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Topic 70 of 92: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes

Wed, Apr 17, 2002 (16:18) | Julie (cascadeclimber)
A place to talk about the history, science, and scenery of the Cascade Volcanic Range and the beautiful Pacific Northwest surrounding it.
342 responses total. 

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 1 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Wed, Apr 17, 2002 (16:32) * 1 lines
Woooooowhooooo!!! My very own topic. This is GREAT!! I have so much to say and not enough time to say it. A few days ago my brother Sean and I recieved the Mt. St. Helens climbing permit in the mail. The day assigned to us is May 29th. So its definate. We are climbing to the summit of Mt. St. Helens! We may possibly climb Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams if we have enough time. Right now though, while I'm taking breaks in between studying and homework I have to plan our trip out. I really have no clue yet where exactly we are going and what we have time for. If it were up to me I would stay in the Cascades for a month, but we only have 8 days. Some time later in the week, I will post some of the stuff I have written on the Cascade Range.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 2 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Wed, Apr 17, 2002 (17:56) * 2 lines
The Cascade Volcanic Range contains more volcanic features than most people realize. Some are less significant than others and that is probably why they are hardly mentioned. But I am going to share every one of them with you, I think. If I missed any, please let me know because this is a lot to remember without looking at a map. Starting in Northern California and going north towards British Colombia is…In California… Clear Lake Volcanic Field, Lassen Peak, Black Butte, Mt. Shasta and Shastina, Medicine Lake Volcanic Field (Glass Mountain and Little Glass Mountain), and Lava Beds Volcanic Field. In Oregon…Mt. Mc Loughlin, Crater Lake (Garfield Peak, Mt. Scott, Wizard Island), Mt. Thielsen, Mt. Bailey, Diamond Peak, Newberry Volcanic Field (Paulina Peak, Pilot Butte, Lava Butte), Mt. Bachelor, Broken Top, South Sister, Middle Sister, North Sister, Belknap Shield Volcano, Mt. Washington, Three-Fingered Jack, Mt. Jefferson, and Mt. Hood. In Washington… Mt. Adams, Indian Heaven Volcanic Field, Mt. St. Hel
ns, Goat Rocks Volcanic Field, Mt. Rainer, Glacier Peak, and Mt. Baker. In British Colombia… Mt. Garibaldi, and Meager Mountain. Phew!!!! Too many volcanoes! *laughs*

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 3 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Wed, Apr 17, 2002 (18:23) * 0 lines 
 

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 4 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Wed, Apr 17, 2002 (18:30) * 4 lines
Julie! Perfect!!! Now, a little graphic to help us understand why the Cascade Volcanoes are there and where they are: 




 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 5 of 342: Curious Wolfie  (wolf) * Wed, Apr 17, 2002 (18:34) * 1 lines
marcia-log on to msn messenger....

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 6 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Wed, Apr 17, 2002 (18:35) * 1 lines
Excellent! Thanks Marcia, that works nicely.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 7 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Wed, Apr 17, 2002 (18:56) * 1 lines
You are going there soon. How does one climb a volcano like Mount St Helens?

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 8 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Wed, Apr 17, 2002 (19:13) * 1 lines
Very, very carefully! *laughs* Well, most of the volcnaoes in the Cascade Range can only be climbed with a permit, except for a few. These permits have to be paid for and I think there might be an annual pass too for climbing. The climbing pass is also good as your wilderness permit so you don't have to pay 2 fees. For Mt. St. Helens though, there is only 100 people a day allowed to make the trek to the summit. I think the trail that we will use is called Ptarmigan Trail. Its 3.9 miles to the summit which may not seem like much but it really is if you are climbing from 3600 feet to the summit. This trail is actually considered very difficult to strenous, so it looks to me like its going to be a looooong climb. We will be wearing our hiking boots and probably gators so we don't get ash in our boots. We may have to spend the night and camp out if we can't make the desent before dark. The summit climb will take about 5-7 hours regardless, but weather conditions can slow us down.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 9 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Wed, Apr 17, 2002 (19:14) * 1 lines
You are going there soon. How does one climb a volcano like Mount St Helens?

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 10 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Wed, Apr 17, 2002 (19:15) * 1 lines
(please note that the double post is not our fault. Yapp software does that occasionally when it is very busy. I'll leave it there.)

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 11 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Wed, Apr 17, 2002 (19:20) * 1 lines
Very Careful hiking, indeed! And haul out what you took in! The oddest thing I discoverd is that hiking down was every bit as hard as hiking up. I hae had sore hips, knees and ankles from that. Please, Julie! No heroics until they mend your ankle properly. Do they pick you by lottery or first come first served when they pick the 100 lucky people to climb? I forgot about ash in your boots! That stuff is so terribly abrasive that it will take your skin off down to the bone. It is Not like fireplace ashes!!!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 12 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Wed, Apr 17, 2002 (19:25) * 1 lines
We sent the climbing application in about a week ago. Forest Service said that summer days, especailly weekends fill up fast. I was kind of worried that we wouldn't get a date because I would have thought that they would be mobed around Memorial Day which is almost when we are going. But I guess no one wants to climb so early in the summer so we got our first choice on days. When we get there, we have to sign in and when we are through climbing we have to sign out.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 13 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Wed, Apr 17, 2002 (19:37) * 1 lines
Don't worry about my ankle. I'm going to tape it up and I might even get a cordizone shot before I go. I have two more appointments with the doctor before I leave to Washington. I should be fine as long as I don't have to walk on too many aa lava flows like I did in Arizona. Ouch!! That was painful! Climbing has not been a problem for me, yet.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 14 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Wed, Apr 17, 2002 (20:22) * 1 lines
Stay off the a'a flows! Straight forward hiking should not be a problem the way they manufacture hiking boots now. Mine have saved my ankles many times! I 'd worry anyway just because you are family now and I seem to be the mother goddess of Geo... Gadzooks, I never thought of it that way!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 15 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Wed, Apr 17, 2002 (22:07) * 1 lines
Yikes!! I was a little off when I told you how long the hike was to the summit of Mt. St. Helens. I was looking at an old book. I just checked in the climbing packet that I received with our permit. The trail is called Monitor Ridge. We will be gaining 4,500 feet in elevation and hiking 5 miles. Roundtrip is 7 to 12 hours. Yikes!! Looks to me like we will have to camp out on Mt. St. Helens. This will be awesome though. I never thought I would get to sleep next to my favorite volcano while watching the starry night sky. Oh boy!!! I can't wait!!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 16 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Wed, Apr 17, 2002 (23:07) * 1 lines
Julie, I sent you the stuff you will be able to see up there astronomy-wise. I'd also suggest you check into http://www.heavensabove.com and add your coordinates so you can watch whatever going over - ISS, Hubble or other magnificent things!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 17 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Wed, Apr 17, 2002 (23:09) * 1 lines
What a difference a hyphen makes http://www.heavens-above.com/ is the url you want.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 18 of 342: Rob Glennie  (AotearoaKiwi) * Thu, Apr 18, 2002 (02:01) * 5 lines
Hi all

About time I got here. Thanks for setting this up Julie. HUGS. Julie is a volcano fanatic of the first order from Santa Ana (how did I miss her in 1992??).

Rob

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 19 of 342: Rob Glennie  (AotearoaKiwi) * Thu, Apr 18, 2002 (06:40) * 5 lines
Hi all

Don't worry about Julie's ankle Marcia. She has it operated on in June which is why she is going in May to MSH. Besides she knows I will keep watch *don't you Julie. You know I am watching*.

Rob

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 20 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Thu, Apr 18, 2002 (14:35) * 1 lines
*laughs* Yes Rob, I know you are, which is why I have to be extra careful. I have more things to worry about anyways other than my ankle. Oh Marcia, I don't think I'll be wearing shorts this time. The temperature in that area is still going to be pretty cool, so I don't need to worry about getting my shins all scraped up. Knowing me though, I will find something to hurt, I always do. I have never been on a trip where I didn't sprain, cut, scrap, or bruise part of my body. Don't worry though. I will do my best to stay in one piece. 

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 21 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Thu, Apr 18, 2002 (14:49) * 2 lines
Go to the link below. I sent my first "Cascade Adventure" story into Volcano World and they published it. The writing kinds of stinks, but the pictures are pretty good. It does give a good account though of what you can find at each of the visitor center's at Mt. St. Helens.
http://volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/adventures/cascades/casadv.html

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 22 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Thu, Apr 18, 2002 (15:05) * 5 lines
Rob, I think we all need to watch over Julie! Not the special way you do, but watch and worry, we will. Perhaps a special libation and plea for Mme Pele's prtection might also be appropraite. After all, you will be messing about on an active volcano of a rather nasty method of erupting.

Wow, I'll cut and paste your story here, if you wish? I'll give appropriate credits and all that.

*Hugs* Julie. Be safe.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 23 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Thu, Apr 18, 2002 (15:11) * 60 lines
The Cascades Adventure - 1999

Text and photography by Julie Gilbert


This past summer, I had the most exciting, magnificent, and extraordinary time of my life! My family and I went to Oregon,
Washington, and British Columbia. Although to my parents, this trip was to see the cities' attractions. But for me, this trip wa s to
see as many of the Cascade volcanoes as I could.

As we left LAX on United Airlines, my brother told me if there wasn't many clouds in the sky, we would be able to see all the
features of California and Oregon. We were in luck! The sky was unusually clear. First, I got to see the San Andres Fault. Se
eing it from the air is so different than on the ground. Then, a little bit later on, I saw Lassen Peak, but I couldn't get a really good
view because there was cloud cover over it. Next, we flew over Mt. Shasta. It was such a great view! I could see dire ctly into
the crater. As we flew into Oregon, we could see Crater Lake and Wizard Island. Sometime after that we passed over the
Three Sisters and Mt. Jefferson. Although we landed in Portland, in the distance we could see Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Rainier.

Our first destination would be Mt. Hood. We took Highway 55 connecting to Highway 26 around Mt. Hood. We got so close
to it! It was so majestic looking. It's funny how beautiful and amazing these volcanoes look. It's hard to imagine how dangerous
and destructive they can be. When we got to Mt. St. Helens though, my thoughts changed. In some areas, it looked like the
May 1980 eruption just took place only yesterday. As we drove to the Johnston Ridge Observatory, I saw that the entire area
on the north side looked like a moonscape. There was nothing but broken logs and stumps from trees for miles. Later, I saw the
area of the mudflows that had wiped out everything in its path. As we were walking around the visitor center, there were signs
everywhere say ing to stay on the marked trails. Anyone who stepped off the trails would be fined. This was because new life is
starting to grow. Someday, the area will once again be filled with forests of trees, plants, flowers, and animals. If people step on
a tiny bud or a sprouting seed, it's like taking away life. Life near Mt. St. Helens grows every day. If we just left it alone, and let
Mother Nature do her thing, Mt. St. Helens can turn into a magnificent place.

Next, we turned the car around and headed towards Coldwater Ridge Visitor's Center. The views there were incredible! Then,
we went to the Forest Learning Center. We saw a fantastic movie about Mt. St. Helens showing the eruption and what
happened after. The exhibits were great. They almost looked real! N ext, we drove to Hoffstadt Bluffs Visitor Center where we
saw where the debris avalanche rushed down the North Fork Toutle River area. We also saw a herd of elk down in that area.
Finally, we came to the last visitor center. In the Mt. St. Helens' Visitor s Center, we saw all the history behind Mt. St. Helens. I
must not forgot that some of the visitor centers had seimographs that measured any earthquakes in the area. That was very
interesting because when we were at the Johnston Ridge Observatory, there w as a little bit of activity on the seismograph.

The next day we toured Lava Canyon. Lava Canyon is made up of old lava flows from Mt. St. Helens. It was a fascinating and
beautiful place. On the sides of the trails, there were still piles of ash left from the May eruption. The Muddy River, although it
got its name from the mudflow in the 1980 eruption, was now very clear and blue. In the distance, we could see Mt. Adams
through the trees. Next, we drove to Ape Cave. We only had time to see the lower level because it takes like 1-3 hours for
each of them. Even though it was close to 90 outside it was quite cold inside the cave. We were not fortunate enough to see any
of the animals that live in the cave, but we did get a little wet from the stalactites that dripped water over our hands.

My brother had to leave that day so we dropped him off at Portland Airport. Then we headed on our way towards Everett. On
our way, I pleaded with my parents to stop at Mt. Rainer. I definitely wanted to see the tallest volcano in the Cascades. And the
re it stood, 14,411 feet. We took some excellent shots, but as we got closer, my camera could no longer fit the entire image in.
When we arrived at the Henry M. Jackson Memorial Visitor Center, there were chairs where people were just sitting and
watching Mt. Rainer either to watch and enjoy the beauty or waiting for it to erupt! Then we went to the Paradise Visitor's
Center. This place was really cool because it was shaped like a circle. You had to walk in a circle to see all the exhibits. The
views of M t. Rainer were absolutely incredible! It was so huge! It's like looking at a sleeping giant, which is exactly what it, is.
A couple of days letter when we were at the Seattle Space Needle, I took a couple of last shots of Mt. Rainer and Mt. St.
Helens in the distance.

Finally my volcano trip came to an end. But not before I saw some great views from the plane again. As the plane took off, I
looked out of the window and saw Mt. Rainer, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Adams behind us. We then passed over Mt. Hood, Mt.
Jeffer son, and the Three Sisters. I decided to take some very odd pictures from the plane. Maybe they would come out. I
snapped a couple of shots of Mt. Jefferson and the Three Sisters. After that, unfortunately, there was cloud cover until we got
back into Cal ifornia where I took my last shots of the San Andreas Fault. It was sad to see my volcano trip come to an end. I
had such an incredible time. I sort of wished my parents would leave me there because I really wanted to stay. Someday, when
I'm older, I'll g o there again myself. And maybe if I'm lucky, I'll get to see other volcanoes around the world too!

http://volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/adventures/cascades/casadv.html

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 24 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Thu, Apr 18, 2002 (15:12) * 1 lines
Julie, I also saved your images. Would you like me to insert them and redo this volcano watch story? It is really good and your images add so much to it.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 25 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Thu, Apr 18, 2002 (17:53) * 1 lines
Sure, go right ahead. I would have pasted the story in myself, but I gave the link instead because I am lazy. *laughs*

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 26 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Thu, Apr 18, 2002 (17:59) * 2 lines
I get all the dirty work. OK.... will do it with the programmed photos in it. I successfully added them to spring's hard drive. Do you want to try? It is rather a complicated bunch of pointy brackets and all that for a first time programming run. I'll do it for you! 


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 27 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Thu, Apr 18, 2002 (22:45) * 2 lines
Its a good thing I am starting to plan our Washington trip out now because I have already begun to run into some problems. The 4 times I was in the Cascades it was early to middle of August. This time we are going the end of May begining of June and the snows will barely have had time to melt. I was looking at the road and trail conditions today and it doesn't look all that great. Sure, I have about a month, but the Pacific Northwest, mainly the western part of the Cascades in Washington have had above average snowfall this year. As of right now almost all the passes to Mt. Rainer, Mt. Adams, and Mt. Baker are closed. I am hoping that the roads and trails will be cleared by the time we go. I am also worried about avalanche danger, because with all that extra snow melting its very easy for a slope to just give way under the weight. Also, I found out the most of the campgrounds in the area don't open until May 25th. We are leaving May 27th or 28th. Thats kind of risking it if you ask me. If there i
still too much snow the campgrounds will not open when they are expected to. And because of my dumb ankle surgery, this is the only time I can go. Ah well, I will have to just keep my fingers crossed and make the best of it. At least Mt. St. Helens is still acessiable.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 28 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Thu, Apr 18, 2002 (23:37) * 1 lines
I can remember being in the first convoy of cars over the Tuolumne Pass and that was a trip for my Birthday - the end of May. The snow was pretty deep, still. And this is south of the southern Terminus of The Cascades. I had not considered the possibility of snow. Let your brother drive and the rest of us back home will worry about you and be watching out for you. Despite Rob's worthy vigilence, I think you might just need a few more pairs of eyes to watch out for you! Take a ground cloth with you just in case!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 29 of 342: John Tsatsaragos  (tsatsvol) * Fri, Apr 19, 2002 (05:37) * 12 lines
Perfect topic Julie,
Your sprightliness and interesting are excellent. You are special anyway. But you need to be extra careful too. Enthusiasm can make us less attentive. I live a bad experience during the last three months. I have broken my leg even if I was walking carefully on the absolutely flat but icy and a little snowy ground. I assure that a serious hurt of the ankle is not a simple case.

I have the idea to create a complete page for your excellent story in our Geo Portal; anyway, if you would not say not. We can also include photos, any newer description or any scientific explanation or exploration that you can give to us about volcanoes and the Cascades Adventure.

The same go for you Rob. Any issue that you think is interesting.

I have also two questions: Can we predict a volcano eruption? Where are today's limits on it?
My knowledge is inexistent about this.

John 


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 30 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Fri, Apr 19, 2002 (13:28) * 3 lines
John, yes we can predict volcanic eruptions according to the research done on the Hawaiian volcanoes. Do you want this put on Julie's topic or on one we were going to create. I think we need to discuss it elsewhere.

Please add Julie to the portal page and sky charts. Even if I have to borrow them from some other site, I think we should have them!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 31 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Apr 19, 2002 (17:23) * 1 lines
I just thought of something. I think I would like to post some of my science fair project that I did last year. It might fill up a bit of space though. Is that okay Marcia? Its all about the Cascade Volcanoes, actually volcanic ash of the Cascades. I never really thought it was that great, but I did win 9 awards for it at the city, county, and state science fairs. The poster board looks very good, but I guess I cannot show you that. I can only post the written papers I have in the notebook. I won't be able to post the data either but I can give you all a summary of what I found. You will all love it though. 

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 32 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Fri, Apr 19, 2002 (19:23) * 2 lines
Use all the space you need. Some of these topics have almost 2000 posts of far less worthy things than your scinence fair project! Please... I'd love for you to do this! 


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 33 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Apr 19, 2002 (19:52) * 1 lines
Okay, I guess the best way to start this is to tell you my question and hypothesis that I tested. Wait, I should mention the title of my project. "Blast of Ash from the Past!" My question was..... Are there any differences between each ash sample in relation to different types of volcanoes?

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 34 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Apr 19, 2002 (19:59) * 4 lines
The 7 ash samples that I used were the following...Lassen Peak (Peak), Lassen Peak (near park), Medicine Lake Volcanic Area(Little Glass Mountain), Mt. Shasta, Mt. St. Helens (Lava Canyon), Mt. St. Helens (Johnston Ridge Observatory), and **Mt. St. Helens.
**The Mt. St. Helens ash sample was # 7, but was taken out of my data because there was no precise location of where the ash came from. 



 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 35 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Apr 19, 2002 (20:00) * 1 lines
Here's my hypothesis.....I think that the 2 ash samples from Mt. St. Helens will be similar because they were taken physically near each other. I think the 2 ash samples from Lassen Peak will be similar because they were also taken physically near each other. Mt. Shasta will be similar to Mt. St. Helens because they are both “strato” (composite) volcanoes. I think that the ash from Medicine Lake Volcanic Area will be different than the other 3 volcanoes because Medicine Lake Volcanic Area is made up of different types of volcanoes (shield volcanoes, cinder cones, and a caldera), which would probably change the chemical composition of the ash.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 36 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Apr 19, 2002 (20:04) * 1 lines
*kicks herself* Ugh!! I should have posted the introduction first. I bet some of you have no clue what I was talking about. *kicks herself again* Let's back up. I will post the intro frist so you can get an idea of what I was doing. Sorry about that!!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 37 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Apr 19, 2002 (20:07) * 9 lines
I have always been interested in volcanoes, but it wasn’t until about 2 ½ years ago when my interest became an obsession. In the summer of my sophomore year, I toured several of the Cascade volcanoes in Oregon, Washington, and British Colombia. This included Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainer, Mt. Adams, and Mt. Hood. When I was at Mt. St. Helens though, I became very interested in the volcanic ash that blew half way across the country during the May 1980 eruption. I collected several samples of the volcanic ash throughout the Mt. St. Helens area. About 1 year later, I decided that I wanted to do a science fair project on volcanic ash, but unfortunately, I didn’t have enough ash. Well, as it turns out I got a second chance to tour the southern part of the Cascade Range in California, such as Mt. Shasta, Lassen Peak, and Medicine Lake Volcanic Area. I collected several ash samples from each of the volcanoes. This is how I began to come up with my explosive idea!
There are several types of volcanoes in the Cascade Range. Composite volcanoes are typically steep-sided, symmetrical cones of large dimension built of alternating layers of lava flows, volcanic ash, cinders, blocks, and bombs. Most composite volcanoes have a crater at the summit, which contains a central vent or a clustered group of vents. Subduction-zone volcanoes, like Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Shasta are composite cones and typically erupt with explosive force, because the magma is too stiff to allow easy escape of volcanic gases.
Lava domes are a steep-sided mass of viscous lava extruded from a volcanic vent, often circular in plain view and spiny, rounded, or flat on top. Lava domes commonly occur within the craters of on the flanks of large composite volcanoes, such as Mt. St. Helens and Lassen Peak.
Medicine Lake Volcanic Area is made up of several shield volcanoes, cinder cones, and a caldera. These different types of volcanoes produce different types of eruptions. Shield volcanoes are built almost entirely of fluid lava flows. Flow after flow pours out in all directions from a central summit vent, or group of vents, building a broad, gently sloping cone of flat shape, with a profile much like that a warrior's shield. They are built up slowly by the accretion of thousands of flows of highly fluid basaltic lava that spreads widely over great distances, and then cools as thin, gently dipping sheets. Cinder cones are built from particles and blobs of congealed lava ejected from a single vent. As the gas-charged lava is blown violently into the air, it breaks into small fragments that solidify and fall as cinders around the vent to form a circular or oval cone. A caldera is a huge depression caused when a large volume of magma is removed from beneath a volcano, and the ground subsides or collapses i
to the empty space.
Volcanic ash is defined as pyroclasts 2mm or less in diameter. There are 3 basic mechanisms of volcanic ash formation; The release of gases from solution because of decomposition within the magma as it reaches the surface of the planet, the chilling and explosive fragmentation of magma during contact with ground and surface water or ice and snow, and the comminution and ejection of particles from vent walls or crater debris during eruptions of steam and hot water. The composition and shape of volcanic ashes may be used to interpret physical properties of erupting magma and its volatile content.
Neutron activation analysis is one way elements can be analyzed in a sample of a substance. In this method, a neuron source is used to bombard a sample with neutrons. The nucleus of an atom in the sample will absorb neutrons. This will make the atom into an isotope. An isotope is an atom with the same number of protons as another atom, but a different number of neutrons. Some isotopes are radioactive and gamma radiation is one type of radiation that can be released. This can be measured using a gamma ray spectrometer. 



 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 38 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Apr 19, 2002 (20:13) * 1 lines
Here's a list of the materails I used for this experiment...TRIGA Nuclear Reactor (Located at UCI)- neutron source, Gamma Ray Spectrometer (Located at UCI), 7 sample vials, 7 ash samples(the ones I posted before), Digital scale, 8 labels, Soldering iron, and Tongs.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 39 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Apr 19, 2002 (20:15) * 4 lines
Okay, now to the confusing part. If I lose anyone let me know. Here's is what I did...7 separate ash samples were weighed using a digital scale. The samples were placed in the empty vials, and each was correctly labeled. Next, a soldering iron was used to seal the covers shut on the vials. The sample vials were placed into a pneumatic tube system, which led them into the nuclear reactor. The samples were then irradiated for about 10 seconds. The samples then returned through the tube system. All the samples were irradiated individually. Then, the samples were individually placed in the gamma ray spectrometer, and the energy released due to the gamma rays was measured. This information was then analyzed with an index of gamma ray energies vs. radionuclides and the elements in the samples were determined. The samples were then saved and 1 week later the samples were again placed into the gamma ray spectrometer and analyzed. Average measurements of the 2 cycles were used to obtain the final results.




 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 40 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Apr 19, 2002 (21:02) * 1 lines
I need to post the bar graphs, but I don't want anyone to do it for me. I want to do this on my own, if I can. I used Excel. So Marcia, John, someone talk me through this. How do I post them?

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 41 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Fri, Apr 19, 2002 (22:36) * 1 lines
Julie, This is spectacular material you are presenting. It is precise, riveting in detail and thoroughly fascinating. As soon as John gets online he will assist you or make suggestions for other methods of posting your graphics. I can't wait till the next installment!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 42 of 342: Rob Glennie  (AotearoaKiwi) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (02:57) * 22 lines
Hi all

I am going to have a look for the negatives of the 1992 US volcano tour (essentially what my 1992 sojourn became). We spent a day at MSH on May 23 1992, and went to Windy Ridge, and the Castle Rock visitor centre. Now I want to return sometime in the next few years to see what progress has been made and compare it with 1992.

I have four things to do in WA next time I am there:
1)See Mt Rainier, and Orting.
2)See Mount St Helens, and compare what I see with 1992.
3)See Mount Baker if possible.
4)See friends in Seattle.

I want to see in CA:
1)The SAF (San Andreas Fault)
2)Mammoth and the LV caldera
3)Hayward Fault
4)Julie (location permitting)

I want to see in Hawaii:
1)Kilauea (in particular Pu'u O'o and Kupaianaha(??))
2)The hostess of Geo, the gracious Marcia Hemming
3)The inundation zone from the tsunamis

Rob

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 43 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (10:52) * 1 lines
Sounds like a great plan Rob. But one thing....What about Lassen and Shasta? *sniff, sniff* *cries* You don't like those volcanoes!! *laughs* I'm just playing with you Rob. They are a little bit far up the state. Kind of a pain to get up to, but quite worth it if you have time. Okay all, I e-mailed John 4 graphs, so he will help me post them when he can. For now, I am going to post a few other things that went along with my science fair project; a little bit more info and a few stories.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 44 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (10:58) * 6 lines
Here is a a BRIEF few sentences on each of the volcanoes that I took the ash samples from. I will post a complete write up about their history and the rest of the Cascades when I have time.
Mt. St. Helens is a strato (composite) volcano that last erupted in May 1980. Since the last eruption, Mt. St. Helens has been growing a lava dome in the middle of the crater floor. Mt. Shasta is a strato (composite) volcano that last erupted in 1786. Medicine Lake Volcanic Area is made up from a caldera, many shield volcanoes, and cinder cones. Little Glass Mountain is a lava dome made of a tephra, rhyolite and obsidian flow that erupted in 885. Glass Mountain is a lava dome made of dacite, rhyolite, and obsidian flow that last erupted in 1910. Lassen Volcanic Field and Lassen Peak is made up from a lava dome that last erupted in 1914. 





