B5
THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, MAY 21, 2022
Mountain: Life downstream was forever changed
Continued from Page B1
Spirit Lake, lying at the base of the mountain,
was a summer destination for kids from all over
the Northwest for decades. Scout troops and rec-
reation groups had regional camps there, in addi-
tion to a host of public and private campsites and
lodges. The shores and close waters were loaded
with canoes, rafts and fl oats. In the evening,
campfi re smoke mingled with singing, laughter
and scary stories over hot dogs, marshmallows
and hot chocolate.
This spring, two events spurred me to take a
day drive to the mountain. First, to celebrate the
50th birthday of my Volkswagen bus, and also to
reminisce about an adolescent foray to the moun-
tain in 1972.
It’s a great day trip for those living on the
lower Columbia. From U.S. Highway 30 and
Interstate 5, head toward Kelso before turning
east at state Route 504 near Castle Rock. In the
1970s, Spirit Lake Highway was a twisting, nar-
row road often traveled by logging trucks. After
the blast, the road had to be rebuilt for years,
since much of it was simply buried. Today it’s a
pleasant drive of long curves and grades.
The names swirl in my memory as I drive, fi rst
Seaquest State Park. Then Silver Lake, where I
STANDING ON THE RIDGE
THAT BEARS HIS NAME
AND GAZING INTO THE
MAW OF THE CRATER, YOU
TOO MAY SWEAR YOU CAN
HEAR THE LAST WORDS
OF DAVID A. JOHNSTON,
THE VULCANOLOGIST WHO
PERISHED THERE IN THE
DISASTER, ‘VANCOUVER!
VANCOUVER! THIS IS IT!’
nearly drowned while learning to water ski. The
town of Toutle, home of the Toutle Lake High
School Fighting Ducks. Kid Valley Store, where
everyone stopped to get that one thing they for-
got. My one disappointment in the trip was to
fi nd a “Road Closed Ahead” sign at the turnoff
to Tower Road. Before the eruption, two places
on this road were the old swimming holes of
every youth within 50 miles. The Tower Bridge,
with its pools and cliff s, entertained young and
old alike with cold, crystal clear waters and wind
protected beaches, all just a few miles from town.
Upstream of the bridge was Hollywood
Gorge, where a locomotive once plunged off a
trestle into the river, a 1930s fi lm stunt. Down-
stream was another favorite swimming hole.
Though the river still fl ows through these places,
they are forever changed since the eruption. Once
past the town of Toutle, the highway begins to
rise quickly in elevation.
Above Toutle, Washington 504 is a seasonal
highway, closed and unplowed from Novem-
ber until May. In the summer, the road is open
all the way to the Johnston Ridge Observatory,
which off ers spectacular views of the crater. The
observatory is open to the public in the summer
through late fall , and is the trailhead of many
hiking routes. From every viewpoint, it is appar-
ent that the forces entrusted with management of
Mount St. Helens made the right decision early,
to just leave it alone.
Standing on the ridge that bears his name and
gazing into the maw of the crater, you too may
swear you can hear the last words of David A.
Johnston, the vulcanologist who perished there in
the disaster, “Vancouver! Vancouver! This is it!”
Ron Baldwin
A snow capped Mount St. Helens.
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