 18 YEARS. THEN, IN OCTOBER OF 2004, THE MOUNTAIN CLEARED HER THROAT AND BEGAN TO REBUILD HERSELF ONCE MORE. >> OVER A RELATIVELY SHORT PERIOD OF TIME WE ACCUMULATED A LARGE NUMBER OF MAGNITUDE 2 EARTHQUAKES, WHICH WAS VERY UNCOMMON FOR MOUNT ST. HELENS. ABOUT THE 28th OF SEPTEMBER, WE STARTED SEEING THIS AREA BEHIND THE OLD LAVA DOME AND THE GLACIER RISING AND CRACKING. OBVIOUSLY SOMETHING WAS MOVING UP CLOSE TO THE SURFACE AND DISTURBING THE GROUND. NOT LONG AFTER THAT WE DETECTED THE FIRST TRACES OF VOLCANIC GAS AND, OF COURSE, ON OCTOBER 1st WE HAD THE FIRST EXPLOSION. SEVERAL MORE FOLLOWED IN THE FOLLOWING DAYS. AND WE QUITE RAPIDLY WENT FROM SLEEPY MOUNT ST. HELENS TO AN ERUPTION IN PROGRESS. >> Kartevold: THE NEW DOME BEGAN TO APPEAR BETWEEN THE 1980 DOME AND THE CRATER WALL, DIVIDING AND PUSHING ASIDE THE GLACIER THAT HAD BEEN GROWING IN A HORSESHOE SHAPE AROUND THE CRATER'S EDGE SINCE 1986. >> THIS IS COMING OUT AT AN ANGLE, AND SO IT'S BASICALLY A RECLINED SPINE THAT JUST KEEPS PUSHING OUT, CRUMBLING AND THEN REFORMING, AND PUSHING OUT OVER ITS OWN DEBRIS. >> Kartevold: UNLIKE THE 1980 DOME THAT WAS BUILT OVER A SIX-YEAR PERIOD IN PATCHES, ONE LOBE PILED ON TOP OF THE NEXT, THIS DOME, CALLED THE WHALE'S BACK, HAS BREACHED THE SURFACE AND FORMED IN A MORE CONTINUOUS FASHION. >> BETTER THAN 40 MILLION CUBIC METERS SO FAR IN SIX MONTHS. THAT'S HALF OF THE VOLUME OF THE OLD LAVA DOME IN ONLY SIX MONTHS INSTEAD OF SIX YEARS. THAT'S QUITE REMARKABLE IN AND OF ITSELF. BUT ACCOMPANYING THAT EXTRUSION THERE HAVEN'T BEEN THE EXPLOSIONS. THERE HAVE BEEN SMALL EXPLOSIONS LIKE THOSE IN EARLY OCTOBER, BUT WE HAVEN'T GOTTEN ANY SUBPLENIUM OR PLENIUM COLUMNS, THE COLUMNS OF ASH THAT RISE UP THAT ARE DRIVEN BY THIS RAPID EXPANSION OF THE GASES COMING OUT OF SOLUTION IN THE MAGMA. SO THAT'S TELLING US SOMETHING FUNDAMENTAL ABOUT THIS MAGMA, ABOUT ITS POTENTIAL HAZARDS INTO THE FUTURE, AND ONE OF THE THINGS WE'RE LOOKING FOR VERY CLOSELY IS ANY EVIDENCE OF ANY MORE GAS-RICH MAGMA. >> Kartevold: WHILE THE WHALE BACK DOME'S DEVELOPMENT IS EXCITING, GEOLOGIST HAVE ALREADY LEARNED MUCH BY EXAMINING OLDER FORMATIONS EXPOSED BY THE 1980 ERUPTION. MUCH OF WHAT GEOLOGISTS SEE IN THE CRATER MATCHES WHAT THEY ALREADY BELIEVE TO BE THE GENERAL SEQUENCE OF EVENTS THAT HAD BUILT THE MOUNTAIN. BUT THE GAPING CRATER GIVES THEM A NICE CROSS-SECTIONAL VIEW OF THE MOUNTAIN'S PAST. >> AS YOU LOOK AROUND AT THE CRATER WALLS, YOU SEE THAT MUCH OF THE CRATER WALLS IS COMPOSED OF VERY LIGHT-COLORED ROCK, AND THAT LIGHT-COLORED ROCK REPRESENTS DOMES THAT ERUPTED ON THE VOLCANO, BROKE THROUGH TO THE SURFACE, BUILT