What were you doing 42 years ago on this day when the mountain blew?
I was fishing Lake Cushman.
Damn time flies…..
SF
I was fishing Lake Cushman.
Damn time flies…..
SF
May 18th 1980
- Thread starter Stonedfish
- Start date
My parents hadn't gotten together yet ...
My dad, I and several others were sitting in the Kingston ferry line after completing the Rhody Run in Port Townsend(?). What a sight.
I was being a little kid on the east coast. But my great aunt and cousins shipped us jars of ash from their yard in Spokane that accumulated the next few days. I still have it somewhere.
Wareagle
Ducks and Trout
Fishing the seep lakes. felt the shaking of the eruption and went out fishing.Not long after, we could see the ash clouds coming our way.Fast.We made it back to camp as the ash started falling and quickly packed up. Drove the back roads to Royal City and found ut all roads heading west were closed.Good thing, as I could barely see the passenger side of my truck from all the ash anyways. Ended up staying at the church for 3 days. It actually was a great experience meeting all the towns folk. They made us meals the whole time.
I was about 9 months old, in my mom's arms, on my grandmother's porch in Bremerton.
RCF
Life of the Party
I was living in South Seattle. Just had woken up and heard the BOOM. Reminded me of a car going through the garage door and hitting the back wall (happened a few years earlier). Checked and that was not it.... Turned on the TV and saw the news. Dayum!!!
The next weekend - Memorial Day weekend - several of us went to Ocean Shores in our sports cars. We thought we outsmarted it by going West. NOPE! Woke up and it was raining mud. Drove home. The grit grinded some paint off the car and made a mess of the engine. Luckily insurance paid for the repairs.
Do not mess with Mother Nature...
The next weekend - Memorial Day weekend - several of us went to Ocean Shores in our sports cars. We thought we outsmarted it by going West. NOPE! Woke up and it was raining mud. Drove home. The grit grinded some paint off the car and made a mess of the engine. Luckily insurance paid for the repairs.
Do not mess with Mother Nature...
I was floating the NF Stilly doing a pre-season checkout with Tom Darling (Avid Angler), John Farrar, and Steve Rajeff. We didn't know anything had happened until the afternoon after the float when we stopped at the Whitehorse store for refreshments. People were pretty excited.
In Spokane at my BIL's house, wondering if that white stuff was gonna destroy my brand new car's engine, and listening to the county sheriff on the radio talking about declaring martial law. My other BIL, a cop from Lake Forest, was also there...trying to figure out how he was going to get back home on his motorcycle....he was pulled over by WSP by Ritzville and ordered to hunker down in a school gymnasium...until they let him continue on when they learned he was a cop...which resulted in the destruction of his bike somewhere near Moses Lake.
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Xoxo
…
Ha! My husband (who lived in Eastern Washington in Sunnyside when it happened) and i were just talking about this about two hours ago. We had two different experiences.
But on the west side I know exactly what i was doing (and it speaks to what a shitty spring this has been in 2022).
I was in the back yard in a bathing suit, trying to get a tan. My back-in-the-day-other-husband came out to tell me the mountain blew. And right right now I’m wearing a hoodie and sweats and i haven’t gone outside all day cause it’s windy and too cold. But yeah, 42 years ago i was lying out in the sun getting a tan.
Martha and i were expecting our first daughter and in Yacolt north of that little street called a town. We were outside wandering in the chicken patch… the sound of a huge kabang and rumble and we watched the 30,000 ‘ devils cloud roil and grow ever taller, in the house the news was turned on with a live report. Martha and I thought getting home would be a great idea as we got into our old car and drove slowly with ash falling . Longest trip ever doing 25-30 mph windshield wipers on … all the while wondering just how much the fallout was going to scratch the hell out of the windshield. Back in Hazel Dell we turned on the news. We watched in awe. I will say those couple years since the event—-best garden ever!
Hillbilly Redneck
wishin I was fishin
I was Razor clam digging in Ocean Shores.
BriGuy
Life of the Party
I lived on a small radar station in the Kalispell, MT area. It left a dusting of ash that turned everything gray -- like a light dusting of snow. The next day, we used the fire hoses stored in lockers near the hydrants to hose off the street and sidewalks. Not sure it helped much.
Coach Potter
Life of the Party
I was fishing with my dad and grandma on Spirit Lake...in N. Idaho. I was only 5 and don’t remember much beyond the ash falling like snow.
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In about 1973 I was attending Clark Community College and as a work study job I worked at the Gifford Pinchot National Forest headquarters . I was assigned to work for a year with the landscape architects. I am getting to the point right now- I worked on brochures illustrations and graphic design work. One notable one was some rendering and reprographic work for the Spirit Lake parking lot. I grew up boating on Spirit lake. My brother and I would lie on the launch dock and peer down through the water at trout and steelhead - gin clear gorgeous blue … we would drag the StarCraft up there and motor around. Sometimes trolling spinner rigs. It to my mind the most beautiful place I have ever been to . Dad mom
My brother and I probably were first there about 1962ish .
My brother and I probably were first there about 1962ish .