 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 45 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (11:02) * 7 lines
I will tell you a little bit about each type of volcano that I was working with.
Strato (or Composite) Volcanoes: Typically steep-sided, symmetrical cones of large dimension built of alternating layers of lava flows, volcanic ash, cinders, blocks, and bombs. Most composite volcanoes have a crater at the summit, which contains a central vent or a clustered group of vents. Subduction-zone volcanoes, like Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Shasta are composite cones and typically erupt with explosive force, because the magma is too stiff to allow easy escape of volcanic gases.Lava Domes: A steep-sided mass of viscous lava extruded from a volcanic vent, often circular in plain view and spiny, rounded, or flat on top. Lava domes commonly occur within the craters of or on the flanks of large composite volcanoes, such as Mt. St. Helens. Cinder Cones: Built from particles and blobs of congealed lava ejected from a single vent. As the gas-charged lava is blown violently into the air, it breaks into small fragments that solidify and fall as cinders around the vent to form a circular or oval cone. Caldera:
A huge depression caused when a large volume of magma is removed from beneath a volcano, and the ground subsides or collapses into the empty space. Shield volcanoes: Built almost entirely of fluid lava flows. Flow after flow pours out in all directions from a central summit vent, or group of vents, building a broad, gently sloping cone of flat shape, with a profile much like that a warrior's shield. They are built up slowly by the accretion of thousands of flows of highly fluid basaltic lava that spreads widely over great distances, and then cools as thin, gently dipping sheets. 





 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 46 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (11:11) * 29 lines
This next story called, "Cascades Adventure 2000" was written a bit after I figured out what I was doing for the science fair.

During the scorching month of August, I received my second chance to see the rest of the Cascade Volcanic Range, which included Mt. Shasta, Lassen Peak, Medicine Lake Volcanic Area, and Lava Beds National Monument. Ever since I had visited Mt. St. Helens last year, I wanted to do a science fair project on volcanic ash. I only had a few samples from Mt. St. Helens, but this trip was my chance to collect enough volcanic ash from several of the other volcanoes to do an explosive science fair project!

When my parents and I arrived at Lassen Volcanic National Park, we went straight to the Visitor’s center to pick up a map of the area. There were so many things to see and do that I realized we wouldn’t have enough time to do everything. First we visited the Devastated Area. The Devastated Area visibly illustrates the slow return of Earth’s green mantle of plants. An air cushion avalanche hit the Devastated Area when Lassen Peak erupted in 1914. The view of Lassen Peak from the Devastated Area was spectacular. This was the area that I took ash sample # 2. Next, we went to Bumpus Hell, which I found extremely fascinating. Bumpus Hell contains some active volcanic features, such as mud pots, geysers, and hot springs. It took about an hour or two to hike the 3-mile uphill climb to Bumpus Hell, but it was defiantly worth it. Bumpus Hell is like a miniature version of Yellowstone National Park.

I had my choice to climb either Lassen Peak or Cinder Cone. I wanted to climb both, but there wasn’t enough time. The climb to Cinder Cone was a very easy beginning hike. The climb to Lassen Peak was a very strenuous climb with a larger altitude increase. I finally decided to climb Lassen Peak. The next day, we woke up very early. My parents and I drove to the base of Lassen Peak. There were quite a lot of people climbing up to the peak. If my brother had gone on this trip, he would have climbed to the top with me, but this time I would have to make the journey by myself. It took about 3 ½ hours until I summitted, only because I was stopping every second to take a picture, study a rock, or drink some water. When I got to the top, I was a little dizzy. I was amazed by the elevation I climbed. The view from the top of Lassen Peak was breathtaking. You could see for miles in every direction. It was like being in a plane and looking out of the window and seeing everything look as small as an ant
In the distance, Mt. Shasta could be seen through the haze. There was also hundreds of orange butterflies flying all around the summit. It was almost magical. It seemed a shame that I would have to hike back down soon. Before I left, I took ash sample #1. The hike down took less than an hour.

The next day we toured Mt. Shasta. When we arrived at the base of Mt. Shasta, I threw some film bottles and a magnifying glass in my bag and hiked past the parking lot and into the avalanche gully area. I dug down in the ash about a foot and took ash sample #3. I then searched around for some interesting volcanic rocks. As I was walking past the parking lot, a car pulled up and a lady poked her head out the window.

“Are you a geologist?” She asked.

“Um, not yet, but I hope to be one soon.” I replied.

“Are you in high school?” She asked.

“Yeah, I’ve got one more year left to go.” I answered. She then began to ask me questions about the rock formations and the geology of Mt. Shasta. It felt good to be able to answer her. Thanks to Geology 100 and Geology 100L. I guess all that studying, reading, and collecting paid off! I guess I must have looked pretty professional.

We didn’t have time to see the entire area of Medicine Lake, but I did get a chance to see Little Glass Mountain. Little Glass Mountain doesn’t look anything like a volcano. It looks more like a huge pile of obsidian that is broken up into all sorts of shapes. I took ash sample #4 close to this area. I wanted to take home a piece of obsidian, but most of the pieces were too big. My parents told me to be careful because they were afraid I was going to get bit by a rattlesnake. Finally after climbing over some big slabs of obsidian, I found the perfect piece that was a little bigger than my hand. I laid on my stomach and reached down to grab it. As I lifted the obsidian up, I felt a sharp pain in my hand. I looked down at my hand to see blood dripping down my fingers. I looked at the piece of obsidian and realized what had just happened. On the backside of the obsidian a sharp piece of glass was sticking out. I guess I must have cut myself on it. Then I thought back and remembered that some India
tribes used obsidian to make spears and knives. Until I cut my hand, I never realized how sharp obsidian was!

The car ride to Lava Beds National Monument seemed to take forever. When we got there though, I was shocked by what I saw. The whole area was like a barren dessert with lots and lots of black and brown basalt. I got to see Mammoth Crater, which actually is one of the volcanoes that produced some of the lava in Lava Beds National Monument. The coolest part about Lava Beds National Monument was the lava tubes. Lava tubes are made when lava flows underground. When all the lava drains out a lava tube is formed.

On the way back home we passed Mt. Shasta for a few hours, but then it disappeared behind the trees. It would have been nice if we had more time. I really wanted to see Crater Lake in Oregon. It would have been fun to learn about the past of the ancient, but violent volcano. Mt. Mazama, (which is now Crater Lake) used to be a tall volcano just like the other volcanoes in the Cascade Range. When it blew up, it formed a caldera, which now contains the deepest lake in America. All the Cascade Volcanoes have the potential to blow up violently like Crater Lake. Let’s just hope that no one is around to see that kind of catastrophe. 





 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 47 of 342: John Tsatsaragos  (tsatsvol) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (13:57) * 10 lines
Hi all
I suggest you see in Geo Portal http://www.spring.net/geo/ the
Earth's structure and the Mechanism of changes.

I think that it is interesting.

Regards

John. 


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 48 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (14:34) * 7 lines
Okay, I am now going to try to post my graphs up, I think. If I screw it up, sorry. Here's the key to my graphs so you can sort of understand them. After I have posted my graphs I will then explain everything.
Red=Lassen Peak
Orange=Lassen Peak (near Park)
Yellow=Medicine Lake Volcnaic Area
Green=Mt. Shasta
Blue=Mt. St. Helens (Lava Canyon)
Violet=Mt. St. Helens (Johnston Ridge Observatory)

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 49 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (14:35) * 3 lines
”
src=”http://www.spring.net/geo/JohnVolos/Public/JULIE/volcano_1.gif”>



 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 50 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (14:36) * 1 lines
AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!I messed it up!!! Somebody help!!!*runs around frantic*

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 51 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (16:46) * 1 lines 
 


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 52 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (17:13) * 0 lines 
 

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 53 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (17:27) * 0 lines 
 

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 54 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (17:34) * 0 lines 
 

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 55 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (17:35) * 0 lines 
 

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 56 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (17:46) * 0 lines 
 

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 57 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (18:11) * 1 lines
The encryption is making posting Julie's graphics just abour impossible. I will continue to try on Geo 71 - our new test site.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 58 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (18:23) * 9 lines
One more try... then I go screaming to Terry. I can make it work on the test page but not here! 









 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 59 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (18:36) * 15 lines

src="http://www.spring.net/geo/JohnVolos/Public/JULIE/volcano_1.gif">

src="http://www.spring.net/geo/JohnVolos/Public/JULIE/volcano_2.gif">

src="http://www.spring.net/geo/JohnVolos/Public/JULIE/volcano_3.gif">

src="http://www.spring.net/geo/JohnVolos/Public/JULIE/volcano_4.gif"> 




 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 60 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (18:49) * 9 lines 
 










 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 61 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (18:54) * 1 lines
http://www.spring.net/marci/Public/Volcanology/volcano2.gif

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 62 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (19:30) * 7 lines
Finally!! I didn't think this was ever going to work. Okay, I will post the key that explains the graphs. Then I will explain everything.
Red=Lassen Peak
Orange=Lassen Peak (near Park)
Yellow=Medicine Lake Volcnaic Area
Green=Mt. Shasta
Blue=Mt. St. Helens (Lava Canyon)
Violet=Mt. St. Helens (Johnston Ridge Observatory)

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 63 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (19:33) * 3 lines
The results of the graphs......According to the data, the most abundant elements in all the ash samples were aluminum, iron, calcium, sodium, potassium, magnesium, and titanium. The ash sample from Medicine Lake Volcanic Area contained 102 ug/g of chromium. This was more chromium than any other ash sample. There was also a tremendous difference in the amount of chromium in the 2 samples from Mt. St. Helens. Lava Canyon contained 68 ug/g and Johnston Ridge Observatory contained 20 ug/g. Mt. Shasta contained more magnesium, sodium, samarium, and europium compared to the other ash samples. The 2 samples from Mt. St. Helens and the sample from Mt. Shasta contained similar amounts of calcium, aluminum, titanium, manganese, scandium, cobalt, and thorium. Medicine Lake Volcanic Area contained less calcium, potassium, barium, cerium, lanthanum, and thorium than all the other ash samples. Medicine Lake Volcanic Area seems quite unique, and somewhat separate from the other ash samples because of how different the
mounts of aluminum, titanium, manganese, chromium, and cobalt are, when compared to the other ash samples. 


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 64 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (19:42) * 7 lines
Last but not least is my conlusions, in other words what my results tell me.....First though here is my hyposthesis one last time....I think that the 2 ash samples from Mt. St. Helens will be similar because they were taken physically near each other. I think the 2 ash samples from Lassen Peak will be similar because they were also taken physically near each other. Mt. Shasta will be similar to Mt. St. Helens because they are both “strato” (composite) volcanoes. I think that the ash from Medicine Lake Volcanic Area will be different than the other 3 volcanoes because Medicine Lake Volcanic Area is made up of different types of volcanoes (shield volcanoes, cinder cones, and a caldera), which would probably change the chemical composition of the ash. Okay, here's my conclusions........My hypothesis about Mt. St. Helens, that the ash would be the same, was wrong. The 2 ash samples from Mt. St. Helens were both slightly different in their chemical composition. There are several possibilities for why the 2
sh samples are slightly different. One reason could be because there was an error in the data or an error when the ash samples were put into the spectrometer. However, a more probable reason why the 2 ash samples are different could be because they came from 2 different eruptions. Mt. St. Helens has a long history of eruptions, so it might have been possible that I took ash from another eruption of Mt. St. Helens, and not just from the May 1980 eruption. I would have to use Carbon 14 dating to figure that out. Another reason the ash samples may be different in composition is because when Mt. St. Helens erupted in May 1980, the ash cloud moved over Lava Canyon. The ash from Johnston Ridge Observatory was probably deposited from the mudflow or the debris avalanche that moved north towards Johnston Ridge Observatory during the eruption. One of the reasons why the 2 samples from Mt. St. Helens appear to look different in color and texture could be because of the way Mt. St. Helens erupted. When Mt. St. H
lens erupted in May 1980, the ash cloud moved east and southeast, directly towards Lava Canyon. The debris avalanche, pyroclastic cloud, and mudflow moved north in the direction of the Johnston Ridge Observatory. The particles there were larger than the ones found at Lava Canyon. This accounts for the particle size and texture. The color, difference might be because the debris avalanche contained a lot of mud, which might have mixed in with the ash and made it slightly darker than the ash found at Lava Canyon. On the other hand, the darker color might be due to the higher percentage of iron. By observing the data for Lassen Peak, we can see that there are slight differences in the composition of the ash. My hypothesis about the Lassen Peak ash, that they would be the same, was wrong. This result was unexpected, since one sample was taken at the base and the other at the top of the peak. One of the reasons why the 2 samples are so different again could be because there was an error in the data or when t
ey were put into the spectrometer. Another possibility could be that they came from 2 different eruptions. Once again, the only way to tell if the 2 samples came from separate eruptions would be to use Carbon 14 dating. My hypothesis, that Medicine Lake Volcanic Area would be quite different from all the other volcanoes, was correct. The significantly greater percentage of Iron, Chromium and several other elements sets it apart from the other samples. The ash sample from Medicine Lake Volcanic Area was very different from all the other ash samples probably because of the type of volcanoes that are in the area. Even though, by the map, it looks like my ash sample came from Little Glass Mountain, it could have easily come from Glass Mountain if the wind was blowing in that direction. Also, it may have come from some other kind of volcanic feature in that area. All the volcanoes in Medicine Lake Volcanic Area are shield volcanoes and cinder cones. These types of volcanoes have milder eruptions and proba
ly produce a different kind of ash. The reason the color is so dark maybe because cinder cones and shield volcanoes are made from cinder, basalt, and other dark volcanic rocks, or again, due to the high concentration of iron. My hypothesis about Mt. Shasta, that it would be similar to Mt St. Helens, was correct. The fact that Mt. Shasta is the same type of volcano as Mt. St. Helens probably accounts for the similarity between its ash sample and the Johnston Ridge Observatory and Lava Canyon samples from Mt. St. Helens. The physical distance between them and the time difference between eruptions of each volcano could explain the differences. Because of the half-life of the elements, this experiment could potentially go on forever. The data I have obtained could change or stay very similar over time. 



 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 65 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (19:44) * 1 lines
Argh! Tha spacing got messed up again, but I think you can still read it. Understanding it is another thing though. If there is something you don't understand on any part of my project, let me know.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 66 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (19:55) * 1 lines
Julie, the spacing has nothing to do with you and everything to do with Yapp programming which is what Spring uses. This is amazing stuff. Little wonder you received so many awards. I wish colleges had such high standards. You'd ne appalled at some of the miserable research papers I have been given to edit. I refused to rewrite so they were on their own. This is wonderful. I am SO delighted you came here and feel at home. *HUGS*

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 67 of 342: Curious Wolfie  (wolf) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (21:11) * 1 lines
julie, i look forward to hearing all about mt st helens (as well as the video). due to time constraints for me, i've not been able to read all of your posts but i will be back and take my time!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 68 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (22:46) * 2 lines
Thanks! I look foward to sharing it. Before I found you guys and Rob, I had no one to talk to about volcanoes and geology. My friends were always so uninterested in this kind of stuff. Its nice to be able to find people that are, because there isn't too many of us. And about the video, I was thinking, I might want to narrate a little, you know, make it sort of like a documentary. But with the stuff we are doing, I think the video will be more like a cross between one of those exploration documentary's they show on National Geographic and a dramatic natural disaster flick like Dante's Peak. Except ours will be real!! I doubt we will get any eruption footage though, but hey, you never know...*laugh* Yeah I know, dream on Julie! We aren't just volcano touring either. We are also going to go spelunking in some lava tubes and ice caves and hike up to some beautiful cascading waterfalls. So you will get to see a little bit of everything. I just hope the rain doesn't ruin it for me. I will let you al
know exactly where I am going in a few weeks once everything is settled.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 69 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (22:51) * 1 lines
Oh, Julie, I also told son about you. He looked at the portal page things John added this morning (plus his own weather page link) and was delighted. He is most impressed. You'll be hearing from him as time permits.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 70 of 342: Rob Glennie  (AotearoaKiwi) * Tue, Apr 23, 2002 (04:24) * 5 lines
Hi all

Julie. With your permission, can I please put the post in which you explained your research into World Volcanism with the intention of giving it a better hearing by others?

Rob

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 71 of 342: John Tsatsaragos  (tsatsvol) * Tue, Apr 23, 2002 (04:33) * 8 lines
Hi Julie,
I am sorry but volcanology is something new for me. I read carefully the story of your samples and I studied on your graphic charts. I wonder if exists any connection of the ash content with the type of each eruption. I wonder also if we can understand anything about the Earths interior or for the power of the eruption. I am sorry if I am doing stupid thoughts.

In any case your work is amazing! Congratulations!
I have also one stupid question: Is there any possibility to be some of your samples radioactive? Perhaps this is something serious for your protection.

John 


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 72 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Tue, Apr 23, 2002 (13:51) * 3 lines
I really DO need to get posting the mecanisms of volcanoes and how the composition of the lava change with the passing of time. Yes, John. The magmatic composition changes and so does the chemical makeup of the lava and ash it produces as volcanoes proceed through stages from seafloor flood basalts through Plinean and Super Pleinean eruptions.

Off I go to create the topic to discuss this.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 73 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Tue, Apr 23, 2002 (14:35) * 2 lines
Ummm...I'm brain dead Rob. What post are you talking about? I'm guessing your talking about my paper about volcanoes and how they work. I think I would like to post it because I added some additional stuff to it after I posted it in World Volcanism. Great suggestion though. My paper might help clear a few things up on how volcanoes work and some of the hazards associated with them. I will post it on the new topic that Marcia made. And John, the answer to your question is yes, the samples that I was working with were radioactive. But Dr. Miller, who is the nuclear physics and chemistry professor made sure I had proper protection. When I went into the area where the nuclear reactor was, I had to wear this beeper that would sound an alarm if things became unstable. And he was the one that handeled the ash samples once they were put in the nuclear reactor and spectrometer. But unfortunatly becuase they were radioactive I never did get them back and unfortunatly I am running out of Lassen Peak ash now
because of that! Argh!!! Oh well, I think you can guess where my next Cascade Volcano trip will be. *laughs*

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 74 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Tue, Apr 23, 2002 (14:39) * 3 lines
Julie, that is not comforting. Packing your pockets with radioactive ash is not comforting to those of us who love you!

I need to rewrite my intro post to geo 73. It is a mess and boring. That is what I get when I write under pressure and post after changing a carefully considered introduction of a much different sort. *Sigh*

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 75 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Wed, Apr 24, 2002 (13:49) * 3 lines
I declare today Mt. Shasta Day! Hmmm...can you tell I'm bored? *laughs* Did you know Mt. Shasta is considered a magic mountain to the small village of Mt. Shasta at the wetern base of this volcano? These people believe that Mt. Shasta is home of the Lemurians who are a tribe that came from the ancient kingdom of Mu, which is now submerged beneath the Pacific Ocean. Another group in the area believe that Mt. Shasta has many secret passageways that were built by the Yaktayvians. These passageways were homes to several other lost tribes of the area. But the biggest legend of all is the one about UFO's. Some believe that Mt. Shasta is the landing site for interplanetary travel. UFO's appear to make Mt. Shasta their first stop. The only way this can be explained is by the lenticular clouds which resemble the shape of flying saucers. These eerie clouds are often seen right over the summit. Intersting legends though. Okay, here a little bit about Mt. Shasta's geologic history. Mt. Shasta, standing at 14,
61 feet, is a complex volcanic system containing numerous vents. On the western flank of Mt. Shasta is the 12,300 foot cone of Shastina. Shasta has not had as much erosion as some of the other Cascade Volcanoes mostly because it gets less percipitation than most of them do. The Klammoth Mountains interecept the moist air coming over the Pacific resulting in a drier enviornment. Shasta supports 5 named glaciers, the largest in California. Shasta has also erupted significantly more lava flows than almost any of it northern neighboors. Mt. Shasta is actually 4 big stratovolcanoes of different ages piled on top of each other . On average Shasta erupts about once every 600-800 years. The last eruption was 200 years ago. Shastina's last eruption, where it produced its summit domes, was about 9400 years ago. Black Butte a 2500 foot at Shastina's western base, is a dacite plug dome that dates back to about the same period of Shastina's growth. The youngest part of Shasta began to form about 8000 years ago.
This part is called the Hotlum cone. Shasta's last outburst may have possible been in 1786, when some eye-witnesses sailing offshore in the Pacific noticed a flame rising above the cone. Most activity has been concentrated at the Hotlum cone for the last 9000 years but new vents can be expected top pop up anywhere. A collapse of the dome on the western slopes could send pyroclastic flows over the towns of Mt. Shasta and Weed, which are built on top of pyroclastic deposits. The town of McCloud stands on top of old mudflow deposits and almost every eruption of Mt.Shasta has accompained mudflows. Happy Mt. Shasta Day!!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 76 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Wed, Apr 24, 2002 (17:54) * 4 lines
In honor of Mount Shasta Day I post their webcam 




 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 77 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Apr 27, 2002 (13:28) * 1 lines
Woooohoooooo!!! Thank god. State Highway 503 is finally opened again. Gez, I was begining to really worry. State Highway 503 is one of the main roads to Mt. St. Helens. Last week, a canal broke washing a huge section of the road out. I was literally starting to panic. I shouldn't though, this is a state road, a main road. No matter what happens to it, it will be fixed immediatly. I am just worried thats all. Things are looking very good for the Grifford Pinchot National Forest. Almost all the roads and trails near Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Adams are opened and acsessable. And the ones that aren't, I'm pretty sure will be opened by the time that I go. The problem now is Mt. Baker and possible Mt. Rainer. Road coniditions and trail conditions are actually looking worse, so its hard to say what will happen. But I will keep my fingers crossed.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 78 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Sat, Apr 27, 2002 (15:14) * 3 lines
Why isn't it updating? I need to go find one that does!

Julie, we NEED you to go but we also NEED you to be safe. MSH will wait as will the rest of the Cascades, no matter how impatient we are! Keep us posted!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 79 of 342: Curious Wolfie  (wolf) * Sat, Apr 27, 2002 (15:39) * 1 lines
indeed, be careful julie!!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 80 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Sat, Apr 27, 2002 (15:45) * 4 lines


MT SHASTA WEBCAM 


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 81 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Apr 27, 2002 (16:50) * 1 lines
Yikes!! What happned to Mt. Shasta? Is the camera being covered up by an eruption cloud? *laughs* Yeah, right!!! I bet its snowing there. The whole west coast has been having a lot of percipitation this past week or so. That is good for us down here in the dry desert of southern California, but not so good for the already super saturated Pacific Northwest. *sigh*

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 82 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Sat, Apr 27, 2002 (17:22) * 0 lines 
 

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 83 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Sat, Apr 27, 2002 (17:41) * 3 lines

Mount St Helens 


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 84 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Sat, Apr 27, 2002 (18:21) * 1 lines
At the time of this writing, it is not a very good day to be messing around in the Cascades. The above view of Shasta is the only one I have ever had. From the large parking lot in Weed, it looked exactly like this.... complete wipeout.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 85 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sun, Apr 28, 2002 (19:31) * 3 lines
Woooooohoooooo!!!!!!Finally!!!! I can't believe it! Sean and I have finally planned everything out for our trip. The only thing that can go wrong now is the weather or an eruption. *laughs* We decided to take the bus. It will be a terrible ride, but hey, its the cheapest and we don't have to worry about security now. We will be leaving at around 8pm Sunday, May 26th. We will be sleeping on the bus (Sean will, I will keep watch) *laughs* and arriving in Portland sometime around 9:00pm on the 27th. We will then rent a car and spend the first night at a hotel. The 28th, we will go to Mt. Hood and spend the day there probably climbing half way to the summit if we are on the south side and then camp out some where around Mt. Hood area. The 29th is go climb Mt. St. Helens Day!! Wooohooo!! I look foward to that. We will camp around Mt. St. Helens area and then spend part of the 30th hiking around Mt. St. Helens as well. The other half of the day we will explore the ice caves around Mt. Adams and camp ou
near the base of Mt. Adams. The 31st we will try to climb to the summit of Mt. Adams. I think we will have to camp out that night around the area as well. On the 1st, we will go to Mt. Rainer and spend the whole day hiking and exploring the waterfalls in the area. We will camp out that night near Mt. Rainer. On the 2nd, after finishing with Mt. Rainer we will head over to the unfortunate town of Orting and take some pictures and maybe get a few samples. Then its off to Glacier Peak where we will spend the night. On the 3rd, we will drive across the border of Canada and see the most northern part of the Cascades, Mt. Garabaldi. Then we will go down to Mt. Baker and spend the rest of the day skiing (I don't know if I will). On the 4th, we will hike some of the trails around Mt. Baker and explore the ice caves and waterfalls in the area. Then we will head over to Bellingham where I will get to take a tour of Western Washington University which is the #2 school on my list of schools to transfer to. We
will then drive down to Seattle and spend the night there. On the 5th, I will get to take a tour of University of Washington, my #1 school and hopefully get to see their fantastic geology department. Then we will drive back down to Portland and board the bus around 7pm and arrive in Santa Ana, CA some time around 7pm on the 6th. Well, thats our trip I think and I hope. But I doubt things will work out so perfectly. Road conditions, trail conditions, and the weather are our 3 biggest enemies on this trip. We will just have to change our plans and work around them if something does go wrong.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 86 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sun, Apr 28, 2002 (20:02) * 1 lines
Oh, and about the video tape, I will try to tape as much as I can and a little bit of everything. I will not have enough tape to show both summit climbs, and if I took a vote I know almost all of you would rather me tape of Mt. St. Helens, than of Mt. Adams. If anyone has any preferences to what they want to see on the tape let me know as soon as possible because this tape is for all of YOU, no so much for me. I am taking my own 30 rolls of film as well. *laughs* Yes, I take a lot of pictures.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 87 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Sun, Apr 28, 2002 (22:21) * 1 lines
YES yesyesyesyesyesyes. Mount St Helens it is. Be safe and return to us intact. We need you more than we need your photos! As for travelling and not sleeping, I'm with you.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 88 of 342: Curious Wolfie  (wolf) * Mon, Apr 29, 2002 (17:43) * 1 lines
just be careful, julie!!!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 89 of 342: Rob Glennie  (AotearoaKiwi) * Fri, May  3, 2002 (00:22) * 5 lines
Hi all

MSH please. Pretty please. Pretty pretty please. *Kneels down with a small box*. Lol

Rob

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 90 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Fri, May  3, 2002 (00:57) * 1 lines
Julie, you can't turn that down! MSH it is!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 91 of 342: S B Robinson  (SBRobinson) * Fri, May  3, 2002 (10:07) * 1 lines
What is MSH? 