DOMES, SOMETHING LIKE THE ONE BEHIND US, ABOUT 3,000 YEARS OR SO AGO. >> Kartevold: ON THE PUMICE PLAIN CREATED BY THE LANDSLIDE AND PYROCLASTIC FLOWS OF 1980, SCIENTISTS CAN SEE WHERE YOUNG AND OLD MEET. >> THOSE ROCKS ARE PART OF A SEQUENCE OF VOLCANIC ROCKS THAT ACCUMULATED BETWEEN ABOUT 38 AND 24 MILLION YEARS AGO IN A LONG BELT EXTENDING FROM MOUNT RAINIER IN WASHINGTON STATE THROUGH SOUTHERN WASHINGTON AND THE STATE OF OREGON. THE YOUNGER ROCKS WHICH BANK UP AGAINST THAT CLIFF ARE ALL DERIVED FROM MOUNT ST. HELENS, AND NEAR THE BASE OF THE CLIFF YOU CAN SEE SOME SUBTLE PUMICE THAT REMAIN FROM THE DEBRIS AVALANCHE OF THE MORNING OF MAY 18th, 1980. THE HORIZONTALLY LAYERED ROCKS THAT YOU SEE IN THE LITTLE CANYON WALL ARE PYROCLASTIC FLOW DEPOSITS FROM THE SUMMER OF 1980. >> Kartevold: IN THE SUMMER OF 1980, THIS WAS A SMOOTH SURFACE. BUT EROSION BY STREAMS DRAINING FROM MOUNT ST. HELENS HAVE CUT DEEP CANYONS INTO THE PYROCLASTIC FLOW DEPOSITS. >> IT'S GOING TO CONTINUE TO CHANGE DRASTICALLY OVER DECADES. THERE'LL BE CONTINUED EROSION, BUT ON THE OTHER HAND, DEPOSITS IN THESE WASHES WILL TEND TO FILL UP SOME OF THE LOW PLACES, TOO. SO IT WILL BE EVOLVING. >> Kartevold: AS THE MOUNTAIN EVOLVES, SO DOES THE TECHNOLOGY SCIENTISTS USE TO MONITOR IT. ALL THE MOUNTAINS IN THE CASCADE RANGE ARE MONITORED TO SOME DEGREE, BUT SINCE MOUNT ST. HELENS IS THE MOST ACTIVE, IT RECEIVES EXTRA ATTENTION. >> THIS IS THE FIRST ERUPTION THAT WE'VE USED THIS FLIR INSTRUMENT, WHICH IS A FORWARD-LOOKING INFRARED. IT'S BASICALLY THE SAME KIND OF CAMERA POLICE USE TO FIND WARM BODIES RUNNING AT NIGHT. AND THE ONE WE HAVE, WE CAN CALIBRATE. SO WE CAN ACTUALLY TELL SPOT TEMPERATURES. THAT WAS VERY USEFUL EARLY ON WHEN WE STARTED SEEING THAT, IN FACT, THERE IS HOT MATERIAL CLOSE TO THE SURFACE. >> Kartevold: COLLECTING DATA IS VITAL TO UNDERSTANDING WHAT MIGHT COME NEXT, BUT THE CRATER OF A VOLCANO IS A HAZARDOUS LABORATORY. >> WE LANDED NEXT TO THIS MASS AND LOOKED UP AT IT. IT WAS LIKE LOOKING UP AT AN EXTREMELY STEEP SLOPE. IT WAS A STRIATED SLOPE. YOU COULD SEE HOW THAT SURFACE HAD JUST BEEN DRAGGED OUT OF THE GROUND, IT WAS SCRATCHED, TO MAKE THESE GROOVES IN IT. THAT ENDS UP BEING ONE OF THE MOST REMARKABLE AND INTERESTING SCIENTIFIC THINGS ABOUT THIS ERUPTION, IS HOW THAT MATERIAL WAS PRODUCED AND HOW IT WAS STRIATED. >> Kartevold: THE SURFACE OF THE WHALE'S BACK IS COVERED WITH ONE TO TWO METERS OF FAULT GOUGE. FROM A DISTANCE, IT APPEARS TO BE SMOOTH, WHITE ROCK. >> BUT THE ROCK ITSELF IS REALLY NOT ROCK. IT'S JUST GROUND UP AS A POWDER. IT FALLS APART IN YOUR HAND. