Greatest blow job in American history: (cheap pun)

[K.Ingraham]

Mount St Helens blew her stack thirty years ago today.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_St._Helens" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[NeverSayDie]

Ranger Ingraham,

Isnt 2nd Batt HQ in that same AO? Where you around when it erupted?

[RANGER513]

Geez.....

And here I thought I was gonna see.......well......nevermind.

[Slowpoke]

Ranger Ingraham,

Isnt 2nd Batt HQ in that same AO? Where you around when it erupted?

I live within sight of Mt St Helens and saw the ash cloud going up 5/18/80! I spent about a week cleaning volcanic ash out of everything (gutters, air filters, etc.) and getting windsheilds replaced after they were scratched by the ash.

[NeverSayDie]

Ranger Ingraham,

Isnt 2nd Batt HQ in that same AO? Where you around when it erupted?

I live within sight of Mt St Helens and saw the ash cloud going up 5/18/80! I spent about a week cleaning volcanic ash out of everything (gutters, air filters, etc.) and getting windsheilds replaced after they were scratched by the ash.

Ranger Slowpoke,

thats one hell of a thing to bear witness to... up until I became a sophmore there would always be a news report every year or so that it was erupting, never wrapped my head around why it got so much media attention untill I learned that it was in CONUS and it took out alot of houses. was the lava flow or earthquakes ever close enough to threaten your property?

[Slowpoke]

Ranger Ingraham,

Isnt 2nd Batt HQ in that same AO? Where you around when it erupted?

I live within sight of Mt St Helens and saw the ash cloud going up 5/18/80! I spent about a week cleaning volcanic ash out of everything (gutters, air filters, etc.) and getting windsheilds replaced after they were scratched by the ash.

Ranger Slowpoke,

thats one hell of a thing to bear witness to... up until I became a sophmore there would always be a news report every year or so that it was erupting, never wrapped my head around why it got so much media attention untill I learned that it was in CONUS and it took out alot of houses. was the lava flow or earthquakes ever close enough to threaten your property?

There was no lava flow, just a HUGE explosian and release of ash. There WAS what is called a pyroclastic flow (super hot gasses and ash) that wiped out lots of people and thousands of acres of timber in just a few seconds. An interesting side story to the explosian was that of Harry Truman, the owner of Spirit Lake Lodge. The eighty-odd year old crusty fucker refused to leave his home....he now resides 150' below the ash. My home was never threatened as I live about 80 miles away.....St. Helens is one of those things you can see "on a clear day". They just had another person killed there a few weeks ago. It's an attractive "Day Hike" if you're in good enough shape. He was standing on the rim of the crater when it gave way beneath him. Because of the high swirling winds in the crater, they couldn't get him out until the next day and by that time it was a body recovery mission.

[Ranger Ron]

I saw a couple of small planes that had flown too close to the cloud and came back stripped to the bare metal. Polished 'em up real good!!

[Ranger Bill]

As I recall, the "blow job" put up more stuff into the atmosphere than all the stuff mankind has. And weather patterns were altered for a year or two. All we need is for three or four that size to happen in a single year... That would change the planet more than wildest dreams of Al Gore.

[Rock Island Ranger]

As I recall, the "blow job" put up more stuff into the atmosphere than all the stuff mankind has. And weather patterns were altered for a year or two. All we need is for three or four that size to happen in a single year... That would change the planet more than wildest dreams of Al Gore.

Speaking of Al Gore...he fell off the planet.....I hope.

[KW Driver]

There WAS what is called a pyroclastic flow (super hot gasses and ash) that wiped out lots of people and thousands of acres of timber in just a few seconds.

not just that, but the steam and hot ash pretty much instantly melted all the snowpack on the mountain. that created practically instantaneous blast/flashfloods/mudslides that took out about 4-5 miles of timber and everything living from the north slope to the north. then all of that flowed down mostly the north and some of the south tributaries and into the rivers. some of the flow got into the Columbia, all the way to the coast, west of Mt. St. Helens.

and had it blown it's top, and not the north face, it would have been much worse.

it's damn sure worth the trip if you can get up to Johnson observatory. rumor was a few years back it might close due to budget cuts.

[K.Ingraham]

NSD: No, check the dates in my tagline & compare.

When I went to the RRA reunion at Lewis in '04 one big change jumped out at me at damn near every turn, which I found a little disconcerting; all those "Volcano Evac Routes" signs everywhere in the Mt Rainier lava flow zones and "lethal burst radius".
Some of my fondest memories involve the views of that mountain but somehow it seems so sinister now, like loving & living with a bi-polor wife or something like that, beautiful & expectant at once.

Nothing was more strikingly beautiful than Rainier on a clear summer evening reflecting the sunset, looming up over us, even at sixty miles away, all glowing bright red with white and pink streaks. The Mountain seemed to move half the distance closer.
A jump on Abrams DZ with that view was a moment worth everything that becoming and remaining a Ranger entailed.

[K.Ingraham]

I live within sight of Mt St Helens and saw the ash cloud going up 5/18/80! I spent about a week cleaning volcanic ash out of everything (gutters, air filters, etc.) and getting windsheilds replaced after they were scratched by the ash.

knocked your hair right off..................... :D

That'll teach him to go outside in the acid rain without a hat on.

[BruteForce]

Ranger Ingraham,

Isnt 2nd Batt HQ in that same AO? Where you around when it erupted?

I was there when it erupted. Ash was so thick it took paint off many cars, dropped lava rocks on the lawn on base enlisted housing, etc.

[B 2/75]

Was in Ranger School at the time... missed it.

Shortly after we got back I remember going to Yakima for some exercise or other... like walking on the moon...

poooffff....poooffff....poooffff....poooffff....