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 92 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Fri, May  3, 2002 (13:22) * 2 lines
MSH is an abriviation for Mt. St. Helens. 


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 93 of 342: S B Robinson  (SBRobinson) * Fri, May  3, 2002 (14:53) * 1 lines
Ah..... thank you. :-)

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 94 of 342: Curious Wolfie  (wolf) * Fri, May  3, 2002 (17:14) * 1 lines
thank you EsBee, i was gonna ask the same thing!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 95 of 342: Rob Glennie  (AotearoaKiwi) * Sat, May  4, 2002 (05:02) * 23 lines
Hi all

On Thursday March 20, 1980 the United States Geological Survey (USGS)seismograph in a Seattle basement suddenly made a decisive twitch at or about 3.46PM Pacific Daylight time). It was recording an earthquake generated by magma breaking rock directly below Mount St Helens. Within hours it was followed by more earthquakes. The USGS was curious, and sent a geophysicist called Dr Craig Weaver with a portable seismograph to the volcano on March 21. The swarm continued unabated over the weekend and on March 24, Dr Weaver called the USGS headquarters in Denver and said that an ongoing swarm which would have to be classified as volcanic, was going on at Mount St Helens.
On March 27, Mount St Helens upped the ante. A small phreatic eruption of steam and old ash punched a crater 65 metres across on the summit. It began to widen and five days later on April Fools Day, was joined by second crater "the volcano seemed more like a living, growing organism than a big dead heap of rock and ice" (Documentary, "Anatomy of a volcano" 1980).

http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Imgs/Jpg/MSH/SlideSet/3.jpg

Throughout April and early May, St Helens continued to puff steam and ash sporadically with the occasional small lahar (volcanic mudflow)thrown in for good measure. During this time the north face of the volcano, was being grossly deformed by magma pushing into the volcano and giving the mountain a bloated appearance.
A danger zone around the volcano was set up. It barred anyone within 10 miles of the volcano from entering the closed zone. There were protests especially from home owners who had property at the foot of a volcano now being deformed by magma rising within. The north face continued deforming at a rate of 5 feet a day and by mid April anyone with eyes to see could spot the bulge. A local man named Harry R. Truman who had lived there for 53 years however was not going anywhere in a rush and defied the local authorities who wanted to move him.
Media interest, initially was minimal. President Carter had just announced the US boycott of the Moscow Olympics in retaliation for their invasion of Afghanistan and all eyes were on Washington DC. But it changed rapidly and soon visitors were flocking to Washington state to see the volcano, some even flying over it, not caring a hang for the safety risk.
The eruptions were all small though some were punctual with explosions sending bombs and blocks flying. They rattled the piano at Harry Trumans lodge and scared of the birds he fed. The earthquakes rocked and rattled the volcano with incredible frequency, sometime often as many as 30 magnitude 3.0+ events daily!!! Magnitude 4.0s were also popular and on May 8 or 10 a magnitude 5.0 earthquake rocked the volcano sending a small avalanche cascading downslope.
In early May the explosions stopped, and many thought this was the end of the eruptive phase. People began wanting to go home, but the Washington State government and law enforcement agencies refused to let them back in, for the USGS had decided that the grossly deformed north slope posed a direct avalanche hazard.
David A. Johnston knew just how dangerous the bulging north flank was - his observation post was essentially in the sights of a gun now being loaded.
See the link below for more.

http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Imgs/Jpg/MSH/SlideSet/4.jpg

On May 11, the explosions resumed, and then stopped again on May 14. For three days the earthquake activity remained steady, the bulge continued to grow and the north face continued to deform. On May 17, the State government allowed a convoy of vehicles into the red zone around the volcano to go back and collect belongings. A second convoy was due to go on Sunday May 18, at 10.AM.
On May 17 Johnston relieved another volcano watcher who was going to see a post-graduate student off at the airport. Mindy Brugman and Carolyn Dreidger came up to the Coldwater observation post to see Johnston and watch the volcano. Both wanted to overnight at the ridge, but Johnston said no. He was scared for his own safety. At his request they left the ridge a mere 5 miles from a volcano now grossly deformed to the extent it scared anyone who knew what they were looking at.

Part two following soon 



 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 96 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Sat, May  4, 2002 (11:54) * 1 lines
*Getting popcorn and something to drink* This is great stuff, Rob. I think I mght include the little dome collapse gif I made for you last year after your continuation. 

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 97 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sat, May  4, 2002 (18:30) * 2 lines
ARGH!!! I can't believe this! I was trying to get a tour at the Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, Washington last summer when I was in Oregon and Washington. I called them up on the phone and they said they don't give tours and there is nothing to see anyway. Ummm, okay, then what is this?! Go to the web site below and see what I am talking about. UGH!!! I'm going to Washington on the 26th not the 18th!!! ARGH!! Not fair!!! I think I will call them again anyway just to make sure.
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/News/Announcements/cvo_open_house_2002.html

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 98 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sat, May  4, 2002 (18:52) * 6 lines
If you would like to keep track of the earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest go to this site below my post. You may notice a few interesting things. First of all, if you go to http://spike.geophys.washington.edu/SEIS/PNSN/WEBICORDER/welcome.html
you will find the seismograms of seimsographs that are stationed to most of the major Cascade Volcanoes and places with significantly high earthquake risk in Oregon and Washington. Be careful what you think is an earthquake and what is just static interference. I have been fooled many times, but I know how to tell the difference now. I have studied the recordings every day and found a few things that you might want to take notice of. Mt. Baker and Glacier Peak seem to have a simalar pattern to them with their seismic activity. Also just recently in the past few weeks, there has been some micro quakes near Mt. Rainer and Mt. St. Helens. Most of the seismograms for the other Cascade Volcanoes don't usually have much activity on them. So watch carefully, because with the Pacific Northwest's infrequent but sometimes violent earthquake and volcanic history you never know what might happen.
http://www.ess.washington.edu/SEIS/PNSN/ 




 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 99 of 342: Rob Glennie  (AotearoaKiwi) * Mon, May  6, 2002 (03:23) * 54 lines
PART 2 OF THE MOUNT ST. HELENS STORY

CONTINUED FROM LAST POST

Johnston was now alone with a volcano so deformed by the bulge that it scared even him. The dimensions of the bulge were huge, and still growing, but the bulge not be there for much longer. From top to bottom the bulge was a mile long, growing outwards by more than 100 metres and nearly 300 metres wide. It was facing due north staring David Johnston straight in the face.

SUNDAY MAY 18, 1980

The Sun rose at 5.37AM from the east, highlighting the bulge. As it rose, Johnston got out in the chilly but clear morning air, possibly awoken by a USAAF reconnaisance jet flying high over the volcano getting the last infra red images of the pre-May 18 1980 cone. The images would show, when they were analysed two days later, a heat source just below the surface driving fumaroles.
Johnston radioed his superiors with an update on the situation.

http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/msh/rosen1.jpg

At 8.30AM geologists Dorothy and Keith Stoffel were flying over the volcano, which to those on the ground was still drowsy in appearance. They noted two fumaroles high on the north lip of the crater..... it was 8.31AM.

There is an earthquake.... magnitude 5.1.

http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/msh/rosen2.jpg

In an instant the whole north flank begins sliding downhill in one of the biggest landslides known to man. Two black clouds explode out of the gaping hole and merge with impossible speed. Johnston radioes Vancouver, WA, where the nearest USGS station is located. Accelerating to nearly the speed of sound, a HUGE lateral blast spreads north, northeast and northwest.

http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/msh/rosen3.jpg
http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/msh/rosen4.jpg

Harry Truman was the first to go - either buried by a huge tongue of the landslide that poured into Spirit Lake at 300kmh or roasted alive by a huge pyroclastic flow (the huge black cloud rushing across the landscape). His lodge (or what remains of it)is now 66 metres below the level of Spirit Lake in a mass of mangled trees, volcanic debris and the wreckage of the other houses.
David Johnston lasted a few seconds longer, and managed to get this final message out to the USGS headquarters in Vancouver. Gerald Martin, a retired USAF pilot to the north and also watching MSH for the USGS reported calmly that the trailer on the ridge over from him was covered in ash. "And it is going to get me too". It did. From his observation post there was no way out.
"VANCOUVER!! VANCOUVER!! THIS IS IT!!". The radio went dead as the Coldwater observation vanished into oblivion. No trace of Johnston or the Cold Water observation station have been found.

http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/msh/rosen5.jpg
http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/msh/rosen6.jpg

Expanding at speed the blast spread outwards to form a vast fan of devastated land with a zone on the edege where the blast was hot enough to singe the trees but leave them standing as markers to the extent of the maelstrom. After ruining 550 square kilometres of the American northwest, the blast began contracting and soon a Plinian column was jetting to an altitude of 19km. For the next 9 hours the volcano blasted a huge plume of volcanic ash high into the stratosphere. Ash fall was recorded in Yakima where 600,000 tons or 12 tons per person fell on a town of 51,000. It was recorded in Ritzville where some of the heavier concentrations fell. Denver in Colorado was dusted on May 20. Two weeks later the cloud crossed the West Coast again having circled the world in just 17 days.

http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Imgs/Jpg/MSH/SlideSet/6.jpg

On the ground lahar sped down both fork of the Toutle River, demolishing 200 houses, covering farmland, wrecking bridges, and cars. The North Fork mudflow rose 30 feet above the normal level of the river and for a time threatened Interstate 5.

As the sun set on a Sunday that would be remembered as Ash Sunday, the pace of the eruption decreased, but continued far into the night.

As the sun rose on Monday May 19, a moonscape of steaming volcanic debris, punctuated by explosions from ice and hot material making contact, was revealed. Spirit Lake was covered in logs, all washed down by a wave that rushed up and down the lake when the smaller of the two tongues of the avalanche slammed into the water.

http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Imgs/Jpg/MSH/SlideSet/10.jpg

The much larger tongue poured 14 miles down the Toutle River valley to an average depth of 200 metres.
Gone was the Fujiyama of the continental 48 states, and in it's place was a smouldering truncated cone of 8364ft - a far cry from the glorious 9677ft high cone that graced southwestern Washington for so many years.

http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Imgs/Jpg/MSH/SlideSet/2.jpg for the view in April 1980
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Imgs/Jpg/MSH/SlideSet/8.jpg for the post May 18 view.

8 people were killed initially. When the deathtoll was finally counted, 57 were dead, of which about 40 bodies were recovered. The rest including David Johnston and Harry Truman have never been found. 200 people were injured (ash inhalation, burns, broken bones, to name a few causes). The economic damage of the May 18 event was US$1 billion. But it could have been a LOT LOT WORSE. To the credit of the American authorities, strict enforcement of the red zone kept most out. If the volcano had erupted on a Monday, it would have killed hundreds.

Throughout the rest of 1980, Mount St Helens erupted in much smaller but no less spectacular events, notably on July 22, and August 7 1980. Ash fell at least 3 more times in Yakima and air traffic was diverted on more than one occasion (ash can clog aircraft engines and potentially cause the aircraft to crash - more than one instance of engine failure from volcanic ash causing a scare). On October 16 the dome which currently occupies the crater made its first appearance and today is nearly 300 metres high by about 800 across. If at this rate MSH continues to rebuild, she will restore her crown to it's former glory in about 200 years. But one should not hold their breath. Mount St Helens is notoriously unpredictable, and it is conceivable the volcano will blow the dome to bits.

Rob

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 100 of 342: Rob Glennie  (AotearoaKiwi) * Mon, May  6, 2002 (03:24) * 5 lines
Hi all

WHAT AN EPIC!!!!

Rob

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 101 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, May  6, 2002 (15:50) * 1 lines
You covered MSH's perfectly Rob. I don't see one thing missing. Every little fine detail is there embeded into your fascinating reaccount of the eruption. Great job! Couldn't have done it better myself. Hopefully if things settle down a bit here I will give you all an account of the Lassen Peak eruption. Fortunatly, I can take my time because Lassen Peak was countinously active from May of 1914 to far into 1915. I will post it when I can.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 102 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, May  6, 2002 (18:53) * 3 lines
YIKES!!! This is SCARY!!! Check this web site out....
http://www.ess.washington.edu/SEIS/PNSN/HIST_CAT/STORIES/geology.html
This what I am doing my research essay on in English. I thought this was very interesting. If Japan has a record of this, I bet you other countries aound the Pacific have records as well.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 103 of 342: Curious Wolfie  (wolf) * Tue, May  7, 2002 (17:18) * 1 lines
wow!! thanks julie!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 104 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Tue, May  7, 2002 (20:48) * 1 lines
Julie and I discussed it on IM. We even discovered seismogrphic tracings of "Ice Quakes" on the Cascades. But I will leave that to her telling. She discovered them.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 105 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Tue, May  7, 2002 (23:41) * 3 lines
Yup! Ice Quakes they are. Very fascinating! I have studied the seismograms of the Cascades for about a year now and I always noticed that Baker, Glacier Peak, and sometimes Rainer would have a lot of acitivty on them. At first I thought they were earthquakes, but after a while I began to realize they were too frequent to be quakes. So after being puzzeled for a while, I looked up some info about the webicorders and it shows you exactly what quakes will look like on there and what "other" things will look like. Seismographs are EXTREMLY sensitive. You can have an earthquake in Turkey for example and find it on the seismogram of Mt. St. Helens! I know, because I saw this exact thing happen. I don't remember the date, but in August of 1999 there was a large quake in Turkey. I was at the Johnston Ridge Observatory watching the seismograph right at that moment. It was amazing watching the needle go, although many people thought it was from Mt. St. Helens and started screaming that she was going to eru
t! *laughs* But unfortunatly, seismograms are so sensitive that they also record things like trucks going by and even people walking near by. It can be very confusing if you don't know what you are looking for. But, look at the website below and go to Glacier Peak. All the activity that you see on there is ice quakes (the lines that seem to go straight down). Glacier Peak, Baker, and Rainer have extensive ice and snow on them, more so then the other Cascades. The temperatures are warming up now and the snow and ice is slowly begining to melt. Keep watch for this, because if I am correct the activity will increase as the temperatures get warmer. But for people that are in the Cascades this is a very serious problem that means only one thing....Severe Avalanche Danger!! Don't worry guys, Sean and I are going to take some serious percautions when we go out there in 3 weeks!
http://spike.geophys.washington.edu/SEIS/PNSN/WEBICORDER/welcome.html

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 106 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Tue, May  7, 2002 (23:55) * 1 lines
This teleseismicity is very important in determining the precise magnitude and epicenter for earthquakes. At HVO we have the tracings of the Good Friday Quake that hit Anchorage, Alaska some years ago. The seismograph tracings are kept files for years for correlation and research purposes.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 107 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Wed, May  8, 2002 (00:18) * 2 lines
And if you see whats on this seismogram below......its major intereference!
http://spike.geophys.washington.edu/SEIS/PNSN/WEBICORDER/FMW_EHZ_UW.2002050800.html

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 108 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Thu, May  9, 2002 (20:03) * 1 lines
Good Grief, Julie! It looks like modern art, not a seismogram.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 109 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Tue, May 14, 2002 (15:08) * 1 lines
There has been a slight change of plans to my dissapointment. Sean has to go to some mandatory meeting on June 5th so we have to cut our trip a day and a half short and it looks like we will be taking the plane back instead of the bus. No big deal though,I'm just going to have to go the 2 universities all in one day. Interestingly enough, when I get back, I may be going on a another hiking/camping/backpacking trip with a few of my friends up to Mammoth because one of them has a cabin up there. All this hiking and I just bought new hiking boots yesturday! Ugh! I need to break them in fast for the next 12 days or my feet are going to die. Ouch!! So far conditions in the Cascades seem to be improving. But to my dissapointment, the road to Windy Ridge at MSH's is still closed and won't be opened till mid June. But who knows, maybe conditions will change again. Too bad the Pacific Northwest isn't having some of our nice hot weather. It was 90. F (32. C) yesturday!!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 110 of 342: Cheryl  (CherylB) * Tue, May 14, 2002 (17:26) * 1 lines
Hope that you break in your new hiking boots without much trouble, Julie.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 111 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Tue, May 14, 2002 (17:44) * 1 lines
Mammoth?! Julie, how fantastic. My son and his wife spent last weekend there (in honor of his birthday) and hiked around in Long Valley Caldera. They liked the 50°F temperatures there much more than th 94°F on their return home near San Francisco. Lots of snow is still in the Sierras so you will have a really great time. Take notes and be sure Julie has a good time and stays safe. *HUGS*

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 112 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Fri, May 17, 2002 (08:56) * 76 lines
Rob, you got quite a treat last night. Hehehe! Okay, guys, check this out! I wrote a song 4 weeks ago about the May 18th, 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens. So.....for her 22nd anniverary, I thought I would post it for all of you to sing. It is sung to "Oh, My Darling Clementine." Enjoy!!

"Oh, Mt. St. Helens

On a Sunday
In 1980
Was the 18th of May
We all expected to be normal
Was no ordinary day.

Then at 8:32am
An earthquake rocked her flanks
Mt. St. Helens now awoke
With a fury all so great.

First the pressure of molten rock
Had increased beneath the crater
It blasted out in a huge explosion
On the north face of her slopes.

Then the landslide
Sped down the valley
As a scorching avalanche
Rushing right through Spirit Lake
And the North Fork River too.

Then the blast cloud
Roared down the mountain
In a pyroclastic flow
Going top speeds down the valley
Wiping all out in its path.

Now the ash cloud
Shot up skyward
Like a mushroom growing tall
Spreading outwards across the country
And diffused around the globe.

Last the mudflow
From melting snow
And the slosh from Spirit Lake
Came roaring down the streams and rivers
Taking all up in its wake.

When it was over
All was silent
57 lives were lost
Including that of David Johnston
Who will remain here in our hearts.

Mt. St. Helens
Mt. St. Helens
Why’d you shake and blow your top
Now you have part of you missing
And a crater filled with dust.

Now your slopes
Look like a moonscape
But there still is life to grow
Someday mighty Mt. St. Helens
Will have some beauty of her own.

Look inside your barren crater
You have grown a lava dome
Hope the pressure is not building
Deep within your deformed cone.

Mt. St. Helens
Though you’re quiet
You may soon erupt again
Stunning us with your destruction
And bringing life back once again. 





 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 113 of 342: Curious Wolfie  (wolf) * Fri, May 17, 2002 (17:14) * 1 lines
i was actually singing it!!!!!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 114 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Sat, May 18, 2002 (20:26) * 2 lines

Julie, the Poetess Laureate of Geo! 


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 115 of 342: Rob Glennie  (AotearoaKiwi) * Mon, May 20, 2002 (02:21) * 5 lines
Hi all

Are you people aware of the treasure that you are awaiting, whose voice actually puts some "pop sensations" to shame??

Rob

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 116 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, May 20, 2002 (09:47) * 1 lines
*blushes* Thanks Rob. *sings* I'm off to see volcanoes, the wonderful volcanoes of Washington....3 more days left! Woooohoooooo!!! Things are really hectic right now. While I am busily studying for exams, during breaks Sean and I are trying to do prepare last minute things for our trip which is in about 156 hours!!! I think things will be worse Thursday, Friday, and Saturday because we have so much to do and there is hardly any time left. Thank goodness I took out the camcorder yesturday. The battery recharger is missing. But no worries, everyone is searching for it, so it should turn up by Saturday. I think I will hold in the rest of my excitment until after exams. I need to stop thinking of volcanoes and instead think Afrcia, Asia, Austrailia, and Porifera, Cnidaria, Platyhelminthes, Nematoda, Annelida, Mollusca, Arthropoda, Echinodermata, and Chordata! Yikes! I need to take a geology class again fast before I turn into a biologist! UGH!!!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 117 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Mon, May 20, 2002 (15:03) * 1 lines
Go Julie!!! I think our Poetess Laureate has a groupie already. I could not sing if my leife depended upon it. Genetic throat formation, I hear. Whatever it is, you will not hear music from me other than from my inept fingers. I see there are tornado warnings aroung the NW USA. Please be careful. Weather was not something I had though to be a problem!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 118 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Thu, May 23, 2002 (23:56) * 2 lines
Wooooooohoooooooo!!!!!!My semester is finally over. Now I can focus on more exciting things like my volcano trip that I will be going on in less than 72 hours! Unfortunatly though, conditions in the Pacific Northwest are worse than we anticipated. Sean and I looked at the weather satalites and it looks like it will be raining and snowing every single day we will be there. The weather just doesn't seem like it wants to coroperate. I thought we would be safe in just our hiking boots and side step crampons, but now with these conditions, we will have to have full boot crampons, an ice axe, and snow shoes. We are still climbing MSH's, but we may have to wait a few days until the weather is a little less brutal. Sean and I got full body rain suits. We will probably have to wear them the whole time we are there. *sigh* Why am I complaining? I love the rain and I love the snow. I just hope it doesn't ruin our trip completely. It doesn't llok like we will be climbing Mt. Adams though. The road to the trail
s blocked, so we would have to hike about 12 miles to get to the trail and about 6 or so to the top. As for Mt. Rainer and anything north of that...your guess is as good as mine. But like I said before, we will make the best of it some how. And YES, for the 10th time, WE WILL BE CAREFUL!! Mom said she will kill me if I try to slide down a glacier. Glaciding is what its called. A fun trick, but if your not careful you can go flying right off the mountain or volcano in this circumstance!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 119 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Fri, May 24, 2002 (14:55) * 1 lines
It's raining there now according to my sources, Julie. Nothing is much more miserable than hiking and camping in cold rain. Take care, Sweetie! *HUGS*

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 120 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sun, May 26, 2002 (10:59) * 1 lines
I thought I would say my last goodbye to all of you, since we are leaving tonight. We have a fun and amazing trip planned, as long as the weather doesn't screw us up too much. I hope to get some great shots both with the camcorder and my regular camera to show you all eventually. Marcia, since I won't be here on your special day, I would like to wish you a wonderful, fantastic, amazing, and memorable birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARCIA!! Take care all. I will see you in about 2 weeks!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 121 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Sun, May 26, 2002 (13:22) * 1 lines
Thank you, Julie! Have a splendid time and return to us intact. Don't fall off the edge of the earth! *HUGS*

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 122 of 342: Curious Wolfie  (wolf) * Mon, May 27, 2002 (19:52) * 1 lines
oh julie, i missed your bon voyage! please be careful out there and take plenty of pictures for those of us living vicariously through you!!!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 123 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Mon, May 27, 2002 (23:07) * 1 lines
Rob misses her already. So do I. I wish I felt better about the weather, but they are experienced climbers and ber brother is old enough to take care of her.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 124 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Wed, Jun  5, 2002 (12:26) * 1 lines
Hi all! I'm back! Not like I really want to be. They had to drag me on to the plane in Portland kicking and screaming.*laughs* When our plane landed in John Wayne Airport this morning I felt like I had walked into a foreign country. For some reason I don't feel like I belong in southern California anymore. Okay, anyway, about my trip. Some things we wanted to do we did not get to do and things we thought we couldn't do we did get to do. Overall we had an excellent time! Right now I am exhusted from not sleeping in 2 days and sore from a double sunburn and scrapes. I will tell you this though, I got some things on tape you wouldn't believe, including a real natural disaster taking place right before my eyes. AND I GOT IT ALL ON TAPE!! WOOHOOO!! You will have to wait and see. I will tell you about my trip in another day or so.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 125 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Wed, Jun  5, 2002 (13:24) * 1 lines
WooooooooooHoooooooo Julie!!! I fly to Oakland tomorrow. Ever been to Vacaville? Welcome home. I hdld Rob's hand for you. Busy packing - look in your email shortly!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 126 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Wed, Jun  5, 2002 (13:39) * 1 lines
I have to be hauled kicking and screaming away from eruptions. Each and every time. You really are my little twin sister! *BIG HUGS*

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 127 of 342: Curious Wolfie  (wolf) * Wed, Jun  5, 2002 (18:35) * 1 lines
excellent news, julie--good to have you back and i can't wait to see your footage!!!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 128 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Thu, Jun  6, 2002 (19:47) * 19 lines
Lukcy for me, I kept a jounral my entire trip so all I have to do is cut and paste. I recorded everything that we saw and everything that was happening. Here is Cascades Adventure 2002.....enjoy!