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING THAT HAPPENS ALONG FAULT ZONES WHEN MASSES OF THE EARTH'S PLATES RUB AGAINST EACH OTHER AND THEY GRIND EACH SIDE APART INTO THAT KIND OF POWDER. THAT'S WHAT WE'RE SEEING AT ST. HELENS. IT'S REALLY UNUSUAL. THIS KIND OF THING, TO OUR KNOWLEDGE, HASN'T BEEN DESCRIBED IN THIS THICKNESS ANYWHERE ELSE ON EARTH. >> Kartevold: THOUGH THE INFORMATION LEARNED IS VITAL, COLLECTING DATA MANUALLY FROM AN ACTIVE VOLCANO IS USUALLY NOT POSSIBLE. THAT'S WHY NECESSITY IS THE MOTHER OF INVENTION. IN THIS CASE, THE INVENTION IS BEING CALLED A "SPIDER." >> WE NEEDED INSTRUMENTS CLOSE IN. ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS WE'VE LOST THOSE THROUGH EXPLOSIONS. ONE OF THE SCIENTISTS HERE DEVELOPED BASICALLY PORTABLE INSTRUMENTS THAT COULD BE SLUNG IN BY HELICOPTER, AND AS FAR AS WE KNOW, THIS IS THE FIRST ERUPTION WHERE THESE PORTABLE INSTRUMENTS HAVE BEEN USED. SO WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO SLING IN SEISMOMETERS OR GPS INSTRUMENTS OR GAS SENSORS VERY QUICKLY BY HELICOPTER, SET THEM DOWN, AND LEAVE THEM. >> Kartevold: THE 1980 ERUPTION RESULTED IN A QUANTUM LEAP IN GEOLOGISTS' UNDERSTANDING OF HOW VOLCANOES WORK. HOWEVER, THERE STILL IS MUCH TO BE LEARNED. FOR EXAMPLE, BY STUDYING MICROSCOPIC CRYSTAL FORMATIONS IN ROCK SAMPLES TAKEN FROM THE NEW DOME, THEY HOPE TO DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT FUTURE ERUPTIONS WILL BE VIOLENT. >> IF A MAGMA RISES VERY RAPIDLY FROM DEPTH, THE GAS THAT'S DISSOLVED IN IT IS GOING TO COME OUT OF SOLUTION VERY RAPIDLY. THAT'S WHAT DRIVES EXPLOSIONS AND EXPLOSIVE ERUPTIONS. IF YOU'RE LIVING ON THE FLANKS OF A VOLCANO, IF YOU'RE DOWNWIND IN AN AIRPLANE -- WE'VE EVEN HAD 747s COME CLOSE TO CRASHING BY INGESTING ASH INTO THE ENGINES. SO WE NEED TO KNOW HOW MUCH GAS IS IN THE MAGMA. WE NEED TO KNOW HOW LIKELY IT IS TO PRODUCE AN EXPLOSIVE ERUPTION. SO WE'RE GETTING ALL OF THAT INFORMATION BY ANALYZING THE CRYSTAL, BY LOOKING AT THE TEXTURES, HOW THIS MATERIAL OUT HERE IN WHAT'S CALLED THE GROUND MASS, HOW IT GREW. ALL OF THE WORK WE'RE DOING HERE IS ORIENTED TOWARD THAT UNDERSTANDING OF HOW VOLCANOES WORK, BECAUSE WE HAVE TO HAVE THAT UNDERLYING SCIENTIFIC FOUNDATION IF WE'RE GOING TO BE ABLE TO SAVE LIVES AND PROPERTY IN THE END. >> Kartevold: THE LATEST ACTIVITY HERE AT MOUNT ST. HELENS ONLY OUR MOST RECENT REMINDER THAT WHEN THE MOUNTAIN GOES QUIET, EVEN IF IT'S FOR YEARS, WE HAVE TO REMEMBER, SHE'S ONLY NAPPING. THE VOLCANIC ACTIVITY HERE WILL CONTINUE, AND NO MATTER HOW GOOD WE BECOME AT MONITORING IT, THE MOUNTAIN AND THE MOUNTAIN ALONE WILL DICTATE WHAT COMES NEXT.