Sunday, May 26th: We took the bus from Santa Ana station to L.A. There weren’t many people going from Santa Ana to L.A, but L.A station was packed. The station was very confusing because there were so many lines. We were at the end of the line for our route, so by the time we got on the bus there were no seats left. We had to seat separate from each other. I sat next to this one guy who just slept and snored very loudly the whole time. Sean sat in back of me next to some other guy. I couldn’t sleep at all that night. My neck hurt really badly from seating up and being tossed around. I looked around the bus to find everyone asleep, including Sean. What was my problem? While I tried to drift off, this man kept getting up to go the bathroom every 10 minutes and every time he passed my seat he hit me. That’s what I get for seating in the aisle I guess. We did make two rest stops in Bakersfield at 12am and Fresno at 2am. I watched the moon for half of the night. It looked very eerie with clouds sca
tered all over it. Finally, I could see the sky getting lighter in the east. I couldn’t tell where we were going or where exactly we were because people’s heads were in the way. The bus smelt really bad, especially when that same man kept going by our seats to use the bathroom. I don’t think he had taken a shower in a very long time. Another man had gotten some perfume at the last stop to spray all over the bus so it wouldn’t smell so bad. Eventually we ended up at Sacramento station at 5am. When we got there, we decided to wait in line by the door so we could finally get a seat together on the bus.
Monday, May 27th: We were back on the bus at 7am. Sean and I got the last seats on the right side of the bus. We wanted to have views of Shasta and Lassen. Sean took a nap while I studied the California map and its geography for the central and northern part of the state. Just as Sean woke up, I pointed out the Sutter Buttes. The clouds began to form unusual pattern in the sky; long wavy rows of cirrus, altostratus, and altocumulus. We then made another stop at Williams. Once on our way again we saw the snow covered peak of Lassen far in the distance above the clouds. We stopped again in Willows. Everyone wanted to get off the bus to have a smoke! Back on the road I saw two deer on the side of the road in the bushes grazing. We began to get closer to Lassen Peak, but not close enough. The Coast Range Mountains had lots of low clouds on them, but their peaks could easily be seen above the white cloud blanket. We made another stop at Red Bluff. I was starving, but I didn’t feel like getting of the
us at the rest stop, so I had trail mix for the next 4 hours! Ugh! A few hours later we stopped in Redding. I was finally getting excited now. Mt. Shasta was coming up in the next few hours. We drove over Shasta Lake, but so far there was no sign of Mt. Shasta. Suddenly, this guy in the middle of the bus opens the emergency exit and tries to jump out. The girl seating a few seats in front of us, yells out, “Holy #$@%, the homeboy is going out the window!” The bus driver pulls off the side of the road and comes back and closes it. He looks quite pissed. As we drove off, I began to get impatient. Waiting for Mt. Shasta to appear behind the forest was torture! Suddenly this guys eating in the seat next to Sean asks him where he could buy some Weed. The guy says, “You look like the type that smokes Weed.” Sean and I had quite a laugh about that the rest of the bus ride. After about 30 minutes or so, Mt. Shasta appeared as big and as beautiful as ever, with lenticular clouds swirling over the summit.
Mt. Shasta’s other volcanic neighbors, Chaos Crags and Black Butte were also seen in this area. As we came into the town of Weed, we took pictures of the 3 volcanic features. We then stopped in Weed to get some lunch and buy some postcards of Mt. Shasta. It was already starting to sprinkle out. Later, after we went over the Klamath River, we began to see beautiful basalt formations in the area surrounded by bright yellow flowers. I finally drifted off to sleep for about 2 hours and woke up as we made our stop in Medford for a rest break. A few moments later the bus pulled into a gas station and we all got out to get some dinner at the mini-mart. We decided to get Taco Bell and save it for later, since it was only about 4pm and way to early to eat dinner. Then we began our drive towards Eugene. As we left Eugene we saw a beautiful rainbow over the sky. This cute little girl who looked about 8 or 9 had gotten on with her parents in Eugene. She and her father sat in the seats behind us. She kept telling
all these funny jokes to her father, but loud enough so we could hear her. She sort of reminded me of myself when I was younger; cute, funny, asking lots of questions, and keeping everyone well entertained. And I defiantly needed to be entertained because my CD player broke about the time we got to Weed and I was going bored out of my mind. Finally, after driving everyone crazy on the bus by imitating cartoon characters, we arrived in Portland. It was still slightly raining as we reached the bus station. We then got off and took a taxi to Alamo Rent A Car and drove out about 20 minutes later in a white 4 door Mitsubishi with a CD player! We drove through Vancouver to the Best Inn and Suites and after repacking everything we went to bed.
Tuesday, May 28th: We woke up at 7am and ate the hotel breakfast they were serving in the lobby. As we ate, we began to plan our day out. We then came back to our room to decide again what we were doing. Then we packed the car and checked out of the hotel. We first stopped at the AAA to get maps of the specific areas we were going to in Washington. Next, we made a stop at Target and bought some extra supplies. Then we drove over to the Gifford Pinchot National Forest Headquarters, bought some maps and asked about hiking, camping, and trail conditions. The weather didn’t look good for Wednesday, which was the day of our climb. Finally, we drove to Woodland area where we went to Jack’s Climbing Store to see if we could change the day of our climb. They sent us down the road to the Mt. St. Helens National Monument Headquarters to change our day and find out the conditions again. We actually could climb both Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Adams if we wanted too. The conditions at Mt. Adams had actually impro
ed since the last time we had checked, which was way before our trip. But our final decision was to just do Mt. St. Helens. We drove back to Jack’s and bought our permits. After we had our permits, we headed back towards Vancouver and had a quick lunch break at Arby’s. Then we headed south again to Jansen Beach and went to REI. At REI, we rented our crampons, ice axe, and snow boots. Then we headed to Mt. Hood, finally! We stopped in the town of Gresham to buy some more camp food at Safeway. Then we drove towards Timberline Lodge and Government Camp to look for a campsite. Most were snowed in and the roads were closed. After going back and forth several times, we finally pulled into the Trillium Lake Snow-park area and decided to camp in our car, since it was still raining quite heavily. For dinner we had bread, peanut butter, and trail mix. I was a little worried about sleeping in the car because I didn’t want to freeze to death like I almost did in Arizona. Sean said not to worry though because
the temperature won’t get below freezing like it did in Arizona. He was wrong though, because later that night I was shivering to death again! But I curled up and suffered through it this time, until 5am, when Sean woke up and turned on the heat. We then headed up towards Timberline Lodge.
Wednesday, May 29th: As we were driving up, we saw dozens of mini waterfalls on the side of the road coming down from the mossy slopes. When we got to Timberline Lodge though, it was closed. Since Mt. Hood was still in thick clouds, we headed back down the mountain. Along the way, we picked up two ash samples and took some pictures of the waterfalls. We then headed out of Mt. Hood National Forest. As we drove down HWY 35, we saw another rainbow. And as we entered Colombia River Gorge Scenic Area, we saw yet another rainbow. After a quick bathroom and snack stop at McDonalds, we headed down towards the Mt. Adams turn off where we saw another rainbow. I couldn’t believe how many rainbows we had seen in the past few days. It was incredible! We first went into the Mt. Adams Ranger Station in Trout Lake to find out about hiking and attractions in the area. Since Ice Cave was really close by, we decided to go there first. When we got to the cave entrance, we had to put on our ski jackets, gloves, cram
ons, and use our ice axe to climb down the mouth of the cave. The cave itself was spectacular looking. Icicles, some 10-12ft long, hung from the ceiling to the floor. Each one was dripping water into a frozen or semi-frozen pool. I went over to lick one of the huge icicles hanging from the ceiling. Suddenly, I heard it crack, and before I could move out of the way, the whole icicle fell right on top of my head. It stung for a second, but then I stumbled ahead of Sean. There were 2 chambers. The main one was about 300 yards or so and it extended into a smaller ice cave that I had to crawl thru to get to. Sean was reluctant to crawl on his stomach like I was, so I didn’t go in very far. After taking some shots of the ice cave, we climbed out and had some snacks at the car. We then drove up to the South Climb Trail, but we had to turn back because the road was blocked by snow. After getting some rock and ash samples and trying unsuccessfully to find Mt. Adams through the clouds, we headed back down
owards Vancouver. We took the toll bridge to HWY 84 through the beautiful Colombia River Gorge Scenic Area. The basalt cliffs were amazing looking, especially with the low clouds hugging it. We stopped at Multanomah Falls to take some pictures and then bought a few things at the gift store to the right of the falls. Multanomah Falls flows over an ancient lava flow 620 feet tall. As we headed back towards Portland on HWY 84, we could see several of the waterfalls cascading down the basalt cliffs. This scenic road was one of the most beautiful and magical things I had seen on the trip so far. With the clouds starting to clear, we might be able to see some of the Cascades someday! Ugh! As we were driving on Hwy 503, we could see the base of Mt. St. Helens peaking out through the clouds. She looked to be completely covered by snow. What a beautiful sight! We decided to stay at the Cresap Bay Campgrounds. These campgrounds were next to a beautiful lake, called Merwin Lake. The forest that surrounded t
e campgrounds was its own little tropical paradise, with ferns, thick trees, mosses, and plants growing densely and thickly along the shore of the lake. After setting up camp, we put our backpacks together for our Mt. St. Helens climb the next day. Once we had our packs together, we ate macaroni and cheese and soup for dinner. Then we took a little hike to the lake at twilight where we saw the alpine glow light up the surrounding area. By that time, we hiked back and got ready for bed. I watched as the sun set into a thin layer of clouds, casting a pinkish glow throughout the sky. All night long we kept hearing this strange sound. Sean said it was a peacock, but I never heard a peacock sound like that before. I called it the creature of the Cascades. Whatever it was, it was doing a good job keeping me up most of the night.
Thursday, May 30th: After a short sleep, we woke up at 4:45am and got ready for our climb. We ate some Cliff Bars as we were driving towards Jack’s Climbing Store. The sky looked very clear today, finally! We could see Mt. St. Helens very well now. A thick snowy blanket of white covered her. Once we got to Jack’s Climbing Store, we signed in, figured out our climbing route, and drove to Marble Mountain Snow-Park. We began our climb at around 7am, but before we were a little bit more than half way from the summit, we realized our pace was too slow and it was already getting late. The snow was extremely slushy, and it just got worse as the sun got higher into the sky. Every time we would take a step, we would sink down to our ankles or higher. The crampons didn’t seem to be very useful and all they did was slow us down. What we really needed was skis, poles, and snowshoes. Finally, after a painful decision, we decided to turn around. We may attempt the summit again on Sunday or a Monday if we can
et another permit. If we did go, we would have to start our climb at 4am. After a tiring and defeating walk to our car, we drove over to Ape Cave, where we decided to explore the upper level. The upper level was very treacherous because of all the loose lava rocks. Since we were still tired from our climb, we decided to explore the lower level again instead. Then we drove over to the Trail of Two Forests where we got to see what the 2,000-year-old lava flow did to an ancient forest. We got to crawl through a lava cast tree cave as well. I got a little freaked out though after I heard this scratching sound at the other end of the cave. It’s the creature of the Cascades! Ahhhhhh! On our way back to the campgrounds, we stopped at some viewpoints of Mt. St. Helens and then stopped back at Jack’s to sign out. We then called Mom who sounded frantic on the phone. She told us about the 2 fatal accidents that had occurred on Mt. Hood and Mt. Rainer. Everyone at home was going crazy because we had not been
y a phone for several days and my cell phone hardly ever had a cell. Everyone back at home thought we had been the ones in the accident because we had been thinking about climbing Mt. Hood and some of Mt. Rainer. Mom told us we better call every single day now so everyone will know what’s going on. Once we got back to the campgrounds, we ate chicken stew and spaghettios. Then we cleaned up while watching the stars and went to bed. 


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 129 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Thu, Jun  6, 2002 (19:53) * 12 lines
Friday, May 31st: We woke up later that morning and ate cinnamon buns, oatmeal, and cocoa for breakfast. As we were packing up our stuff and taking the tent down, we fed the chipmunks some nuts. We then left the campgrounds, and drove back to Portland to return our equipment back to REI. Then we headed towards the north side of Mt. St. Helens by way of a quick stop at Castle Rock. We listened to my Dante’s Peak soundtrack as we drove up HWY 504. Before we reached Johnston Ridge Observatory, we stopped at several vistas to see Mt. St. Helens. Once at Johnston Ridge Observatory, Sean suggested I give them a copy of my Mt. St. Helens song. I was sort of embarrassed to do something like that, but I did it anyway and now I am glad I did. The ranger told me it was excellent and that it would be a great way to teach kids and adults about the eruption of Mt. St. Helens in a fun way. My song is now being put on display at Johnston Ridge Observatory! Woooohooo! After touring Johnston Ridge again very quickly
we headed back down the road. We stopped a few times along the way to drink some real Mt. St. Helens water from the waterfalls cascading out through the cracks in the rocks. On the way down, we stopped at a turn off where we say about 4 or 5 other cars pulled off too. We decided to hike up the trail to see what was going on. We reached the top of the cliff to find a small group of people watching hang gliders take off and land on the ridge. It would be awesome to hang glide near Mt. St. Helens. As we were driving back, we saw a rainbow halo around the sun. We pulled into Seaquest State Park, which was right in front of Mt. St. Helens Visitor’s Center and got a campsite near a beautiful fern and moss forest. There were a few trails leading from our campsite. After a dinner of soup and lasagna, we hiked 2 of the trails to see where they went. But we didn’t get very far because the plants were too thick. After the hike, we went back to call Mom and then went to bed.
Saturday, June 1st: We woke up at 6:30am and ate a nauseating mixture of granola, raspberries, and powdered milk with peaches. Then we packed up and headed up to Johnston Ridge Observatory again to begin a 4.5 mile hike to Harry’s Ridge where we would get up close and personal with Mt. St. Helens, her lava dome, and Spirit Lake. The hike went through some of the slushiest snow I had ever seen. As we were hiking up, I fell through a slushy snowdrift and cut my hand open on a sharp piece of rhyolite. Once we got to the top of the ridge, the wind started to really blow and the wind-chill went down to about 25. F. We could see Mt. Adams as well from the top, but clouds again covered the summit. At the top of Harry’s Ridge there was an old earthquake station situated at the very end of the ridge. We found out later that there was also a machine up on top of the ridge that bounced laser beams off of the lava dome to see how much it was growing. Spirit Lake looked bigger now than when I had last seen it
n 1999, probably because of more snow melt, rain, and due to the fact that more of the logs have sunken from the surface to their watery grave at the bottom of the lake. We had a quick lunch of trail mix at the top, while admiring the magnificent views. On the way down, we sloshed though ankle deep snow and I walked across a creek that I thought was frozen over, but I learned very quickly that it was not, once I fell in knee deep in ice cold slushy water. As we were hiking back towards Johnston Ridge Observatory, we saw other people coming up. You can tell the people that know how to hike and those that don’t. Some people were wearing sandals and shorts down the trail! Hehe, they have no idea how wet and cold they are going to get! We then got back to the car and drove down to Cold Water Ridge Observatory where we got some more postcards. We tried to make it down to the Mt. St. Helens Visitor’s Center, but they closed before we had even parked the car. We then headed back I-5 and took HWY 12 towards
the south entrance of Mt. Rainer. As we got closer, the views were quite impressive, but soon we were too close to the snowy slopes, and eventually the trees covered everything up. We were going to stop at Longmire, but since I had gone there last time, we headed to Cougar Campgrounds to set up camp. There was big signs everywhere saying… CAMP AT YOUR OWN RISK! THIS AREA IS SUBJECT TO LAHARS, AVALANCHES, MUDFLOWS, AND OTHER GEOLOGICAL HAZARDS! But since this was the only campground around the area, we pitched out tent up anyway. Though I began to wonder, what if… For dinner we had a nasty chicken rice meal, mashed potatoes that stuck to the back of my throat, and pasta. We then took the firewood we had bought earlier, and made a small campfire while toasting marshmallows. I threw a few into the fire. It was neat watching them expand, sizzle, and run like molten lava. The campgrounds were inside a valley with mountains on either side of us. We could see a large waterfall flowing down high up on the
mountain. The snow in the area was hard packed and the temperature went down to the low 40’s that night. It will probably be very cold when we wake up. After we cleaned the dishes, we put out the fire and went to bed. The waterfall was so loud though, that I heard it all night long. A few times I woke up from it thinking it was the roar of some geological force heading towards us, but I ignored it and went back to sleep.
Sunday, June 2nd: We woke up at 6:30am. It was freezing out. It took me about 20 minutes, just to have enough guts to unzip my sleeping bag and crawl out. I reached over on the other side of the tent for my jeans, but found them completely frozen. I had forgot to put them in my sleeping bag last night. Opps! I reluctantly put them on anyway. We then packed up and Sean ate a quick breakfast. I was too cold to even take my hands out of my pockets! We headed up to Paradise and went into the Paradise Inn. It was very fancy inside. It sort of reminded me of the lodge at Crater Lake. We went in to raid the gift shop anyway though. The views of Mt. Rainer from Paradise were incredible. No wonder they called it Paradise. Though, I’m sure it would look better with all the wild flowers that bloom every time in the later summer months. From there, we went over to Henry M. Jackson Memorial Visitor Center, but it was closed until 10 am, so we had a snack by the car as we were figuring out what we were g
ing to do next. Suddenly this Stellar Blue Jay lands right by my feet. I take out the camera and start shooting. Just then, a Gray Jay lands on top of the car door. I turn the camera for a blurry but close up shot. We decided to head over to Ohanapecosh Visitor Center to find out about the hiking in the area. As we drove, we saw hundreds of waterfalls cascading down old basalt cliffs. Some of the waterfalls even hit the car as we were going by. We also saw some deer cross the road and go to drink at one of the miniature waterfalls. After the Visitor’s Center, we headed over to Silver Falls to take the .5-mile trail through a moss-covered forest along side the Ohanapecosh River. We had to climb down the rocks to get a better view of the falls. After we had hiked back up, we headed over to Falls Creek and then stopped at a vista of Mt. Rainer. Finally we got to Box Canyon, which is very beautiful in the fall and summer months, but now since there was so much snow, it wasn’t as impressive in my o
inion. Box Canyon is 180ft to the water surface. We stopped on the way back up to get pictures of the waterfalls splashing on the road by the two lava tunnels we had to drive through. After seeing some more views of Mt. Rainer, we headed back to the Henry M. Jackson Memorial Visitor Center to look around. I was getting a little sick of having Cliff Bars for lunch, so I talked Sean into getting a volcano chicken sandwich with fries at the cafeteria they had inside. We then headed back towards Paradise Inn and parked the car. We began to get ready for out hike on the Skyline Trail. We put on out ski pants and gators, but it was still warm enough to just wear a t-shirt. We then hiked up the slopes of Mt. Rainer admiring the views, as we seemed to get closer and closer to the summit. Okay, not really. The summit was still about 4 miles away or so. But it looked so close! We could see the Nisqually and Wilson Glaciers very clearly from the trail. We then had fun slogging and sliding back down the sl
pes. I wanted to go faster so I took the steepest ways down, only to do a face plant and eat some snow! Once down, we left Paradise and headed over to the Wonderland Trail and crossed the Nisqually River, where we collected some ash and rock samples. We then headed out of Mt. Rainer National Park and towards the town of Orting by HWY 161. When we arrived at the town of Orting, we explored the Carbon River coming from the Carbon Glacier on the slopes of Mt. Rainer. We saw the sirens all over the town and lots of volcano evacuation signs. The people in Orting are so friendly. They all seem to go on with their every day lives not worrying about the danger that stands in shadowy views in front of them. We saw Mt. Rainer from Orting at sunset. We took some pictures as the Alpine Glow spread across the mountain. It was so peaceful watching Mt. Rainer as twilight turned into night revealing a clear starry night sky. It’s hard to believe how dangerous and destructive Mt. Rainer can really be. It was alre
dy past 9pm, so we decided to eat dinner at the McDonalds in Orting. They had the cleanest bathrooms I have ever seen! After buying some more water at Safeway, we headed over to the town of Puyallup to find a campsite. We found it about an hour after going in circles, but realized it was just for RV’s. So we drove around through Puyallup and then trough Tacoma, but finally pulled over on a quiet street in Tacoma. I argued with Sean for about 45 minutes how I didn’t want to sleep here because it didn’t feel safe. But Sean was tired from driving so much so I soon gave up and let Sean get some sleep. As I locked the doors, I decided I would keep watch. But like in the movies, the person that keeps watch always falls asleep too and that I did. I was almost sound asleep when I heard this voice coming from outside the car. I looked up, horrified to find a man standing outside my door. He must have wanted something because he kept yelling at me to open the door. I shook Sean awake and I think he was ho
rified just as much as me if not more. He really freaked out. He fumbled for the keys and put them in the ignition and drove out of there about 40 mph above the speed limit! We drove through the city of Tacoma once more, this time trying to look for a motel. Finally, we found a cheap motel for $30.00, but it only had one bed. So I gave Sean the bed and I took in my sleeping bag to sleep on the floor. The room was nasty looking and quite a fire and earthquake hazard. The T.V was high on a tilted shelf in the corner and was only loosely glued down. The 3 picture frames on the wall were completely shattered. Any sudden movements and the glass was sure to fall out all over the bed. The heater looked very old, the kind that can easily leak carbon monoxide out into the room. But I suppose the room was better than trying to find a place on the side of the road again. It was 12:30am when we went to bed.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 130 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Thu, Jun  6, 2002 (19:55) * 17 lines
Monday, June 3rd: We woke up at 5:30am, gathered our stuff up and left the nasty motel at 6:30am. After getting gas, we took I-5 to Seattle. As we drove through Seattle, we could see the Seattle Space Needle, the downtown area, and Mt. Olympus in the west. Mt. Olympus is the highest point in the Olympic National Park. We went past Everett and took HWY 2 to the 204 to the 9 to the 92 towards the Mt. Baker and Snoqualmie National Forest. We could see Mt. Baker in the distance covered with a few scattered clouds. We headed over to Big Four Ice Caves trailhead and parked the car. As we got our gear ready, I heard a faint roar in the distance. I turned towards Big Four Mountain and to my surprise I saw snow coming down in a huge white blanket. “AVALANCHE!” I yelled out to Sean. I grabbed the camcorder and began to record. I could barely hold it still though because I was beginning to tremble. Fortunately, the avalanche was too far away to reach us, but I began to tell Sean how staying in this area
as a bad idea. There was signs everywhere saying… WARNING! HIKING IN ICE CAVES IS NOT RECOMMENDED DUE TO AVALANCHES. DANGER! SEVERE AVALACNHE CONDITIONS. There was also another sign that said we could hike as far as Stillaguamish South Fork River. So we did exactly that. As daring and adventurous as I am I certainly didn’t want to venture any further, so we turned back towards the car. Big Four Mountain is made from sandstone that was uplifted about 60 million years ago, which makes them way older then the Cascades and maybe even older than the dinosaurs. After a snack, we drove towards North Fork Falls to find the road was snowed in at Barlow Pass. We stopped off at the Mt. Baker and Snoqualmie National Forest Ranger Station to look for Glacier Peak postcards. We found none, so we drove to Jordan Road out of Granite Falls to Arlington. As we went through Darrington, we stopped at a few stores trying again to find postcards of Glacier Peak. The man who owned one of the stores told us that maybe G
acier Peak was not a very photogenic volcano. Yeah, right! We then headed 10 miles up this little paved dirt road to the White Chuck trailhead. Along the way we could see some of Glacier Peak through the trees. Once at the trailhead, we got out of the car to look around and tried to see if we could find Glacier Peak through the thick forest. Suddenly, I heard a loud familiar roar. I chill ran down my spine as I figured out what it was. The roar was so loud I had to cover my ears. As I ran terrified across the snow to the car, Sean ran after me. My pulse must have been racing at 300 beats per minute because I could feel it in my throat. I sank down near the side of the car sobbing waiting for the snowy white wave of death to crash down upon us. This was the worst way to die, I thought. But strangely, nothing happened. I stood up, and Sean and I looked towards the sky and the trees trying to find something. The noise began to fade though, and finally Sean pointed through the trees. It wasn’t an
valanche at all! It was the sound of two fighter jets flying very low! I collapsed near the car relieved. After pulling myself back together, we took the White Chuck trail about a mile and a half. We saw a brown and yellow stripped snake and some strange fungus along the way. We hiked across 12-inch deep creeks and ankle deep slushy snow to obtain some ash and rock samples of Glacier Peak. Once back at the car, we headed back down into Darrington and stopped at the Ranger Station. Then we continued up towards Mt. Baker. After a long drive, we finally saw Mt. Baker rise up above the clouds. We drove around trying to find a campsite with a view of Mt. Baker. Boulder Creek Campgrounds was the best. After we set up the tent, Sean and I climbed down to Boulder Creek and explored the area. Boulder Creek came from Boulder Glacier from the slopes of Mt. Baker. I looked around to find some interesting rocks and took a few ash samples. I think I got a little too close to the river. The current was movin
very fast, but I walked half way across the river on a rotting log. On our way back up to our campsite, we caught two tiny brown frogs that we had fun playing with before they hoped under a huge piece of polished rhyolite. Dinner was pasta, beans, and mashed potatoes. As we ate dinner, we burned the rest of the remaining firewood. Then later, as we ate hot cocoa and toasted marshmallows, I told Sean some volcano stories. Finally, the last of the flickering flames died out to glowing orange embers. A thin layer of clouds covered the starless night sky. Sean and I both crawled into our sleeping bags exhausted and went right to sleep. That night, I had a dream that I was flying back home in the airplane and right when we were over Mt. Shasta, it erupted and caused the plane to crash. I guess I was still worrying about the plane trip home, since this was going to be my first plane ride since 9-11.
Tuesday, June 4th: We both woke up that morning to hear a rhythmic beating on the tent. After nearly a week of partly cloudy skies, it was starting to rain again. Fortunately, we had put the rain fly on the tent the night before, but taking it all down and trying to fold it back up was a disaster. Finally, after we had everything packed up, we drove back to HWY 20 and then took HWY 542 up towards Mt. Baker Ski Resort. We could see Mt. Shuskan, but not Mt. Baker. There were just too many clouds. We then drove down a ways and took some shots of Mt. Shuskan and got some samples of the column basalt from the cliffs. Then we headed to Nocksack Falls. The falls were somewhat impressive, but not at all like Proxy Falls or Multanomah Falls, which I find to be the most beautiful and scenic waterfalls in all of the Pacific Northwest! As we were driving back down again, we saw 2 newborn fawns and their mother cross the road. A few hours later, we ended up in Bellingham where we took a tour of Western Washingto
University. The campus was beautiful. It overlooked the North Cascades and Bellingham Bay. The geology department looked great! It almost looked like a museum because there were so many samples and displays all over the building on 3 different floors! Finally, we were on the road again driving on I-5 back towards Seattle. I fell asleep for a few hours, but woke up just as we were passing Everett. Suddenly, this depression came over me as we were driving down the state of Washington. I didn’t want to leave tomorrow. The Pacific Northwest felt like home to me. I loved it here. I didn’t want to go back to my boring, ugly, pollution infested city in California. Why couldn’t I stay here, in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, where temperate rainforests and breathtaking waterfalls cover the most scenic chain of volcanoes on earth, the Cascades? We drove into Orting again, this time to get some information. I went into the City Hall and was given evacuation info, a map, and a USGS info sheet about his
oric lahars in Orting and Puyallup. She also gave me the phone number of fire chief, Ron Splain. She said he would probably be a lot of help because he knew more about the historic lahars in Orting than anyone else in the town. I thanked her for her help and we began to drive towards Tacoma. In Tacoma, we went to Mail Box Etc to mail some of our bulky items home. Because of the strong airline regulations, we didn’t have enough room in our bags to bring home everything, so we decided to mail our ski clothes and our sleeping pads. We then finally began our decent towards Portland. The clouds were still very thick, but we could see just the base of Mt. Rainer as we passed Olympia. As we passed Chehalis, I saw Mt. St. Helens in the distance surrounded by gray clouds. And as we got closer to Portland, we could see both Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Adams through the storm clouds. Finally, as we were nearly in Portland, we saw the peak of Mt. Hood for the first time the whole trip. We decided to drive up HWY
4 again along the Colombia River Gorge Scenic Area. We drove over to a viewpoint of Mt. Hood on the north side, where we finally saw the whole volcano poking up through the storm clouds. There were lenticular clouds swirling around the summit. The whole sky turned a pale pink as the sun set in the westerly sky. The whole sky was covered with pink and purple lenticular clouds now, casting a spectacular alpine glow on top of Mt. Hood. After taking some pictures, we drove across the toll bridge again and headed to Trout Lake near Mt. Adams Recreation Area. We finally arrived at Mt. Adams way after sunset, but we could still see the outline of the volcano in the darkening sky with purple lenticular clouds covering up the summit. The speed limit on the road was 60 miles an hour so Sean went exactly at 60, but unfortunately he was going a little too fast for what happened next. Suddenly, the headlights of the car, fell upon a huge porcupine walking across the road. Sean couldn’t stop in time, so he tried
to swerve the car to the right a bit so the porcupine would go under the car and not the tires. But I guess the clearance of the car from the ground was not high enough. We hit it with a sickening thud. I screamed at Sean to go back. This was a hit and run! Well, sort of. Finally I made Sean go back, but we couldn’t find the body anywhere. Maybe it flew up and landed in the bushes. When we got to a gas station down the road, Sean looked under the car to see if maybe we had dragged the poor animal with us. There was no sign of it, except for one thing. The whole underside of the car was covered with quills. Little ones and big ones, some 6 inches long, stuck underneath the entire car. It looks like maybe the porcupine may have gotten away alive. Its quills are very thick and used to protect itself from predators. But the question is could it protect itself from a car? I guess we will never find out, but we do have a nice souvenir of quills to bring home. It was 11:00pm by the time we reached th
hotel in Portland. It took hours to clear out the car and pack everything back up. We had missed dinner and now it was 2:30am and then 3:00am. Sean got about an hour of sleep. I didn’t get any at all, because I was too worried about the plane ride home.
Wednesday, June 5th: We got up at 4am, ate a quick breakfast, and loaded our bags into the car. Then we brought the car back to the rental place, where the shuttle brought us to the airport. We waited in the check in line first. When we got to the front, the lady said there was an earlier flight that left at 6:40am and asked us if we wanted that instead, so we said yes. Then she said that our 4 bags that were going to be checked in needed to be searched. A man with a big cart took our bags to a big x-ray machine. Other people were waiting around for their bags to be searched as well. We waited for our bags to go through. And not surprisingly, they didn’t like them, maybe because of all the camping equipment that was metal or my rock hammer that defiantly looked like a weapon. So they searched all 4 of our bags right in front of everyone. It was sort of embarrassing as they held different items up and asked questions about it. The lady inspected the lantern and then the rock hammer, which I think s
e thought looked like a gun when she saw the handle sticking out! On the other side another guy was growing through another one our bags and asking Sean questions about it. I watched him take out the rest of our remaining food and all the dishes. Finally, our bags checked out okay, so we left the area and went to part 2, the security check in point. I went through the metal detector no problem at all, but then a lady said she had to pat me down just to make sure. “Hold your arms out and spread your legs.” She then asked me to take off my shoes. As I was taking of my shoes, the guy next to me was doing the same thing. He and I exchanged glances. Both of us knew how crazy this was, but I guess it was okay to be safe. Then he said, “We should just run through naked. Then we could go through a lot quicker.” He was right, we could. Suddenly, this huge alarm goes off a few lanes down. Somebody must have brought a scissors in their carry on bag. Tsk, tsk, tsk. The back of my leg and my foot kept going
off when she waved the wand over me for some reason. I don’t have any metal plates in me. It must have been some interference. Then she made me lift my shirt up part way so she could make sure I didn’t have a bomb strapped to my waist. I felt very violated, but still, I knew things needed to be done this way to be safe. After both Sean and I got through, we thought the checking was over. Wrong! When we got to our gate number and gave the lady our tickets to board the plane, she told us our carry-on bags and our bodies needed to be searched again. Is it just me or are we being picked on today? We waited in line for our turn. We were the very last ones to get checked. Two security personal looked through our bags, while the other ones patted us down and made us strip off our shoes again. We were the last ones on the plane. As we walked through the terminal, they shut the door and the minute we were seated, the plane took off. We thought we were on the right side to see the rest of the Cascade Ran
e, but we weren’t, so we had to switch sides to the other side of the plane to see the Cascades. We took some shots of the Southern Cascades in Oregon and Northern California. Later we passed over the Sierras and then the San Andreas Fault. Once we landed in John Wayne Airport, I felt very depressed to be back in southern California again. Suddenly I heard an announcement. The plane that we just got off of was now flying to Portland! If there weren’t so much security, I could easily slip on! I muttered some rude comments about how much I hated southern California, as Sean and I walked to the baggage claim area. Sean and I decided on our trip that we will try to come back again next year in August. But next time, we will try to stay a whole month so we can have time to see the entire Cascade Range and plenty of time to climb Mt. St. Helens, the South Sister, Mt. Shasta, Mt. Adams, and maybe a few other of the Cascade Volcanoes. Until next time, I guess I will be hiking and climbing them in my dreams



 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 131 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Thu, Jun  6, 2002 (20:08) * 2 lines
So I bet you all want to know what of my trip do I have video footage of, huh? Well, I'm sure you have figured out now that the natural disaster I got on tape was of an avalanche. I hope none of you thought it was an eruption. I wish it had been! I got both the ice cave and Ape Cave, many waterfalls, all the Cascade Volcanoes in Washington, a few and Oregon and all in California. the San Andreas Fault, the Sierras, all kinds of wildlife. Fortunatly, I didn't get a shot of the porcupine being run over but I did take a shot of something dead. You will have to see for yourselves. I narrated the whole video, messing up only on a few times. You will notice the camera scanning things a little too quickly in some parts and shaking in some parts, but hey, this is my first time making a video! There is also pictures of the moss and fern forests and many other things that I can't even remember. Sean is in some parts, and yes, I am in alot of parts. Sean wanted to shoot me doing some of the stupid things I
do as insurance and to show Mom and Dad so they can lay in to me. *laughs* Thats okay, wait till Mom and Dad hear about the side street in Tacoma that Sean took us to sleep for the night. And I was the one who told him we should leave! *laughs evily* I will be sending my tape to Marcia in a few weeks, so please be patient.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 132 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Jun  7, 2002 (00:24) * 1 lines
Before I call Rob Splain of Orting, I want to know if anyone has any questions you want me to ask him about Orting, their evacuation plans, the geologic history of Orting, Mt. Rainer in general, anything, please let me know in the next week or so because I will be giving him a call by the end of next week. Rob, I bet you have some questions. 

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 133 of 342: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Fri, Jun  7, 2002 (02:20) * 1 lines
That's great Julie, thanks for sharing your journal. I don't have time to read it this morning, but plan on printing it out to read over breakfast or lunch later today.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 134 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Jun  7, 2002 (10:50) * 1 lines
I can't believe this, but I think I have a volcanic rock stuck in my hand! The day we climbed Mt. St. Helens, I remember stopping in the snow because my hand was hurting. Sean looked at it and said something was in there, but it definatly wasn't a splinter and I do remember falling quite a few times before then on the rocks. Sean said we would take care of it after the climb, but I guess we forgot and it stopped hurting anyway. Well, now its starting to hurt again and it all red around the wound so I think I have an infection. Now I have to go to the doctor's and get it removed. OUCH! I hope it is a volcanic rock though, then I can add one more thing to all my souviners!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 135 of 342: S B Robinson  (SBRobinson) * Fri, Jun  7, 2002 (12:53) * 5 lines
*laughing*

Julie, i hope for your sake it REALLY is a volcanic rock... are you going to frame it??? ;-)

*kiss* (to make it better) :-)

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 136 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Sat, Jun  8, 2002 (00:37) * 3 lines
Julie! Fantastic! Tomorrow WE are going to Shasta. I think our visit will be less traumatic than yours but hardly as memorable. I will print out the epic of Sean and Julie and read it to David and Iris on the way!

Please... you are scaring me. I worry about your safety. Btw, you are the only one with whom I managed to have a conversation via IM yesterday. Today it is not working right and I am left with only email and Geo to contact people. How frustrating!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 137 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sun, Jun  9, 2002 (13:06) * 3 lines
I learned a little bit about one of the lesser known Cascade Volcanoes on my trip, Glacier Peak. I bet you had no idea that Glacier Peak is the most explosive volcano in Washington. I don't know why its not considered one of the "major" Cascade Volcanoes, but if it were to erupt again, the ash would circulate around the globe causing temperatures to drop as much as 5. F. Let me give you a little background information on Glacier Peak. Glacier Peak is not one of your most stunning volcanoes to look at, nor is it the tallest. It rises above some of the neighbooring peaks and trees at only 10,451 feet tell. In fact, Sean and I had a hard time finding it because there aren't even any roads that go close enough to it. Glacier Peak has erupted about 6 times in the past 15,000 years. Its eruptions have been enormous and one of them, about 12,000 years ago has deposited the largest layer of ash in all of the Pacific Northwest! Glacier Peak seems to erupt massive quantities of pumice. Glacier Peak and Mt.
t. Helens are the only volcanoes in Washington to produce large, explosive, and violent eruptions. About 13,100 years ago Glacier Peak erupted tephra 9 times. The largest ejected was more than 5x as much ejected from the May 18th, 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens. The eruption was also the largest in the Cascade Range since the last ice age. Lava domes have also formed in the summit during many of these eruptive cycles. These domes would collapse and cause pyroclastic flows. Disappointment Peak is the reminant of one of these lava domes. Glacier Peak has also produced some very large lahars that have severely effected river valleys, including the two that I was near, the White Chuck River and the North Fork Stillaguamish River. I saw huge walls of lahar deposits. Glacier Peak is very much eroded now and I think the possibility of an eruption is probably very slim, but we should still keep an eye on this one because you never know. And just because it is 70 miles northeast of Seattle and in a desolit
and remote location doesn't mean that it won't effect us. The deposit layer is huge! If you thought Crater Lake erupted alot, you should look at the layer of Glacier Peak's eruption nearly 12,000 years ago. The layer for Crater Lake is about 6x smaller!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 138 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Mon, Jun 10, 2002 (20:30) * 1 lines
I'll download my pictures and post them here. Thye Cascades were glorious to day and the weather in Weed was perfect. I thought of you, Julie!!!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 139 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Tue, Jun 11, 2002 (21:49) * 1 lines
*stomps her foot angrily* NOT FAIR!! Just less than 2 weeks after I get back from the Cascades, Gifford Pinchot National Forest decided to open HWY 99 that leads up to Windy Ridge near MSH'S! UGH!! I'm packing my bags and leaving tomorrow! I wish! ARGH! I miss MSH's, Mt. Hood, Mt. Rainer, Mt. Adams, Mt. Baker, and Glacier Peak. I actually waved goodbye to them as we took off in the plane! *Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa* Take me back, take me back!!!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 140 of 342: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Wed, Jun 12, 2002 (04:03) * 1 lines
You're really leaving tomorrrow? Or were you just being metaphoric?

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 141 of 342: Rob Glennie  (AotearoaKiwi) * Wed, Jun 12, 2002 (05:38) * 5 lines
Hi all

Methinks metaphoric. Though I know that if she had a realistic chance of going to Windy Ridge immediately, that girl would be gone from CA faster than lightning jumps between clouds, and that is pretty fast.

Rob

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 142 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Wed, Jun 12, 2002 (11:39) * 2 lines
No, I ain't really going (don't think I wasn't serious though), but....I was talking to Sean last night before I went to bed about next year. We are already planning the next trip. Both of us agree we didn't stay long enough this year, so next year we are definatly going for 3 to 4 weeks. We think that will be plenty of time to drive up there by car and start in northern California and work our way up to B.C. We will go in August so there is no worry about snow, avalanches, freezing weather, and roads and trails being closed up. Until then, I need to train like mad because obviously I wasn't ready for such a trecherous volcano climb to the top of MSH's (in the snow). So as soon as my ankle is all healed up, I'm going back on the track team and running probably the whole spring semester of next year. I also need to practice hiking with a 40lb pack on. Its not that easy hiking up the slopes on loose volcanic rocks and ash in 95. F weather with a heavy backpack on. I have hiked level ground with a 45lb
ack in 115.F heat in the Grand Canyon, but if I were going uphill doing that, I think I would have died.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 143 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Thu, Jun 13, 2002 (13:15) * 1 lines
WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!!! I am now an officialy licenced driver in the state of California! I passed my drivers test! WOOOOOOHOOOOO!! Do you know what this means? Now next year when Sean and I go back to the Cascades, I will be able to drive there and Sean will be seating in the passanger seat! And if Sean doesn't want to go back to MSH's again, well too bad, because I will be driving. Hehehehe!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 144 of 342: Curious Wolfie  (wolf) * Thu, Jun 13, 2002 (17:46) * 1 lines
look out!!! mad woman on the loose!!!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 145 of 342: Rob Glennie  (AotearoaKiwi) * Fri, Jun 14, 2002 (02:46) * 5 lines
Hi all

Now you can take me to see the resurgent domes of Mammoth! WOOOOOHOOOOO!!!!!! Well done Julie. Considering your other news today was hardly flash, this is brilliant. Anyway I plan to get my learners this summer coming (New Zealand is in winter incase you have forgotten), and my full license the following summer. How does that sound? I figure I have at least another year to go at University so it is not too surprising that I am going to do it during the summer months.

Rob

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 146 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Sat, Jun 15, 2002 (11:07) * 3 lines
Oh Lordy, and my son is a risk now!!! Julie, seriously - congratulations and well done. You have over-achieved me already.

When we were at Lassen just about all trails were still closed and a whole lot of things were still buried under many feet of snow

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 147 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Thu, Jun 20, 2002 (14:47) * 2 lines
Hello everyone! Surprise, surprise! Hehe! Did you guys honestly think I could stay away from the computer for more than 3 days? I think not! I knew I would find a way, even if it was uncomforatable. Its quite interesting typing laying down, although I don't recomand you try it unless you have a lot of patience. The surgery went great. My anesthesiologist looked like Tom Hanks! He was hot! *laughs* The pain isn't so bad because I've been taking lots of pain pills. But the pain pills make me dizzy and make things look blury. Its only been 2 days since the surgery and I am so bored. I am so sick of watching t.v, videos, and listening to music. Thank god for my lap top! I just wish I could figure out another way to use it without laying down. But I have to keep my foot elevated until Saturday or Sunday. This is really annoying though. I am so used to doing things myself, but now I have to let Mom, Dad, and Sean do them for me. I feel like I am 3 years old. Oh well, as soon as I can get around better
I think things will be a little easier on everyone else as well.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 148 of 342: Cheryl  (CherylB) * Thu, Jun 20, 2002 (17:08) * 1 lines
Hope that you're feeling better soon, Julie.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 149 of 342: Curious Wolfie  (wolf) * Thu, Jun 20, 2002 (17:51) * 1 lines
maybe you can prop your head up a bit? hope you got good drugs and not motrin!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 150 of 342: S B Robinson  (SBRobinson) * Thu, Jun 20, 2002 (18:01) * 2 lines
Glad your surgery is a thing of the past Julie! :-)
Feel better soon -we miss your cheerful post around here when your gone *hug*

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 151 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Thu, Jun 20, 2002 (18:47) * 1 lines
I've been missing you guys too! Marcia is right, Geo is very addicting, no matter what shape I am in. I have so many friends here and its just so much fun. *HUGS*

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 152 of 342: John Tsatsaragos  (tsatsvol) * Fri, Jun 21, 2002 (00:40) * 12 lines
I understand you completely Julie. But your case is very simple I believe. I will tell you my fresh experience. See it as an example. Existing more bad cases...

I had my leg up for five months. Pain was very strong but I had my computer as pain alleviating medicine. Now I can walk but not absolutely free and without a little pain. I have 100% of my leg in the morning, 50% at noon and do not ask for later. I was using my computer with legs up for five months and for many hours per day. I was sitting in a big office chair having my legs on a writing desk on my computer's left side. I had the keyboard on my abdominal regions. Add also a live TV transmission from my laboratory a few days after the major surgery…

Have you seeing some dream in the operation theatre? I had a strange one. I want forget it but I can't. *Laughs* I must return in the operation theatre for the second half in a few months…

I suggest you patience. You can find an easy avocation and accommodate it to your case. Three days is not the eternity. My experience says that your leg will show you itself, when and how you can use it.

Feel better soon

John 


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 153 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Jun 21, 2002 (01:54) * 1 lines
Wow, John you are very right. I am very sorry. My case is very simple compared to yours. Good luck with your operation. I hope everything goes well. I'm here for you if you need anything.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 154 of 342: John Tsatsaragos  (tsatsvol) * Fri, Jun 21, 2002 (04:14) * 3 lines
It's OK Julie. Thank you. I was trying to give you some courage comparing my case with yours. I think that our pain exists also in our familial and chummy environment. A smile is the best gift for all. It is enough also for me. Unfortunately, none can go against to his destiny.

John

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 155 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Jun 22, 2002 (16:21) * 2 lines
Guess what guys? For several years now I have been entering stuff in the Orange County Fair. Well, this year, I entered quite a few things. Mom and Dad helped me this afternoon to take in two photos and a bunch of my volcano stuff. The two photos were of Terry at the beach during sunset and Lower Proxy Falls in the Cascades of Oregon. The volcano stuff I entered in the Collections catagory included a bunch of my volcano postcards, volcano pins, volcanic rocks, and of course volcanic ash. Both these things are going to be judged and then put on display during the fair. I don't care if I win, but I always think its so cool to have my stuff on display so everyone can see it. But if I do win, there is money prizes for the photos. I am also going to be working at the fair too. Crutches and all, lol. The club I belong to, Santa Ana Rock and Mineral Club, puts on a display every year to teach kids about rocks, minerals, and geology. Should be fun, even if I can't walk around the fair like I usually do. The
Orange County Fair is from July 12th to July 28th.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 156 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Mon, Jun 24, 2002 (14:34) * 7 lines
GOOD LUCK JULIE!!!

Kisses on all the places that hurt, Julie. Ouch! Jus my luck that everything possible that can go wrong with my computer DID go wrong. I cannot put Yahoo on my host's computer so I will make do until mine gets back to me. Or for certain I will buy a B\NEW one. I have never felt so frustrated in my life, and now I have let Julie down. I feel terrible. Just wne you needed me the most.

I can vouch for John's tale and the impossibility of being unable to do anything for a long time. I did my best to entertain him. Geo is addictive, but only because the people here are what makes it this way. *HUGS*

A hui hou

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 157 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, Jun 24, 2002 (21:41) * 1 lines
Marcia, you have not let me down at all. How can you possibly think that? I may be having a difficult time right now, but I am trying to manage. I understand totally about all your computer problems. Stuff like that happens. Really, its okay. I hope everything works out for you. Hope to hear from you soon. *HUGS*

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 158 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Tue, Jun 25, 2002 (11:03) * 5 lines
Ackkkkk!!! Just when I think all is well with that laptop, I find another email from David in my inbox telling me what else is wrong with it. Now that the new hard drive is installed the CD ROM player will not work so I must have that fixed then perhaps it might be shipped to me. Thanks to all of you for hanging in there - and hugs to those of you who are ailing.

Special hugs and thanks to John for sharing his chair in the summer house with me and ekeeping Geo interesting. This really IS a nice place to come when you are far from home. I never saw it from this angle before!

Big sister Hugs to you, Julie. I have a whole new flashcard full of digital images to share but NO volcanoes in this part of the world in the last billion or so years. Coal, though! More on the Appalachian chain soon! 

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 159 of 342: John Tsatsaragos  (tsatsvol) * Wed, Jun 26, 2002 (06:27) * 6 lines
Geo was excellent pain alleviating medicine in my case. It was also equilibrating the constrictions of life inside the house for long time. I must thanks Marcia and Geo for that.

I feel comfortable in Geo as on my chair in the summerhouse. I hear also soft music there during the hot summer nights. It is the other face of life. Hebetic enthusiasm is decreasing by the time and gives more space to perfectionism. It is an excellent place for philosophical thoughts.

John 


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 160 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Wed, Jun 26, 2002 (13:23) * 5 lines
My delight is knowing you have such a refuge from the stresses of life and you can contemplate in serene beauty in your summer house. Think of me occasionally as I do of you. You have enriched my life and Geo immeasurably. In fact, I think my host is tiring of hearing your virtues extolled.

As I said beforer, Yahoo will be my first installed program on my new computer so I can talk to you and to those who wish there. Julie, that means you, too. I miss our discussions of those things "closest to our hearts"... YOu know who they are!

HUGS!! John and Julie. My heart is with you even if my body is far from where it usually is!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 161 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Wed, Jun 26, 2002 (19:44) * 2 lines
HUGS!! Marcia, where ever you are right now. You are right about Geo being excellent pain alleviating medicine, John. And its a good thing too because the pain pills are not working for me anymore. In fact they are making me very sick. Maybe thats because I have taken 30 of them in just one week! I decided I would rather stand the pain in my ankle than be so sick in the morning that I can't even get out of my bed. Nothing is worse than having your head stuck over a toliet bowl for hours at a time disposing your stomach contents while your head is spliting in two. So no more of those pain pills for me. I will just grit my teeth for the next few weeks or months. 4th of July is just a week away. This has always been my favortie holiday, but this year without Terry and not being able to walk, it isn't going to be the best. But I will tough it out. We will still go on our usual picnic at Irvine Park, but I don't think I will be hiking or climbing this year for obvious reasons. As for celebrations at nig
t, we usually have our own. There is only 3 cities in Orange County that allow fireworks and Santa Ana and Costa Mesa are two of them. But this year, we will be going to a firework display probably on the beach and maybe lighting some sparkelers or fountains later. And some ground bloomers. I love those things! Hehe. Usually I am the lucky one that gets to water the roof every year, but this year I guess Sean will do it. Everyone in our neighborhood has to water their roofs becuase of the problems with illegal fireworks (most of which are rockets that shot up 100's of feet into the sky). People buy them in Mexico and take them back across the border. They are very very dangerous. 2 years ago we saw one shot up and land in the house in back of ours and we watched in horror as it caught fire. Luckily, no one was in the house at that time. So please, all of you that decide to set off a few...be careful. 

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 162 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Thu, Jun 27, 2002 (12:47) * 3 lines
Julie, I will be spending the 4th in kentucky or somewhere near it. Down here they do such things as "shooting the anvil" - you take two anvils - like blacksmiths use. Place a charge of powder in one and set the other on top of the other anvil but upside down. Light the powder and see how far it tosses the top anvil. Yikes!!! It has been ages since I celebrated the 4th in anywhere but Hawaii. There it is not hardly celebrated at all. It will be fun I think. I have already heard a lot of illegal fireworks going off - just like Hilo! My son is planning a weird celebration. They are getting a new little kitten for Critter to play with. Critter is a regal and older cat of very sober mein. He will NOT be amused. Poor Critter!!!

Julie, I'm with you on those pain pills. They make me very sick so I "bite bullets" or do what is necessary to ride it out. HUGS!!! I miss talkling wityho you but this coming week should determine what laptop I use - a whole new one or the rebuilt Toshiba now in California. 

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 163 of 342: John Tsatsaragos  (tsatsvol) * Thu, Jun 27, 2002 (22:02) * 20 lines

Hi Julie
Why pain is not reduced? What says your doctor? Try natural pain-alleviating medicine such sleep. But keep always your leg up. Geo family is also here. We can discuss anything you have in mind.

I think that it matches the Greek song the music of which you must hear now. Its words are approximate the following

The mesh

When you open road in the life
Do not wait it finds you the midnight
Have your eyes open, in the night and the day
Because in front you unfolds a mesh

If sometime you tangled in its meshes
No one can remove you
Alone find the end of thread
And, begin again if you are lucky

John 


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 164 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Jun 28, 2002 (01:44) * 1 lines
That is a very wonderful song John. Thanks so much for sharing it. Oh gosh, I have done something stupid. I bet you are very careful with what you do with your ankle, John. I thought I was being careful too, until this evening when I got careless and irresponsible. I left my crutched in the computer room, but I had to get another photo in my room to scan. I thought I could make the 6 feet by hoping on one foot. And I did, but on the way back from my room to the computer room I tripped over the telephone cord and fell. And of course hoping on one foot I landed on the one that was not on the ground, my injured one and I put all my weight on it. It hurt terribly. I am going back to the doctor's anyway tomorrow, but now they will probably have to take another x-ray to make sure I didn't damage anything. I can't beleive I was so stupid. I hope my ankle is okay or I am in trouble, serious trouble.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 165 of 342: John Tsatsaragos  (tsatsvol) * Fri, Jun 28, 2002 (06:44) * 12 lines
Oh...NO!.........
Normally I must administer a rebuke to you. I will have right! I hope you didn't damage anything. But it was very painful and a hard lesson for the future I think. What I can say more? I am very sorry.

Ok. Let’s see it from one other side. Perhaps you must remain quiescent in the house for some unknown reason. I believe that nothing is happenstance in this life. I made steps ahead for my research during my compulsory captivity in the house. I found also some answers for my life, for my mistakes for what I am doing finally. I see also with a new eye some things. I disappointed for several stupid actions in my life. I made a hard self-criticism. The secret is to become you forceful and do not make the same mistakes. See to the future and make your own best program.

Have you seeing a mule before? Do you know that the mule never drops again in the same place? That was saying my father when I was doing continued mistakes. I was feeling hurt with the idea that I was inequitable of a mule….

Please remember the existence of the mesh on which adverts the song. It is not only a wonderful song but is also perceptive. It continues like this: That mesh has several names. Some they say it the down world foxiness. Other they say it the first spring love…

I wish you good news and quick remedy. Forgive my hard words.

John

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 166 of 342: John Tsatsaragos  (tsatsvol) * Fri, Jun 28, 2002 (06:46) * 1 lines
Rob where are you?

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 167 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Jun 28, 2002 (17:45) * 1 lines
Your right John, I would not want to make the same mistakes again and I probably should be staying at home more instead of trying to stay out for hours at a time increaseing the risk of reinjuring myself again. Fortunatly, everything is okay. They took another x-ray and everything still looks great, although I have some more bruising that wasn't there before probably due to my little accident I had last night. The stitches and staples (I discovered there are 11 staples and 11 stitches holding the incision) will be coming out June 8th. They put on a semi-removable cast on today that I have to take off 6 times a day to do an excersise. The goal right now is to start flexing my foot back to the 90 degree position, which is basically the walking position. It will probably take a few weeks for that to happen, and as long as I don't do anything stupid that will make me fall again, I may be starting to walk again before school starts the end of August, I hope. I think and I hope I have learned my lesson.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 168 of 342: BJ Boone  (duffuses) * Fri, Jun 28, 2002 (23:15) * 2 lines
i'm glad your ok , Julie 


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 169 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Jun 29, 2002 (20:27) * 2 lines
WOW! I can't believe this! Wooohooo! Something is really going on near Mt. Hood. I have never seen so much activity. Seismic activity has increased since the begining of May and this looks to be the most I have seen in one day. I am cautiously getting excited. It could be nothing, which probably is true, but all the depths of the quakes are all simalar. We will have to see how long this seismic swarm is going to last. Check out the seismic data here...
http://www.ess.washington.edu/recenteqs/Maps/122-45.html

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 170 of 342: John Tsatsaragos  (tsatsvol) * Sun, Jun 30, 2002 (01:31) * 16 lines
Hi B.J.
I am glad too that you are Ok Julie.
You say that the depths of the quakes are all similar. I don’t think so. Look at the graph below. (Attention: Time is running from right to left).
I constructed this graph from the data table here:
http://www.ess.washington.edu/recenteqs/Quakes/quakes0.html



White line is the line of depth and fat Red line is its trend. DEPTHS BECOME LOWER!

In contrary, Magnitudes (Green line) are about stable as appeared by its trend line (fat yellow line).

I don’t know volcanology or what can mean that. But I try to learn. You have taken your lesson but we need your own lessons now! Can you tell us what says theory or practice in similar cases? What we must expect there?
Perhaps Rob can help too from his side.

John

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 171 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sun, Jun 30, 2002 (02:03) * 1 lines
I think I am better at volcanology than I am at seismology, lol. Here is what we do know. Mt. Hood has had small eruptions since the 1830's. The most recent one being in 1865. But the largest eruptions began about 1760-1810. These eruptions formed Crater Rock which is the pointed portion of Mt. Hood's peak. These eruptions also caused pyroclastic flows, mudflows, and a several inch thick layer of ash. Many of the mudflows may have flowed all the way through thr Colombia River Gorge area. Mt. Hood is known to produce lava domes, pyroclastic flows, ash clouds, and large mudflows. As I probably mentioned before, the major Cascade volcanoes seem to erupt every 200 years or so. Mt. Hood could just be waking up, or most likely just shaking things up a bit and not much else. Only time will tell. 

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 172 of 342: Curious Wolfie  (wolf) * Sun, Jun 30, 2002 (10:45) * 3 lines
Julie!! i'm just now catching up--you be careful on that foot!!!! *HUGS*

Hi BJ, John, and Marcia *HUGS*

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 173 of 342: John Tsatsaragos  (tsatsvol) * Mon, Jul  1, 2002 (04:31) * 7 lines
Hi Wolfie
We’ve lost you here together with your twin. But she is absolutely excusable. I hope you are OK and all things being right there. “HUGS”

Thank you Julie.

John 


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 174 of 342: John Tsatsaragos  (tsatsvol) * Wed, Jul  3, 2002 (06:15) * 71 lines
The following is something special that I dedicate to students like you Joulie and Rob. Perhaps it will become useful to you.


4 Common Ways to Remember Material
by Lenny Laskowski

Remembering speeches can be a very intimidating experience. There are many ways one can remember material and I would like to focus on what I believe are the 4 common ways to remember material.

-Memorizing
-Reading from complete text
-Using Notes
-Using Visual Aids as Notes
-Let's take a look at each of these in detail.

1. Memorizing -In my opinion, this is absolutely the worst way to keep track of material. People are preoccupied with trying to remember the words to say and not the ideas behind the words (or with the audience). As a result, normal voice inflection disappears. With memorizing, mental blocks become inevitable. With memorizing it is not a matter of will you forget; it's a matter of WHEN!

2. Reading from complete text - Listening to someone read a speech or presentation is hated by most people. People say, If that's all they were going to do is read their speech, I could have read it myself. I'm sure many of us have experienced this at least once while attending a conference or two. Below are some reasons why I believe people read poorly:

The speaker loses normal voice inflection because they lose touch with the ideas behind the words. Listen for pauses, Natural speech is filled with pauses; unnatural speech is not.
The text isn't spoken language - too often speakers write their speeches in business language. That is often hard to read, much less listen to.
The speech is static - the potted plant will probably move more. There is little movement, little energy, and little interest behind the lectern.
There's no or little eye contact - any eye contact is with the text, not the audience. To read text while trying to maintain eye contact with the audience takes a lot of practice.
The speaker is scared - many speakers read because they are afraid to try anything else. They know reading will fail but at least it will fail with a small f rather than a capital one.

NOTE: Don't get me wrong, there are times when speeches MUST be read. Many times it is necessary to read policy statements or company announcements. Also, some speeches must be timed right down to the second.

WHEN YOU HAVE TO READ!
If reading is absolutely necessary, here are some suggestions:
Pay attention to the inflection in your voice - to sound natural, rehearse often, checking yourself for pauses. Ask yourself if your words sound the way you would say them if you weren't reading. Tape yourself and listen to your own voice. Take notes where changes should be made with the inflection in your voice.
When preparing your written speech, say the words out loud first in order that your written text will read closer to your speaking style. This will make it easier to read and much easier to listen to. People often DO NOT write the same way as they speak and this makes reading more difficult. If we use wording and phrasing we normally use in our everyday language it will be easier to add the correct voice inflection and tone. Annotate your text to indicate which words to emphasize. Numbers are the easiest target words to say slowly with emphasis on each syllable.
One of the biggest problems speakers face when reading text is that we often forget to use gestures. We are so busy making sure we read the text we fail to communicate effectively with our entire body. One thing we can do to help this is to double space your typed text to leave room to add notes or cues about gestures and other reminder type clues. We need to practice using this annotated text of our speech so we can easily and smoothly react to these cues for our gestures while at the same time correctly read the text. This does take some practice. Some people do this very effectively.
I work with ministers who do this extremely well, but they also practice a lot! Videotape yourself reading the speech and then sit and watch the speech, making notes as to the gestures which could have been used. Add notes to your written text based on this review, using notes or even pictures of the gestures to use and deliver the speech again, trying this time to add gestures. After a little practice, this will become second nature.

When we read speeches, the amount of eye contact with our audience is usually less. In some cases, people who read speeches have NO eye contact. To avoid this, first write like you speak (see suggestion 2). When typing the text, use upper and lower case letters. This will make it easier to read. TYPING EVERYTHING IN UPPPERCASE, AS I HAVE DONE HERE, MAKES IT MORE DIFFICULT TO READ. Don't have long paragraphs or you will lose your place every time you look up. Start a new paragraph every sentence or two. Also, have your text double spaced. Some people even so far as alternating the color of the text for each paragraph.
Use unstapled pages for your text. Paper clip your pages and just before you begin, remove the paper clip. As you prepare your text, keep in mind that you will have to handle these pages and you want to do this smoothly and as quietly as you can. Do not have part of a sentence begin on one page and continue onto the next page. End the page with a complete sentence and paragraph.

During your pauses, smoothly slide the page you just finished using to one side and continue with the text on the next page. Do not pick up the page and place it behind or turn the page over when done. This will be distracting and will bring attention to the fact that you are reading. Avoid handling the pages as much as possible while you are reading.

With a lot of practice and careful preparation, you can deliver a powerful speech, even when reading. Some of the world's greatest speeches were read, but you can be assured, they weren't reading them for the first time when delivering their speech to their audience. Practice, practice, practice.

3. Using Notes - This is the most common way for remembering material. Using notes is better than reading since the speaker can have normal voice inflection and make more effective eye contact. If your notes are on the lectern, you probably won't move very far from them. If notes are in your hand, you probably won't gesture very much.

Below are some suggestions to consider if you decide to use notes:

USING NOTES
Use note cards. Include quotes, statistics and lists you may need, NOT paragraphs of text. VERY IMPORTANT: Number you note cards! (Just in case you drop them).
Don't put too much information on each note card or you will find yourself reading too much. Put only a few words or key phrases.
Leave your notes on the lectern or table and move away occasionally. Don't be afraid to move away from your notes and get out of your comfort zone. Too many speakers use the lectern to hide behind and this restricts the effective use of your entire body.

Practice using your note cards. If you find yourself reading your note cards too much, this is a sure clue you need to reduce the amount of written text on each card. Remember, all you need are short phrases or key words, enough to jog your memory.
Use pictures or picture maps to guide yourself. Pictures help you to visualize the key points of your speech. Use mental pictures as well to tell the story in your head. This will take some creativity, but will be worth the effort.
4. Using Visual Aids As Notes - Simple visual aids can effectively serve as headings and subheadings. Speak to the heading. Say what you want to say and move on. If you forget something, that's okay; the audience will never know unless you tell them.

Practice creating just a few meaningful headings to use and practice using only these headings as your cues. This will take practice, but practicing using only these few words will force you to better internalize your speech.

This has four important advantages:

You don't have to worry about what your are going to say next. Your visual aids provide you with your cues of your next major idea or thought. All you need to do between ideas is to use an effective transitional statement. (See my tips on using transitions).
Having only a few key words on your visual aid allows you to move around the room without the need or feeling you need to go back to your notes. In fact, most inexperienced speakers don't move around at all. Movement also helps you to relax and adds energy to your presentations. Movement also allows the listeners to follow you and pay closer attention to you and your message. Plan you movements during your rehearsals. Decide where in your presentation it makes sense to move. If you find yourself starting to sway from side to side, take one or two steps and stop again, standing evenly on both feet. Keep your weight evenly distributed on both feet. This will help you from swaying.
You can have good eye contact with your audience. You can look at your audience all the time while speaking - except for that brief moment you look at your visual aid. But that's okay since the audience will probably follow you and also look at your visual aid. This will help the audience to "see" your message as well as hear your message. The more you rehearse and the more you become familiar with your visual aids, the easier it becomes.
Your audience will feel comfortable that you are on your planned track. Well-designed visual aids show that audience you DO have a plan and have properly prepared and are following your plan.
Keep in mind, your visual aids do not have to be only word charts. They can contain diagrams, pictures or even graphs.

When you use visual aids, always introduce the visual aid BEFORE you show it using one of your transition statements. You can even use the looking back / looking forward transition: Now that we have seen the ...let's now look at...

Regardless of which method you chose to use to remember your material, nothing will help you more that proper planning and preparation. Remember to prepare, prepare, prepare!

http://www.ljlseminars.com/remember.htm

John 


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 175 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Wed, Jul  3, 2002 (16:07) * 1 lines
Thanks John! This is VERY helpful to me. I have never been that great at giving speeches. Not only do I have stage freight, but I just sometimes forget things and keep pausing and saying those two words that professors and students both hate...."like" and "ummm" over and over again. We never really gave many speeches in high school so I never really had enough practice. When I give a speech I usually write the key ides on notecards and then try to learn them that way. Trying to memorize everything is too difficult. Its better to learn the concept and understand it. But, if you are like me and procrastinate, which I tend to do rather nicely unfortunatly, sometimes all you have time for is memorizing and that leads you in to big trouble if you have to rush. None of those 4 concepts will work if you don't make time to do them, and that is what I still have yet to learn.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 176 of 342: Rob Glennie  (AotearoaKiwi) * Thu, Jul  4, 2002 (20:17) * 5 lines
Hi all

GEE WHIZ!!! I have been missing heaps. How are you all today?? News from my patch will be posted in Robs Geo World shortly but a couple notable things include a "weather bomb" (a rapidly deepening depression with storm force winds, and torrential rain)that hit the North Island recently, and an ongoing earthquake pattern in the southern part of the South Island. This is a worry for some people who fear the long awaited magnitude 8 earthquake may not be far of. More details to be posted shortly in Robs Geo World

Rob

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 177 of 342: John Tsatsaragos  (tsatsvol) * Fri, Jul  5, 2002 (03:25) * 4 lines
Nice to hear from you again Rob.
Weather becomes crazier around the world. We are witnesses of extreme weather events more frequently during the last years. The oncoming EQ is only a fear or is based on some observations?

John

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 178 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sun, Jul  7, 2002 (17:03) * 2 lines
Well, Mt. Hood's tremors are slowing down quite a bit now, and other than that the Cascades are quiet. Although the Pacific Northwest has been having quite a bit of seismic activity over the last week, mainly in the Seattle, Olympia, and Western Washington resions. Most of the quakes are very small, but I keep wondering when their next big quake will come. After doing my research paper on the Mega Quakes of the Pacific Northwest I realized like so many other places in the world that they are way over due. Last one in the Pacific Northwest was in 1700. Supposivly the interval between each quake was about 300 years. So add 1700 and 300 and you get 2000. Depending on where the quake hit it would be extremly damaging to the Pacific Northwest. If it were to hit just offshore, the results would be devastating. These Mega Quakes are usually 8.0 or greater. There is alos a theory that the Juan de Fuca Plate and the North American PLate could be locked. And if that is the case, we could be looking at possi
ly a 9.0 in the Pacific Northwest. This is just a theory though since no one can be exactly sure. If you want to read more about the Mega Quakes of the Pacific Northwest and about a potential 9.0 in that area try reading Living with Earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest by Robert S. Yeats, The Oregon Earthquake Handbook by Vern Cope, and Agents of Chaos by Stephen L. Harris. All of these are great books, but the first one I mentioned is very chilling and when I was reading it I actually got chills down my spine.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 179 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Mon, Jul  8, 2002 (17:32) * 2 lines
Aloha Y'all ( southern speak )! Hugs all around. I have missed you and promise to keep updating my progress. Soon my computer will be in hand and Julie and I can talk = as can the rest of us with IM. That pleases me greatly!
Meanwhile, Wolfie,, I miss you!!! The rest of you know I do, also!!!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 180 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Mon, Jul  8, 2002 (17:36) * 1 lines
Mr Hood has been on and off active on a very low seismic level for many months now. I am not surprised at the new flurries of activity. A little eruption might be nice, though. Wait till I am back visiting in California, please!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 181 of 342: John Tsatsaragos  (tsatsvol) * Tue, Jul  9, 2002 (06:05) * 6 lines
Hi Julie, Marcia and all,
I don’t know much about volcanoes. But I know that only is not enough population a few events in order we can say that is expected strong EQ activity, soon in the area of Mt Hood. My opinion is that statistics can show (if we have enough historical data) only the tendency and not the reality. Statistics is good assistant tool but it is strongly recommended scientific proof that is based on physics finally.

Personally I don’t trust statistics. I have never successfully predicted LOTTO numbers, using it even if i had enough number of historical data. "Laugh"

John

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 182 of 342: John Tsatsaragos  (tsatsvol) * Tue, Jul  9, 2002 (06:25) * 7 lines
Julie,
First, find what you want to learn and then search for new ways of searching. Scientists must always…
SEARCHING, SEARCHING, SEARCHING, SEARCHING, SEARCHING, SEARCHING, SEARCHING, SEARCHING!

*Tsats* says it, as my daughter says! (From my last name).

John

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 183 of 342: Curious Wolfie  (wolf) * Tue, Jul  9, 2002 (10:56) * 1 lines
can't remember if rob posted it here or not, but where is pompeii? is it italy? (i'm showing my poor geography skills *LAUGH*)

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 184 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Tue, Jul  9, 2002 (14:13) * 1 lines
Yeah Wolfie, Pompeii is in southeast Italy and located about 15km southeast of Herculaneum, both of which were destroyed when Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 185 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Tue, Jul  9, 2002 (14:39) * 3 lines
John Dear, lotto has nothing to do with logic or reasoning. If these so-called psychics were worth anything, they could have predicted the numbers of the lotto winners before the event and become rich. That according to Don, our archaeologist. You and he think very much alike.

Mt Hood is not likely to do much with the current little swarms other than to release a bit of stress. If they were harmonic tremors, I would be nore concerned. As they are not, It matters little. but makes for fun speculation!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 186 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Tue, Jul  9, 2002 (14:56) * 2 lines
I thought it was just talk, but its official now. As for what day exactly, that is still undecided. But sometime between August 4th and August 26th I will be going back to the Oregon Cascades. Since I can walk sort of now and I was out riding my mountain bike this morning for the first time, I am hoping that my ankle will be ready for short hikes by that time. My parents are planning the trip, but I know we will definatly be going to Crater Lake to be there for their 100th Anniversery of their National Park. I really want to go back there because when I was there last year with Sean we tried so hard to get tickets to take the boat to Wizard Island and every boat departure was sold out! Mom has expressed an interest in seeing the South Sister. I would love to climb it again like I did last summer when I was there, but that I know is out of the question. I will be lucky if my ankle is ready for short hikes by then. I can't believe how fast my ankle is healing! And yes, I know not to push it. I have been v
ry cautious the past few weeks. I certainly don't want to have surgery again, at least on the same foot. I may have to have the same operation on the other ankle in the future if I start having problems with it too since it has the same extra bone. My doctor said for now do what I can handle, but if I start to have any pain to stop and use the crutches again.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 187 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Tue, Jul  9, 2002 (15:05) * 3 lines
Oooh Julie! How splendid. I also want to see Crater Lake and surely will with my son and wife one of these days. Enjoy, but do not use heroics on this. I am assuming that you want to heal well and completely. In that case, listen to your doctor and use support when it hurts. You will not like the alternative!

Good luck HUGS!!!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 188 of 342: Curious Wolfie  (wolf) * Tue, Jul  9, 2002 (16:38) * 1 lines
oh wonderful julie!!!! you'll just have to trudge along slowly this time!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 189 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Wed, Jul 10, 2002 (00:00) * 2 lines
Now this is interesting. PNSN didn't even record this yet, probably because it was so far offshore. A 5.9M quake hit 150 miles west of Coos Bay, Oregon. Check out this web address out for more detail. The quakes depth was only 10km. Thats pretty shallow I would say, especailly since this is the Cascadia Subduction Zone. Most offshore quakes in this area are usually deeper from what I noticed. What do you think about it John?
http://wwwneic.cr.usgs.gov/neis/bulletin/neic_gjax.html

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 190 of 342: John Tsatsaragos  (tsatsvol) * Wed, Jul 10, 2002 (05:43) * 4 lines
Marcia and Don,
The only logical way to play LOTTO is by using statistics and using the previous results. The same is doing seismologists with their measurements! Is it WRONG?

John

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 191 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Wed, Jul 10, 2002 (10:16) * 1 lines
Wrong? Not at all. However, it still seems like an exercise in futility when those who win are one in several hundred million odds. I stand a better chance of dying in a freeway crash, and that doesn ot appeal to me at all!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 192 of 342: John Tsatsaragos  (tsatsvol) * Wed, Jul 10, 2002 (16:06) * 16 lines
I wrote the example of LOTTO having in mind the Earth’s rotation mechanism around its axis:

1.Inner core runs faster from the rest Earth.

2.Crust has a complex moving depending on several forces from inside and outside too.

3.Movement of liquid and plastic materials between solid areas inside Earth is complex too. (Like the cake paste with mixer probe running inside).



All this reminds me the LOTTO machine someway! Earth’s outputs are seismic and volcano activity instead of LOTTO spheres.

Eventuality for death in a freeway crash is a pessimistic example. Please see always the optimist side. It helps always and anyway.

John 


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 193 of 342: John Tsatsaragos  (tsatsvol) * Wed, Jul 10, 2002 (16:15) * 6 lines
This is a better scheme of how is the Earth’s interior.



John 


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 194 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Wed, Jul 10, 2002 (20:31) * 3 lines
Oooh lovely, John! Sorry I sounded so gloomy. I was just putting things into perspective and that came to mind. I do NOT plan to join them. Ther are far too many wonderful things about the world yet to be discovered for me.

Now that I look at your demonstration, I see clearly the LOTTO implications and how random is the choice of who gets the great quakes world wide. At least as far as I can see, it appears random just as LOTTO selection does. I never quite thought of it that way.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 195 of 342: Rob Glennie  (AotearoaKiwi) * Mon, Jul 15, 2002 (06:48) * 13 lines
Hi all

What an exotic range of volcanoes the Cascades have. Right Julie?? From volcanoes appearing as calderas (vast depressions formed by massive eruptions leading to subsidence)like Mazama and Newberry, to gentle andesite giants like Adams which build impressive mountains but actually are not all that violent. Lets just run through them briefly for the sake of the others here, shall we Julie?

I will start the ball rolling.

Rainier is the towering giant visible from the city of Seattle on the Washington State coast. It is a mountain so high that it is used to train people heading for the Himalayas and Mt Everest. A mountain of great picturesque beauty, it has a secret being withheld from her admirers, but which no town knows better than Orting. The mountain is notorious among geologists and volcanologists for unleashing, every few hundred years, mammoth lahars that travel down the valleys of rivers rising on Rainiers flanks with breath taking destructive power. Unfortunately as a town with a picturesque back drop, Orting knows it is living on borrowed time - in what may seem like an eternity to mankind, but in the blink of an eye in geological time, a lahar is expected. Might be another 50 years, or it might be tomorrow morning.

But Rainier is well monitored. Seismographs monitor the mountain for the sinister shockwaves that will tell the people of Orting and other towns that the mother of all lahars is rolling toward them. They also detect shockwaves from magma breaking rocks as it rises in the volcano and tiltmeters show any displacement of the ground surface, while gas sampling tells whether magma is on the go. The vast majority of residents at Orting know about the lahar risk and many have planned their own evacuation procedures. The town tries to educate new comers to the area of the risk and authorities worry about the problem enough to test the warning system every month on the first Monday.

Rob 



 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 196 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, Jul 15, 2002 (15:08) * 2 lines
Great idea Rob! Since you took the popular volcano, I will take some of the lesser known ones in the Cascades. Mt. Thielson, "Lightening Rod of the Cascades." Mt. Thielson is on of the most ususual volcanoes because of its distint shape. Only standing at 9,178 feet, its tall, jagged, and pointed peak sticks up into the bright blue sky like a spear. Mt. Thielson, along with three other simalar looking peaks in the Cascades (Mt. Washington, Union Peak, and Three Fingered Jack) belong to an older period of Cascade Volcanism. Mt. Thieson is a strao-volcano standing on a much older shield volcano. Mt. Thieson's eruptions were highly explosive. During its early life, Mt. Thieson was nothing more than a few hundred feet high of pryroclastic material. But after many series of lava flows, dikes and plugs cover the pryoclastic cone. Lastly, a massive plug of andesite was created in the central vent. After glacial erosion, the jagged plug was exposed which is why Mt. Thieson looks like it does today. Its jagged top s
ems to attract lightening bolts. The andesite plug now is filled with holes and some of it has actually vaporized or has melted due to the tremondous heat of the lightening bolt. Called fulgurites, these carrot shppped tubes form when the heat fuses the andesite. So if you ever decide to climb Mt. Theison, make sure there is no chance of thunderstorms in the area or you may become part of the melted jagged peak!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 197 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, Jul 15, 2002 (15:30) * 2 lines
Mt. Washington is also a strato-volcano and is very much simalar to Mt. Thieson, except the plug which has formed inside the vent is basaltic instead of andestic. Its history is also quite simalar to Mt. Thielson. Both Mt. Thielson and Mt. Washington are severly eroded and MAY be extint. Three Fingered Jack is built on several shield lavas consisting of several overlaying cinder and composite cones. Later in its life, Three Fingered Jack became more explosive anf formed two other cones, one south and one north of its main vent. Once the main vent had been plugged, balsaltic lava continued to come from the north and south vents. Cone building probably ended about 200,000 years ago. Glaciers also severely eroded much of its flanks. But even though Mt. Thielson, Mt. Washington, and Three Fingered Jack are quite old their lavas only show normal paleomagnetic polarity so they are younger than 700,000 years old. Black Butte, only 6,415 feet tall stands next to Three Fingered Jack and Mt. Washington. Black But
e,an almost perfectly symmetrical basaltic composite cone, has lavas that show reverse paleomagnetic polarity that means that it is older than 700,000 years old. Union Peak I don't know much about, except that it is about the same age as Mt. Thieson.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 198 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, Jul 15, 2002 (18:52) * 1 lines
There is also Mt. Bailey who is slightly younger than Mt. Thieson. Mt. Bailey's eruptions produced flows of andesite and scoriaceous lava. Mt. Bailey's last eruptions formed the explosion crater that is still visable today. Mt. Bailey looks like it has an ampithearter like Mt. St. Helens. Diamond Peak is also a strato-volcano made of basaltic andesite. But unlike Mt. Bailey, Diamond Peak still has glaciers on its slopes.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 199 of 342: Rob Glennie  (AotearoaKiwi) * Tue, Jul 16, 2002 (05:37) * 7 lines
Hi all

I will do Lassen Peak. Lassen Peak is the southern most of the recognised Cascade mountains, and is located in Northern California near Shasta. It is a volcano with a geothermal area in the national park. Lassen Peak was the last volcano to erupt prior to Mount St Helens, and this occurred in 1915, but continued sporadically for at least two years. Lassen erupted explosively in September 1915 sending a large mushroom shaped cloud 11 kilometres into the sky. It also oozed a thick tongue of dacite out of the crater that is clearly visible from the air.

Lassen will erupt again and some lahars are possible along with further explosive events, and lava flows.

Rob

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 200 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Wed, Jul 17, 2002 (17:11) * 11 lines
I decided to let Rob do my favorite and the most popular volcano on the west coast.....Mt. St. Helens. I will do Crater Lake though, since I will be going there hopefully for the second time next month. Crater Lake is a good example of what most of the Cascade Volcanoes are capable of doing. That is, blowing itself up completly and collapsing in on itself. About 6,900 years ago, Mt. Mazama, (currently known as Crater Lake) stood high above all the surrounding peaks. There was speculation that Mt. Mazama was at least 16,000 feet , which would have made it the tallest peak in the conitnental U.S. Then, around 6,845 years ago, Mt. Mazama erupted with a fury making it the world's greatest volcanic eruptions since the last ice age.

The eruption began as a giant cloud of ash was ejected from one of the craters. The ash was carried 500,000 miles covering all of the western states and Canada. Rhyodacite pumice began to rain down to the earth. The vent where the cloud of ash and gas was coming from widened when the eruption column collapsed on itself. The enormous volume and weight of the erupting pumice caused a massive pyroclastic flow down the slopes of Mazama.

As the magma chamber underneath the volcano was draining, Mazama began to collapse on to itself. As this was happening, parts of the volcano were craking forming new vents in the collapsing volcano. Thes cracks erupted huge quantities of pumice. This ended with a seires of giagantic pyroclastic flows that rushed up ridges and down valleys some traveling 40 miles away. Some of the deposits from the pryoclastic flows are 250 feet thick in some areas. One of these flows also formed what is now known as Pumice Desert, which is a very fascinating view as you drive thru the National Park.

After Mazama had fallen back in to her restless slumber, rain and snow melt began to fill the depression forming what is now Crater Lake. One of the most fascinating and unusual things at Crater Lake is the fossilized fumaroles in Annie and Sand Creek Canyons. After the pyroclastic flows had stopped, they still remained very hot. Gases began to rise from the scoarching deposits to form cylinder shaped vents called fumaroles.

Wizard Island is a small rhyodacite cone that sticks up above Crater Lake's surface. This may be the youngest formation but it is at least 6,000 years old. There is also many other cinder cones around Crater Lake. Some are submerged in Crater Lake's depths, but others were formed around the caldera rim, such as Applegate Peak, Mount Scott, Grouse Hill, Hillman Peak, and Garfield Peak. Garfield Peak and Mt. Scott are wonderful climbs with fantastic breath-taking views of the caldera.

If Crater Lake were to erupt again its eruptions would probably produce ash and pyroclastic flows and maybe form new cinder cones and dacite composite cones. But......since Crater Lake has produced a wide range of lava types, including the rhyodacite, which is highly silicic, it is not safe to assume that future eruptions would be small. Some eruptions could compare to that of the catostropic eruption that took place 6,845 years ago. There are only a few volcanoes in the world that are like Crater Lake, which can produce violent and catostrophic caldera-forming eruptions that may occur numerous times.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 201 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Wed, Jul 17, 2002 (17:32) * 3 lines
Newberry Volcano was once like Mt. Mazama, a towering volcano. But it too collapsed on to itself forming a depression. Two lakes fromed, Paulina and East Lakes separated by obsidian and basaltic flows. A climb up Paulina Peak will give you spectacular views of Newberry and all its attractions such as the lava flows, domes, flows of obsidian, and Central Pumice Cone which some believe is the former peak of the volcano before it collapsed on itself. Some of the most recent activity is Big Obsidian Flow which erupted about 1400 years ago. On the most northern section of the caldera wall is The Fissure, which is a 29 mile long rift zone that erupted basaltic lava flows about 6,100 years ago.

Newberry, like Mazama, has erupted numerous different types of lavas. Some lava flows have reached as far as Bend. New cinder cones, domes, lava flows, and pyroclastic flows can erupt anyway inside the central depression or on the slopes and rim of the caldera wall. If the northwest rift one (The Fissure), were to erupt, it could pour out lava flows on to HWY 97 that could reach as far as Bend

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 202 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Wed, Jul 17, 2002 (17:48) * 1 lines
I discovered that Lassen is just a peak on a much larger old volcano. Resurgent tome? Maidu was the first. Then came Tehema. Now lassen is a littlepeak on the great flanks of these much older volcanoes. Yes, it will erupt again!!!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 203 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Wed, Jul 17, 2002 (19:33) * 2 lines
This is the last one I will do today, Rob. So don't worry, I will let you catch up. I don't want to steal all of the Cascade Volcanoes *laughs*
Mt. Bachelor a basaltic composite cone, located a few miles south from Broken Top, is mostly known for good skiing and wonderful views from the summit. Not much is known about Bachelor except that it erupted more than 6,900 years ago. If it were to erupt again the cone would grow larger and it may become one of the larger volcanoes in the state. There could also be a potential problem with mudflows effecting the north side of the ski resort.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 204 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Wed, Jul 17, 2002 (21:43) * 1 lines
I almost forgot...I got half of the film developed from my trip to Arizona last Janurary and my trip to the Cascades this past May. I have some excellent shots, especially of Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainer, and the town of Orting which I know you are all dying to see, *laughs*. How do you upload pictures again? I forgot *kicks herself*

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 205 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Wed, Jul 17, 2002 (22:30) * 1 lines
Send your photos to me and I will FTP them to spring for you. Then you can post them as you wish, Julie! Meanwhile I await John's assisting me with the login and password to Geo's space there. *sigh*

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 206 of 342: Rob Glennie  (AotearoaKiwi) * Thu, Jul 18, 2002 (04:02) * 5 lines
Hi all

The next one I am doing is Mt Baker in the northern part of Washington State. Mount Baker is a snow capped stratovolcano with Sherman crater nestling between the main summit and another peak. Baker experienced a dramatic increase in thermal activity during March 1975 and varied activity since then. The volcano erupted in 1843 badly polluting major fish carrying rivers, which impressed the local Indians. It has had pyroclastic flows, lahars, tephra fall and lava flows in the last 10,000 years. Future hazards, include pyroclastic flows and lahars, with possible lava flows emerging on the flanks of the volcano.

Rob

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 207 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Thu, Jul 18, 2002 (10:46) * 3 lines
I am just waiting for someone to do the Oregon Cascade I got to see from Shasta. That was unique in my experience!

Great work, Rob and Julie. Volcanoes are wonderful and magnificent and swesome all at the same time!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 208 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Thu, Jul 18, 2002 (15:23) * 5 lines
I think someone should lock me out of my own topic because I can't control myself. *lauhging* I just luv volcanoes a little too much! Okay, firstly, there is two other features within Lassen Volcanic National Park that you should take note of. Chaos Crags is a massive dacite plug. Its eruptions were very violent. Pumice and ash would hurl itself down Manzanita Creek in giant avalanches. Chaos Crage probably formed about 1000 to 1200 years ago whihch isn't very long ago at all (in geologic sense).

Then there is Cinder Cone which is a a 600 foot tall almost perfectly symmetirical cinder cone. Its last eruption was actually in 1850-1851 where it ejected fragmental material. But its youngest lava flows are about 150 years old. Cinder Cone's beautiful orange coloring attracts people who make the trek to the top.

Lassen can also be climbed too. I climbed it 2 years ago. It was fun, but very tiring in the 90. F heat. There was only a little snow at the top when I went. The very top goes down into this lava canyon that is really cool. And if it isn't too hazy out, you can see some great views of Mt. Shasta and some of the other Cascade Volcanoes.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 209 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Thu, Jul 18, 2002 (15:59) * 8 lines
Mt. Shasta, a 14,161 foot complex strato-volcano, is often seen with lenticular clouds swirling over the summit. This mysterous volcano has quite an interesting geologic history. One thing to notice is that Shasta isn't as eroded as Rainer and Hood. This is because the percipitation near Mt. Shasta area is much less and because its lava flows have been very large over the past few thousands of years. Some time about 300,000 years ago Shasta was a very large single volcano, but the north side of the volcano collapsed in one of the biggest avalanches ever. This eruption was probably very simalar to the way Mt. St. Helens erupted in 1980. The last eruption of Mt. Shasta was in 1786. Pyroclastic flows and mudflows came roaring down the east side. One of the mud flows went 12 miles up Mud Creek.

Black Butte, a very imressive looking dacite plug dome on Shastina's western base, was built about the same time as Shastina which was about 9,500 years ago.
The most youngest part of Shasta is the present cone called Hotlum Cone. Most activity has been coming from Hotlum Cone for the last 9,000 years.

Furture eruptions have simalar consequences as like Rainer. The towns of Weed and Mt. Shasta are built on ancient pyroclastic deposits. And McCloud is built on ancient mud flow deposits. I don't know if either of these 3 towns have a warning system like Orting has, but they definatly need it if they don't. Eruptions in the future will probably cause pyroclastic flows and mud flows that could definatly come in the direction of the three towns that lay right in the path of Shasta's fury.

One should also worry about snow melt, which could rush down the Sacramento River and threaten Shasta Lake and Shasta Dam.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 210 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Thu, Jul 18, 2002 (16:02) * 1 lines
Okay, okay, I'll stop stealing all the volcanoes! *kicks herself*

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 211 of 342: Rob Glennie  (AotearoaKiwi) * Fri, Jul 19, 2002 (06:20) * 5 lines
Hi all

For a volcano of it's size, Mount Adams in WA is surprisingly inaccessible except if you are prepared to walk long distances and be gone for a few days. The volcano is east of Mount St Helens and is a stratocone comprising of mainly andesitic lavas. At 12276 feet and with a bulk only exceeded by Rainier, Adams has had a surprisingly quiet life, with very few pyroclastic flows, mudflows and tephra falls as opposed to its much more aggressive neighbours. For the most part activity seems to have consisted of quite andesitic lava flows and the odd cinder cone, and the book, "Fire Mountains of the West" S.L Harris suggests that this will remain the case for future eruptions.

Rob

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 212 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Fri, Jul 19, 2002 (13:38) * 3 lines
Julie, I had such great shots of Chaos crags and other places you mentioned... on my old hard drive. Alas they are gone,but I can see precisely what you arre talking about and, having read it in my Roadside Geology for Northern California, I know exactly what you are talking about.

Honey, you are doing splendid work here. Steal all of the volcanoes. Rob can add his touches to what you have written.Since each one seems to have its own book-length manual availavle, I doubt you will run out of things to say about the Cascades!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 213 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Fri, Jul 19, 2002 (13:48) * 3 lines
Andesitic flows... Lassen is where I grabed a piece if for my collection -outside of the park, of course!

I do have the most ancient chunk of an a'a flow (vesicles are all deformed instead of being perfectly round. I found it in the stream bed where I found the crinoids and geodes. If this is what I think it is - the volcanoes which were there before the Applachians formed - it is very old rock, indeed! It is brown instead of black and tumbled into a baking potato form. I'll photograph it for you and post it.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 214 of 342: Rob Glennie  (AotearoaKiwi) * Sun, Jul 21, 2002 (04:11) * 8 lines
Hi all

I shall do Jefferson today. I think Jefferson was in partial cloud when we saw the volcano in 1992, and I cannot remember very clearly, much about it.

Jefferson was formed after the last significant magnetic reversal, which was about 700,000 years ago. The volcano has produced significant basaltic flows which well being significantly smaller than the basalts of shield volcanoes and fissures, make it an imposing volcano. Jefferson however has also had a violent period because magmas erupted in the most recent eruptions are turning silicic.
Jefferson may be therefore moving into a phase of violent events and reports of her demise in that case could be called exaggerated, despite the 140,000 year dormancy of the main cone.

Rob 

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 215 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sun, Jul 21, 2002 (20:29) * 9 lines
Lava Beds National Monument and Medicine Lake Volcanic Area are both part of the Cascade Volcanic Range even though they are so far east. Lava Beds is an area composed of an interesting array of spatter cones, cinder cones, lava flows, and lava tubes. Over 400 lava tubes have been discovered and more are found every year. Schonchin Butte is a spatter cone that erupted ash and cinders about 30,000 years ago. This is a very popular climb.

Mammoth Crater I think is one of the most interesting features in Lava Beds. Mammoth Crater is mostly responsible for making all the lava tubes in the monument when it erupted 30,000 years ago. Fleener Chimneys is a spatter cone that was created by globs of molten lava piling on top of each other. A hole is left in the center and that why it looks like a chimney. The hole is 50 feet deep.

Some other interesting places is Captin Jacks Stronghold, Hospital Rock, Heppe Ice Cave, Symbol Bridge, and Petroglyph Point. There is also about 18 lava tubes you can explore as well. The whole area has a very interesting history. In 1872, a war broke out between the Modoc Indians and the settelers living there at that time. The many features in Lava Beds now serve as historic sites where this battle was fought.

Medicine Lake Volcano is a shield volcano covering 900 square miles, that has erupted a verity of lavas from basalt to rhyolitic obsidian. Many eruptions were quite explosive and violent producing pyroclastic flows. The summit itself is considered a shallow caldera and is 6 miles across and 4 miles wide.

Some unique features in Medicine Lake Volcanic Area are Paint Pot Crater, Burnt Lava Flow, Glass Mountain, and Little Glass Mountain. The last major eruption occured only 1,100 years ago. The area erupted violently, ejecting rhyolitic pumice. Glass Mountain and Little Glass Mountain now cover this pumice. Both of these vents erupted dacite and then later rhyolite. Glass Mountain last erupted in 1910.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 216 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, Jul 22, 2002 (01:34) * 3 lines
Mt Garibaldi is the northern most of the Cascade Range and connects with the Coast Mountains which is another chain of very old, glaciated volcanoes. The Coast Mountains are nothing as imressive as the rest of the Cascade Range, but they too have their own unique geologic history that helped shape the northern northwest parts of Canada. Garibaldi is a dacite stratovolcano made up of domes, pyroclastic flows, and lava flows. Garibaldi was last active about 250,000 years ago.

Meager Mountain is northwest of Garabaldi. Meager Mountain is an eroded volcano and its last eruption was after the last ice age. The most recent eruption of the Coast Mountains was of Meager Mountain. About 2,400 years ago, Meager Mountain erupted blocks of rhyodacite 188 feet long.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 217 of 342: Rob Glennie  (AotearoaKiwi) * Mon, Jul 22, 2002 (04:45) * 7 lines
Hi all

Today is the turn of the northern most volcano in Oregon, Mount Hood. Hood is visible from Portland along with Mount St Helens and Mount Adams. The volcano last erupted in 1865. It's geological history seems to have been composed of relatively intermittent explosive eruptions with mudflows, pyroclastic flows and various lavas added as well. This is shown in the Old Maid eruptive cycle which consisted of dacitic lava flows, and pyroclastic flows causing mudflows by melting the ice. The phase started with vent clearing eruptions removing older material and then dacite lavas started oozing from the summit. A large lahar entered the Zigzag River and this is thought to have occurred between 1770-1780 and was still visible when Lewis and Clark visited the area a couple decades later. But the climax was a large pyroclastic flow that destroyed a stand of trees creating the "ghost forest".

Hood is a dormant volcano, lest anyone mistake the complete lack of activity last century and it will therefore erupt again. The volcano is known for it's pyroclastic flows and lahars, and unless Hood changes it's pattern of eruptive activity, the lahars, dacite domes and pyroclastic flows seem set to continue.

Rob 

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 218 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, Jul 22, 2002 (22:56) * 9 lines
There are 4 volcanic fields in the Cascade Range that not many people know about. Goat Rocks Volcanic Field, Indian Heaven Volcanic Field, Clear Lake Volcanic Field, and Simcoe Volcanic Field.

Goat Rocks Volcanic Field is located in south central Oregon near Mt. Adams. Vents in the volcanic field began to form small clusters of volcanoes throughout the area during the past million years. The Goat Rocks Volcano was formed about 2.5 to 0.5 million years ago. This volcanic cone can still be seen and is located 70 kilometers west of Yakima and 15 kilometers south of White Pass.

Indian Heaven Volcanic Field is located between Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Adams. Its main feature is a 30 kilometer chain of shield volcanoes, cinder cones, and lava flows. This volcanic field has been the most recnet active of all the other volcanic fields.

Clear Lake Volcanic Field lies within the San Andreas Fault system in the northern coast ranges of California. Although this is part of the Cascade Range it was formed entirely differntly. Rather than subduction, which is the way the rest of the Cascade Volcanic Range was formed, Clear Lake Volcanic Field was formed by the the pulling apart of the San Andreas Fault system. The range varies in basalt to rhyolite in composition. Some of the volcanoes in the field formed the closest to the subduction plate boundary of any other volcanoes in the world! So this may be something interesting to keep watch over, esecially given its area in a very tectonically active zone.

Simcoe Volcanic Field is located south and southeast of Mt. Adams. 24 cinder cones cross the center of the field and more are seen to the south. Most of the features in this volcanic field probably formed between 4.5 to 0.5 million years ago.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 219 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Mon, Jul 22, 2002 (23:48) * 1 lines
You don'tmind if I borrow this lava field post to send to David. I'd love to see it some time - one or the other of them. I had no idea the lava fields existed!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 220 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Tue, Jul 23, 2002 (00:42) * 1 lines
Not many do unless you study the Cascades as obssesivly as I do *laughs*. You find out many unusual and fascinating things that are not too well known.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 221 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Tue, Jul 23, 2002 (04:36) * 5 lines
McKenzie Pass, located between Bend and Eugene is a very fascinating desert of black basalt, fern forests which hides one of the most beautiful water falls on the west coast, Proxy Falls, and cinder cones. Nesseled in the middle of these massive lava flows is Belknap Crater, Little Belknap Crater, and Yapoah Cinder Cone.

A smaller crater named South Belknap lies on the south flanks of Belknap Crater. South Belknap last erupted only 1,800 years ago. About 2,900 years ago, basaltic lava erupted from Little Belknap, which is located about a mile east from the main crater.

The Dee Wright Observatory was built on top of a massive lava flow that erupted from the Yapoah Cinder Cone. The last eruption was about 1,500 years ago, when ash and blocky basalt exploded from the main crater flowing 12 miles west into the McKenzie Canyon floor. More blocky lava flows and tephra can be expected in future eruptions from any of the craters and vents.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 222 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Tue, Jul 23, 2002 (04:45) * 1 lines
Broken Top is a stratovolcano composed of basaltic andesite. The 9,175 foot volcano was once much higher but it has been severely eroded. During its cone building stages, the summit collapsed many times. Its eruptions erupted tephra and caused massive pyroclastic flows. Lavas varied from basaltic to rhyodacite. Finally, a plug of micronorite formed in the cones central vent. Broken Top hasn't erupted for thousands and thousands of years so it MAY be extinct.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 223 of 342: Rob Glennie  (AotearoaKiwi) * Tue, Jul 23, 2002 (05:00) * 13 lines
Hi all

Julie and I have a surprise in store but (HUSH!! Julie, we are not telling anyone are we??)you will have to wait for it. Hehehehehe!!!!!

----

Anyway todays volcano from Rob is the first of the Three Sisters triumvirate. I have chosen the North Sister to do today, and her sibling volcanoes tomorrow and Thursday. But put your hands together for the North Sister.

North Sister is tne northernmost of the Sisters triumvirate and is heavily eroded to the point that one would be hard pressed to find a crater. The volcano has not had any eruptive activity since before the last glaciation which suggests it is extinct. The volcano has numerous dikes that invaded the cone during the final stages. At the volcano's peak, the summit was about 11,000 feet above sea level and it had a base 15-20 miles in diameter. So what future activity will come from North Sister? Well the cone itself is probably extinct, judging by the glaciation, but it may sprout cinder cones around the flanks. But all in all North Sister is probably extinct.

Rob 



 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 224 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Tue, Jul 23, 2002 (14:53) * 1 lines
Despite Rob's cruel streak I find his posts amazingly interesting and entertaining. Shhhh don't tell him or it will just feed his ego! *;)

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 225 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Tue, Jul 23, 2002 (18:49) * 5 lines
Woooohooooo! I just picked up the last of the photos from my last two trips today. I will look through them tonight and hopefully post them by the end of this week.

I am so glad I haven't sent the video tape of my trip to you yet, Marcia. I plan to take the camcorder again when I go back to the Cascades in August, so when I finally send you the tape it really will have a bit of everything for all of you to see. In fact, it looks like Mom and Dad want to see a little bit of the coast in Oregon too.

So not only will you get to see the entire Cascade Range, but you will also get to see the beautiful coastline scenery and other surprises as well. We are going to some very fascinating places. I will let you all know about them soon, or I might just keep them a secret until I come back *laughing evily*.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 226 of 342: Rob Glennie  (AotearoaKiwi) * Wed, Jul 24, 2002 (00:38) * 13 lines
Hi all

Hehehehehe!!!! Grinning brilliantly, Rob dashes off to find the Middle Sister.
"ROB!!!"
"Mid Sis!! How are you??"
They embrace.

-----

At 10,047 feet Middle Sister is a volcano with few distinctions, but whose appearance as anything in particular is saved by the east face. This side has been stripped away leaving the volcano with few other notable features - no summit crater like her southern sister or the grand pinnacles of the northern sister. This is also a volcano about which not much is known and therefore one is reluctant to say the Middle Sister has had it's day or not. The Diller and Hayden Glaciers are eating into the volcano thus removing any crater that or recognisable vent. So what of it's future? Hard to say. It should be noted that just because the volcano is quiet for the time being, does not necessarily mean the Middle Sister is extinct.

Rob 


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 227 of 342: Rob Glennie  (AotearoaKiwi) * Thu, Jul 25, 2002 (01:18) * 11 lines
Hi all

Tonight is the turn of the South Sister. South Sister, as the name suggests, is the southernmost of the Sisters triumvirate in the Cascade Range. The volcano is the best preserved of the three and the most recently active of them. South Sister has a steep andesite and dacite cone that formed before the Pleistocene because evidence of glacial activity in that era is visible. There is also a small amount of basaltic lava present. More recently rhyodacite lava domes and flows have been erupted (about 2000 years old). South Sister is evidently developing a silicic magma reservoir that may mean it could blow apart with the ferocity of Mazama. While dormant, South Sister is part of a playground for tourists and locals alike. The volcano is not characterised as yet by pyroclastic flows or lahars as so many of the other volcanoes in the Cascades are.

If the future of South Sister is dependent on the magma reservoir below, the outlook is not good. As mentioned the silicic magma underneath means future eruptions may be violent. The volcano also seems to be following an interesting pattern of erupting smaller volumes of other lavas types.

----

"Thy gracious sister," the Middle Sister wept. "Surely it is not true that you are considering self destructing".

Rob

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 228 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Fri, Jul 26, 2002 (13:15) * 1 lines
Sheesh... a dramatic volcanologist!!! Oh well. Better than no Volcanologist at all. Not bad, Rob dear. You have talents I suspect none of us yet know abut. I can hardly wait.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 229 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Fri, Jul 26, 2002 (13:16) * 1 lines
... If you need a sister to explode all over you, might I lend you mine?

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 230 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Jul 26, 2002 (22:34) * 3 lines
There is one important thing about the South Sister that you all should take note of and thats the recent uplift. The ground surface has risen 4 inches from 1996 to 2000. The recent uplift is probably being caused by magma slowly accumulating about 4 miles below the surface. Earthquakes and gas emissions still remain low, but the uplift still continues. Satilites, radar, and seismographs have been put in differnt areas around the South Sister to moniter the uplift and what ever changes it may make. If there were to be an eruption, there would probably be plenty of time to evacuate tha areas, since the area around there is not very populated anyway. So now its just a waiting game to see what happens and there is also a chance that nothing will happen. But we will watch and wait to see if the South Sister is the next volcano in the continental U.S to erupt.
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/Sisters/WestUplift/framework.html
Julie

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 231 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Sat, Jul 27, 2002 (17:22) * 1 lines
Hmmm!!! That is exciting. Is there anything population-wise to worry about in the near vicinity to this swelling?

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 232 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Jul 27, 2002 (19:07) * 3 lines
Sisters and Bend are the only cities or towns that are close to it. Sisters population is 700 and Bends population is 20,400. These cities are close by, but they are not near the swelling. I was near the area where the swelling is when I was climbing the South Sister last August. The biggest danger would be simialar to what some people were doing before Mt. St. Helens erupted in May 1980 and thats camping, climbing, hiking, or doing whatever in the wilderness near the volcano.

The trail we went on to climb the South Sister was packed with people and so was the campground area. The South Sister is the second most popular climb in Oregon after Mt. Hood. There's also many other trials that people use to climb and to hike around the Three Sisters Wilderness. Hopefully, if the South Sister were to erupt, there would be enough of a warning so hikers and climbers could be evacuated. 

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 233 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Sun, Jul 28, 2002 (16:22) * 1 lines
Go check rocks Geo 21. I posted my kentucky lava !

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 234 of 342: Rob Glennie  (AotearoaKiwi) * Mon, Jul 29, 2002 (05:27) * 11 lines
Hi all

This the last volcano before Julie and I spring the twin headed surprise:

My volcano today is the southern Sentinel of Oregon, Mount McLoughlin. Mount McLoughlin is a volcano that has had a quiet life with the only pyroclastics being produced during the early stages of the volcano. McLoughlin is however a curious volcano in that it is what I call a super cinder cone - a stunning 3000ft high cone of cinders, bombs and other debris that one would have thought is somehow pasted together by lava, but is not. There is no lava covering or pasting together the upper cinders in the cone. What keeps the cone however does involve lava and it would appear that McLoughlin then erupted a thin layer of andesitic lava from the central vent and that formed a hard shell over the cinders.
During the third phase of the volcano's life large amounts of andesite lava were erupted from vents now called North and South Squaw, along with two other flows that came from near the South Squaw vent and the northeastern cirque. The latter is spread over the glacial moraines and the landslide deposits in the area.

Mount McLoughlin is likely to continue the eruptions of andesite in the future though it is acknowledged that pyroclastic eruptions may resume at some stage.

Rob 


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 235 of 342: Rob Glennie  (AotearoaKiwi) * Tue, Jul 30, 2002 (06:36) * 47 lines
Hi all

Today the first part of the surprise with an old favourite is sprung. I choose Mount St Helens, because of its enduring popularity, easy access to information about and a jolly good yarn. It is also a volcano very close to my heart being for a while my all time favourite volcano.

Basic information about Mount St Helens:

Mount St Helens is located in southwestern Washington State and is the centre piece of a National Volcanic Monument covering 110,000 hectares in a tribute to one of the most famous eruptions of the 20th Century. The volcano is about 40,000 years old, though the existing cone was largely formed in the last 400-500 years. Eruptions in the 1800s were especially notable in 1832-1857 when off and on events went on for 25 years. Lava consists of mainly dacites with basalts also found and a large lava tube big enough to walk through found on the south flank of the volcano. Evidence exists that the oldest known deposits are 37,600 old and that the volcano has had several distinct phases involving dome growth, pyroclastic flows, lava flows, and a lateral blast about 1150 years ago. The volcano also produced lahars that poured down the Lewis River.
Beginning in 1800 the 57 year Goat Rocks period of eruptive activity began. It started with a dacitic explosion which alarmed the local Indians who had as a consequence a hard winter and crop shortages. The phase reached a striking similarity to 1980 when the volcano began spewing ash onto pristine snow covered slopes. On April 17 1857, the volcano was noted to be:
"emitting huge volumes of smoke and fire in a grand and sublime spectacle".
The stage was now set for the 1980 sequence.
----

"one step at a time, if I can just keep going. It's pitch black in here... at this time I honestly believe I'm dead..."

Standing high on a ridge covered in pine trees and douglas firs with a covering of snow, he overlooks a lake frozen in ice. A land of grand beauty and graceful mountains, clear cold running streams and a myriad of wildlife. Rising before him and sweeping majestically to a height of 9677ft the graceful cone of Mount St Helens dominated the skyline true to Indian mythology about the guardian of the Columbia River. In the village below the tourists and campers flocked to the glorious Spirit Lake, quite unaware that this time the following year the Fujiyama of the USA would be a loaded gun starring down the volcanologists, the State Government, the landowners and the locals.

----

123 years of relative calm came to end on March 20, 1980 when a seismometer in a basement in Seattle made a decisive twitch. A significant earthquake event had just been recorded by a United States Geological Survey (USGS)seismometer under a volcano in western Washington state. After consulting the USGS office in Denver the seismologists on duty decided it was volcanic in origin. A trip was immediately organised for the following day to install more seismographs around the volcano.
In the meantime at the volcano a sustained drum beat of tremors was steadily playing out on the seismographs. Despite the earthquakes which people were noticing at the volcano, the mountain was not yet news. President Jimmy Carter had just announced the US boycott of the Moscow Olympics because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. It soon would be. As the USGS assembled its staff to pool their knowledge together about how Mount St Helens had behaved in the past, magma was beginning to rise with the cone. The curtain was about to go up on the first Act.
Just after 12.30PM on March 27, an aircraft pilot flying near Mount St Helens noted black stains on the pristine white snow, and a plume rising out of the volcano. A red zone was established to protect people from any increase in activity as the volcano revved. On March 30 93 small explosions occurred in the crater as magma continue it's intrusion. It was fast becoming the biggest show in the Pacific northwest. People flocked to see the volcano and get a sample of the action. No one cared that it was growing more restless by the day. As April wore on explosions and the earthquakes continued. A USGS scientist named Don Swanson who had spent much of his career climbing the volcano went one night to relieve another geologist monitoring the volcano, and noted something terrifying. The whole north face looked grotesquely distorted.
"It was terrifying. I wanted to turn around and leave right away."
Initially though the bulge was not identified as the biggest threat, because it was a newly identified feature. But as the magma rose in the volcano, the north face began to bulge grotesquely outwards. Locals were starting to get impatient with the volcano with some wishing it would just blow and go. Timber companies complained of losing revenue because of being restricted by the red zone around the volcano. But quite rightly the authorities remained steadfast in their refusal. No one could have known the full dimensions despite the ominous presence of the bulge, of the threat growing in the volcano.
But local businesses had an upside to the volcanic activity - tourism was experiencing a mini boom thanks to the antics of Mount St Helens and souvenir sellers were doing a roaring trade of ash samples, t-shirts with slogans like "Keep your ash off my lawn" and... yes, souvenir ash trays created by melting down the ash and solidifying it. One person was not leaving however, and this was Harry Truman, the proprietor of the Spirit Lake lodge. He said to the authorities, that "I am a part of the mountain, and the mountain is a part of me. I ain't leaving!!"

However while this was going on, Mount St Helens was gearing up for her biggest show in 4000 years and the biggest in the continental 48 states for the 20th century. David Johnston, 30, and a geochemist with the USGS was monitoring the volcano. He knew better than anyone else what Mount St Helens could do, having seen the destructive power of pyroclastic flows and explosive eruptions in Alaska. On May 17, he was asked by Don Swanson to swap places on the volcano watch roster while Swanson saw off a student going home. Johnston was wary - he knew the volcano was now primed to blow, but he said yes. It would cost him his life. Johnston took over and went to Coldwater II to continue the observations that had been continuous since the volcano began to stir in March. Two other geologists joined him and they monitored the volcano throughout the day. No eruptions occurred and the volcano appeared deceptively peaceful. After the geologists left, Johnston was alone with a volcano that scared him, that scared Swanson
and was now just hours away from a grand show of stunning violence. It was May 17, 1980 and Mount St Helens would not hang on much longer. Her north flank now bulged outward by a mammoth 100 metres, was a mile long and nearly a kilometre wide. Down in the deserted village Harry Truman, the proprietor of the Spirit Lake lodge lived with his 16 cats and myriad of birds that he fed. They had fled after the initial explosions, but had since come back. Soon they would be gone for good.

Sunday May 18, 1980 dawned clear and calm just like the day before it. Mount St Helens still looked drowsy in the early morning. A U2 reconnaisance aircraft had flown over to get an infrared image of the volcano to pinpoint heat sources. It had picked up two fumaroles high on the volcano near the crater lip, but no one would know until too late that they existed. David Johnston got out of bed and immediately began taking measurements to ascertain what the volcano had done during the night. All seemed so calm and peaceful. No wind, no clouds. Just a clear sunny day on a forested ridge facing a volcano putting the finishing touches to her grand display.
The peace came to an abrupt end at 8:32AM. At that moment a magnitude 5.1 earthquake loosened the toe of the bulge enough that the whole thing suddenly began downhill in a HUGE avalanche that attained a speed of 180 miles an hour. It tore down the disintegrating flank and split in two: part poured into Spirit Lake, while the larger tongue filled the Toutle valley to a depth of 180 metres. Even before the massive avalanches reached Spirit Lake it was overtaken by a colossal lateral blast that rolled across the landscape with the consistency of a blow torch, the ferocity of a nuclear bomb blast and with the raspy breath of a giant. David Johnston managed a famous five word message before he was swept into oblivion, never to be seen or heard from again:

"VANCOUVER!! VANCOUVER!! THIS IS IT!!"

Harry Truman probably never even saw the earth storm hit him and his beloved home of 53 years. He died in a crushing wall of volcanic debris and today is entombed under 66 metres of solid volcanic material.

The volcanic storm swept on through the forest killing more people and laying waste to some of the most beautiful land in the US, before imploding and rushing back inwards as the volcano began a vertical eruption that would last the rest of the day. Within minutes ash was 60,000 feet into the atmosphere. It would travel the world in just 17 days. 600,000 tons dropped into Yakima giving on average every man woman and child a 12 ton clean up job. Economic losses totalled US$1 billion and included the losses of Weyerhaeuser whose forests were flattened by the blast. They also lost heavy equipment when lahars poured down the volcano and into the camps on the Toutle and Cowlitz rivers. Roads bridges and railways were swept away or mangled by the seething mass of mud and debris. 57 people died and over 200 were injured. Some people have never been found and others had nightmarish tales to tell of stumbling around in the dark convinced that May 18, 1980 was the last day of their lives. Others tried to outrun the l
hars only to be caught on bridges or suddenly having to scramble for higher ground.

And what of the volcano? The graceful maiden of the Columbia was gone. In her place a truncated cone with a gaping hole was left. 3km3 was missing, most of it displaced when the north flank disintegrated. The new summit was 400 metres lower. The volcano continued erupting sporadically throughout the summer of 1980 with smaller but no less spectacular events on May 25, June 12, July 22, and August 7. After the June eruption the volcano grew a lava dome. It blew to bits on July 22. On October 16 after another explosive eruption, the volcano began evolving another lava dome. It continued to grow and most eruptions since have contriubted to it in some fashion. When I visited in 1992 the dome was quietly steaming and the volcano was calm and serene. The seismograph in the visitor centre was very quiet suggesting nothing untoward. The forest has begun to regrow and I hope to see Windy Ridge again when I next visit the volcano. But for the time being Mount St Helens is dormant again. Her crater housing an impress
ve dome 200 metres high and 800 metres across, is for the time being quiet.

----

Mount St Helens will erupt again, and if past behaviour is the key to the present, then the wild child of the Cascades could blow with even greater force than May 18, 1980. However it seems likely that the volcano will continue accumulating a dome of dacitic lava in the immediate future. Mount St Helens is only a young volcano but already she has earnt herself a place in the annals of the world most notorious volcanoes.

Rob 


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 236 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Tue, Jul 30, 2002 (21:23) * 12 lines
Excellent work Rob! I don't think I could have done it any better myself. Now, finally for the grand finale.......(drum roll please).......The most explosive volcano in Washington State is........Glacier Peak.

Glacier Peak lies 70 miles northeast of Seattle and is one of the most remote volcanoes in the Cascade Range. There are no roads near the base. The closest access road is at least 10 miles away. Even trying to get a good view of this magnificent peak is almost impossible. But don’t be fooled...Glacier Peak has quite an extensive eruptive history and has produced some of the largest and most explosive eruptions in the state.

About 13,100 years ago, Glacier Peak produced 9 tephra eruptions in less than a few hundred years. The largest tephra eruption ejected more than 5x as much tephra as the May 18, 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens. Tephra from these eruptions was carried thousands and thousands of miles across the country. Deposits were 12 inches thick in eastern Washington and over an inch thick in Montana.

During Glacier Peak’s eruptive episodes, lava domes formed on the summit and flanks of the volcano. Pyroclastic flow deposits can be seen covering the valley east and west of Glacier Peak. Glacier Peak has also produced dozens of lahars that have severely affected river valleys. The Stillaguamish River valley at Arlington, more than 60 miles downstream from Glacier Peak, has lahar deposits 7 feet thick.

Some of these lahars flowed down the North Fork Stillaguamish River and the Skagit River and out into the Puget Sound. Giant landslides on the flanks of Glacier Peak have also created lahars. Some were hundreds of feet deep and traveled all the way out to sea as well.

Glacier Peak will erupt again someday. Future eruptions could eject catastrophically large quantities of pyroclastic material. Glacier Peak may again send devastating lahars down river valleys to farms and settlements were thousands of people now live. Areas tens of miles downwind and downstream, as far as the Puget Sound could be severely devastated in future eruptions of Glacier Peak. 


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 237 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Wed, Jul 31, 2002 (00:42) * 6 lines
Well there you go. Rob and I have given a brief history of every volcano in the Cascade Range. So let's sum a few things up. Firstly, the most explosive volcanoes in the Cascade Range are...Crater Lake, Glacier Peak, and Mt. St. Helens: Crater Lake with its violent pumice eruptions, pyroclastic flows, and collapsing summit, Glacier Peak with its enormous tephra eruptions and devastating lahars, and Mt. St. Helens with its lethal lateral blast, deadly pyroclastic flow, and catastrophic mudflow.

Volcanoes have always been around to unleash their deadly forces. It is us that have moved next to them and built around them. The most dangerous volcanoes in the Cascade Range in terms of location to cities and towns are...Mt. Shasta, Mt. Hood, Mt. Rainer, and Mt. Baker. The three small towns of Weed, Mount Shasta, and McCloud lay right in the shadows of Mt. Shasta. Mt. Hood hovers over Portland and about a dozen other towns. The towns of Orting, Puyallup, Enumclaw, Greenwater, Sumenr, Auburn, Electron, and Longmire all lay in the wrath of Rainer’s deadly lahars. Mt. Baker stands over the city of Bellingham.

Before Mt. St. Helens and Lassen Peak the Cascades were considered just scenic mountains. But since these past two eruptions scientists have learned a great deal about what the Cascade Volcanoes are capable of. We will never again portray our mountains as just standing rocks, but now mountains of fire capable of unleashing Mother Nature’s fury. 


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 238 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Wed, Jul 31, 2002 (00:53) * 1 lines
The next thing I will be doing soon is posting photos I have taken from my trips of every Cascade Volcano as well as some of the most fascinating and beautiful areas in the Pacific Northwest.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 239 of 342: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Wed, Jul 31, 2002 (10:18) * 1 lines
That'll be worth waiting for!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 240 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Wed, Jul 31, 2002 (21:36) * 3 lines
Please Julie, send them to marci@aloha.net and I will get them to where you can post them and resized for easy downloading. I can't wait!!!

Rob, splendid job. I have chicken skin from reading... I hope you regenerate for the next catastrophic eruption to let us know what it was like being there.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 241 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Thu, Aug  1, 2002 (20:40) * 1 lines 
 


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 242 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Thu, Aug  1, 2002 (20:46) * 1 lines
Woooooo Hooooooo Julie!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 243 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Thu, Aug  1, 2002 (21:27) * 1 lines
Thanks Marcia for helping me out with this. I didn't think I was ever going to be able to post right. You are the greatest! This first photo is of Lassen Peak from Devastated Area in Lassen Volcanic National Park. The Devastated Area is where the pryroclastic surge came roaring down the slopes and destroyed everything in its path.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 244 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Thu, Aug  1, 2002 (21:42) * 0 lines 
 

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 245 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Thu, Aug  1, 2002 (21:42) * 1 lines
Me and my big mouth!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 246 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Thu, Aug  1, 2002 (21:47) * 1 lines 
 


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 247 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Thu, Aug  1, 2002 (21:51) * 1 lines
Woohoo! Lol. I was getting worried there for a second. This is Bumpus Hell part of Lassen Volcanic National Park, which is an impressive diplay of thermal vents emitting steam and sulfur. There is also some mud volcanoes that are very fascinating to watch. The walkway is the only part people are allowed to walk on. Venture off that and you may be severely burned or even death.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 248 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Aug  2, 2002 (01:19) * 1 lines 
 


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 249 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Aug  2, 2002 (01:21) * 1 lines
Here is Black Butte, the 2,500 foot high dacite plug dome on Shastina's western base.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 250 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Aug  2, 2002 (01:22) * 1 lines 
 


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 251 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Aug  2, 2002 (01:24) * 1 lines
This is a somewhat hazy picture of Mt. Shasta and Shastina. Shasta is the one on the left and Shastina is on the right.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 252 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Aug  2, 2002 (01:26) * 1 lines 
 


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 253 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Aug  2, 2002 (01:27) * 1 lines
Mt. Shasta at 14,161 feet.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 254 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Aug  2, 2002 (01:32) * 1 lines 
 


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 255 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Aug  2, 2002 (01:34) * 1 lines
I was standing right at the rim to take this so thats why it looks so big. This is Mammoth Crater, a very large cinder cone that produced most of the lava in Lava Beds National Monument.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 256 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Aug  2, 2002 (01:35) * 1 lines 
 


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 257 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Aug  2, 2002 (01:38) * 1 lines
Schonchin Butte in Lava Beds National Monument. If you look very carefully, you can make out a tiny tower on top of the crater on the left side. This is the Watch Tower. 

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 258 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Fri, Aug  2, 2002 (23:14) * 1 lines
Well done, Julie! I deleted your maiden mistake. Welcome to the happy family of html programmers who occasinally still make mistakes. Except for John. He is perfection personified. *sigh*

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 259 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, Aug  5, 2002 (16:16) * 3 lines


Mt. McLoughlin, Oregon


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 260 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, Aug  5, 2002 (16:29) * 11 lines


Crater Lake and Wizard Island, Oregon




Crater Lake National Park- the Pinnacles in Annie's Creek. These are the remaniants of ancient fumaroles




Crater Lake-Two boats steer towards Ship Phantom Ship, which is the remains of a dike in the oldest parts of the caldera wall. Mt. Scott loomes in the background


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 261 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, Aug  5, 2002 (16:30) * 1 lines
Ohhhhhhhhh....I am good! Hehehe.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 262 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, Aug  5, 2002 (16:34) * 3 lines


"Lightening Rod of the Cascades" Mt. Thielson, Oregon


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 263 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, Aug  5, 2002 (16:37) * 3 lines


Lava Butte of Newberry National Volcanic Monument, Oregon


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 264 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, Aug  5, 2002 (16:41) * 3 lines


Mt. Bachelor, Oregon


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 265 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, Aug  5, 2002 (16:47) * 3 lines


Broken Top, Oregon


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 266 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, Aug  5, 2002 (16:56) * 7 lines


Middle Sister on the left and The Husband on the right, Mc Kenzie Pass, Oregon




South Sister as seen near Moraine Lake


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 267 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, Aug  5, 2002 (17:28) * 7 lines


Upper Proxy Falls, MC Kenzie Pass, Oregon




Lower Proxy Falls, MC Kenzie Pass, Oregon


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 268 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, Aug  5, 2002 (17:33) * 11 lines


Belknap Crater, Oregon




Mt. Washington, Oregon




Mt. Jefferson, Oregon


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 269 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, Aug  5, 2002 (17:46) * 15 lines


Mt. Hood at sunset, Oregon




Climbing Mt. Hood near Timberline Lodge




Mt. Hood as seen from Trillum Lake




Multanomah Falls cascades 620 feet down basalt cliffs in Colombia River Gorge Scenic Area, Oregon


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 270 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, Aug  5, 2002 (17:57) * 1 lines
It seems I forgot a few things. Three Fingered Jack lays between Mt. Washington and Mt. Jefferson. I did not get a picture of it. Three Fingered Jack is easily identified by its impressive summit pinnacles, which gives it its name. Mt. Bailey near Crater Lake and Mt. Thielson I also did not get a picture of. But Mt. Bailey looks a lot like Mt. St. Helens because of its open ampitheater.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 271 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, Aug  5, 2002 (18:02) * 1 lines
Okay, actually I missed a lot of other things too, but the pictures I posted are the MAIN features of the Cascades. If I were to show pictures of everything I would be posting for weeks, maybe months. The Cascade volcanoes of Washington are coming up next, including the long awaited Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainer, and special footage of the town of Orting.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 272 of 342: Curious Wolfie  (wolf) * Mon, Aug  5, 2002 (19:39) * 1 lines
julie, you are getting waaay good at this!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 273 of 342: Rob Glennie  (AotearoaKiwi) * Tue, Aug  6, 2002 (01:26) * 5 lines
Hi all

GEE WHIZ!!! This is impressive!!!

Rob

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 274 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Tue, Aug  6, 2002 (17:48) * 2 lines
Wow Julie!!! There is a new batch waiting for you at Spring's hard drive!
She's amazing as usual! Hugs, Little sister!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 275 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Thu, Aug  8, 2002 (02:27) * 17 lines


Mt. Adams as seen from south side of Mt. St. Helens




Mt. Adams from Mt. Adams Recreational Area after sunset




Icicles from inside Ice Cave in Mt. Adams Recreational Area




More icicles in Ice Cave. The big one hanging from the roof was the one that fell on my head shortly after taking this picture, lol




 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 276 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Aug  9, 2002 (02:38) * 9 lines
Hi everyone!

I thought I was leaving Friday morning but now we are leaving Saturday morning instead due to a family conflict. Anyway, on Saturday morning we are leaving from Santa Ana, California and heading north up the state to Cresent City, the last city before the Oregon border and also one of the cities that was severely damaged by the tsunami that sped out like a shock wave across the Pacific during the Alaskan earthquake in 1964. I don't know where we are headed from there. Unlike Sean and I, my parents don't plan trips. They just go day by day. So I have only a clue where we may be going.

The only thing I know for sure is Brandon Beach and of course Crater Lake. Brandon Beach is a beautiful beach on the coast of southern Oregon. Its one of the best places in the western U.S to find agates. And let me tell you something...the beaches in the Pacific Northwest are absolutly spectacular. They place right behind Hawaii's amazing black sand beaches as far as I am concerened. Since my topic also includes the Pacific Northwest, I will give a description and maybe a photo of several of them some time.

Anyway, as for Crater Lake...I decided to take my wetsuit with me. As long as its not cold out and not raining I will take the plunge into the cold icy waters of Crater Lake. 43. F or about 6. C is the water temperature. I will have Mom video tape it too as proof and to see how much I scream in shock from the cold, lol. Then I can say I swam in a volcano *laughing* Yes, I already know I am volcanically insane.

I'll be back probably on the 19th or 20th with a full report of my trip. I will also post my remaining photos of the Cascade Volcanoes when I get back as well. Stay safe and see you all soon.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 277 of 342: Rob Glennie  (AotearoaKiwi) * Sat, Aug 10, 2002 (04:51) * 5 lines
Hi all

But Julie knows that I went one step ahead of her a few years ago, and swam in a caldera - Taupo. A caldera maybe 700 square kilometres in size (bigger than the Mount St Helens devastation zone), and with the biggest fresh water lake in New Zealand.

Rob

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 278 of 342: Rob Glennie  (AotearoaKiwi) * Tue, Aug 13, 2002 (06:38) * 13 lines
Hi all

Not meaning to steal the show here, but I want to direct you to Robs Geo World, where the New Zealand variant of the Cascades Volcano, which Julie and I took you on, can be found. I am doing the major volcanoes of New Zealand and a couple of them have special features (personal accounts based on what I saw with my own eyes)of various volcanoes.

So anyway can you please go here and have a look:

http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/Geo/64

Thanks heaps, and feel free to comment on the volcanoes of the "Shaky Isles".

Rob 



 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 279 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Fri, Aug 16, 2002 (21:05) * 3 lines
Great stuff on your topic, Rob. All you need is a digital camera so we can see what you are talking about.

Julie, if I am missing anything from you to put on Spring's hard drive, please remind me.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 280 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Wed, Aug 21, 2002 (17:43) * 9 lines
I am back, unfortunatly. Just got in a few hours ago. What an annoying, depressing, and tiring trip!! UGH! I am so exhausted. Imagine driving 700 miles in one day with only a few 5 minute bathroom stops. Thats how far it was from Santa Ana, CA to Cresent City, CA.

I honor you if you can sit in the car for 12 hours straight staring at close to nothing but endless fields of cows and dead grass. More than 60% of the trip was just driving. I thought I was going to go crazy. In fact, some parts of the trip I think I did.

Funny thing is my health was great in Oregon. My headaches that I have every day completly vanished. My allergies seemed to vanish. A few hours after we got back into California my headches came back again. What is it besides severe pollution that Oregon doesn't have?

I don't get it and its making me very frustrated and depressed. I got relief from my pain and now its back again. Hey, maybe when I tell my doctor this and he will send me to Oregon and have the insurance pay for it. Yeah right! Guess I will have to have headaches a little longer. It was nice while it lasted.

I got lots more to share about my trip. Besides a few of my complaints, I did have fun.....for 1 day *sigh* I'll talk about my trip later. For now I am going to eat and then sleep and enjoy my last few days of summer break even though I know thats not possible.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 281 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Wed, Aug 21, 2002 (18:16) * 4 lines
Julie, the same happens to me when I flee Hawaii and the problems at home. Even if I have lungs full of eruption fumes, it is magical in the way it cures us.I think being away from stress home seems to engender makes this happen. I cannot think of a worse scenario that your castle and safety making you sick, but I can think of several of us in that situation.

*HUGS* and welcome home! Geo is all warm and cuddly to wrap around you to make you feel better. I'll be online in a few - I need to go eat supper first!
Talk later?!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 282 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Thu, Aug 22, 2002 (20:04) * 9 lines
I am going to tell about my trip part by part cause it will be too long otherwise. So here is Cascade Adventure 2002 Continued with Coast.....

Saturday, August 10th, 2002: We woke up and left Santa Ana, CA at 7:00am. Went up I-5. Stopped at Buttonwillow for a bathroom break. It was barely 9:30am and it was already in the mid 90’s out. Another bathroom stop at Coalinga. Stopped at Gustine for gas and Patterson for an interesting lunch at Subway.

There was nothing but yellow and brown grass, cows, and windmills for miles. We finally turned on I-580 into San Francisco. We passed over the Nimitz Freeway at around 2:15pm. Nimitz Freeway was severely damaged when it collapsed on dozens of cars in the Loma Prieta Earthquake on October 17th, 1989. We stopped in Novato for another bathroom stop and crossed over to HWY 101 heading towards Eureka, CA. Scenery was beginning to change. Now pines and birch could be seen.

We finally arrived in Eureka at 7:30pm. We arrived at our motel shortly after sunset. It was nice and cool out cause we were finally near the coast. We left the motel to go eat dinner, but Dad accidentally went down a one-way street the wrong way. He did that in San Francisco several times before too. Luckily there were no cops around.

After dinner we got back to the motel to go to sleep, but I find cookie crumbs in my bed. Hey, it wasn’t me! So Dad calls the maid in and they change the sheets right in front of us. Ugh! This is why I like to camp instead of staying in motels. Yuck! I tried to sleep but I just couldn’t. Suddenly the lights flicker on by themselves startling me awake. This place is haunted!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 283 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Thu, Aug 22, 2002 (20:08) * 22 lines
Sunday, August 11th, 2002: We woke up and packed up. Went to McDonalds for breakfast. I had dipping dots. I think they are only a California thing, but maybe they are elsewhere too. Dipping Dots are supposedly ice cream that is kind of drier but melts just like ice cream and in the shape of tiny round balls.

We then went to Carson’s Mansion, which was owned by a lumberjack in the 1800’s. While we were taking pictures, we ran into 3 people from Brisbane, Australia who were biking down the California coast all the way to San Diego. That’s over 800 miles away! We wished them luck and headed towards Humboldt State University area in Arcata and visited a small redwood grove.

We then went to Trinidad to see Trinidad state beach and lighthouse. I decided to walk down the 500 steps to Indian Beach to look for rocks and orange sea stars. We then headed to Crescent City to see the Crescent City Lighthouse. A lighthouse keeper was still operating the lighthouse. We were told there is hardly any like that anymore. This lighthouse though was on an island so you could only get to it when the tide was very low.

When we got done with the tour I climbed down to the rocks to explore the tide pools. I was gently picking up one of the purple sea stars when Dad yells at me that the water is coming in. I turn to look and realize the tide has come in. I put the sea star down and rush over to the water’s edge.

The dry area that we had all walked over a few hours ago was now covered in ankle-knee deep water. People were crowding around on the other side of the beach watching idiots like me cross the water. I took off my shoes and waded carefully thru the water and back on to the other side. A few hours later that ankle deep water was 7 feet deep with strong currents rolling in from every angle.

We then headed on to Point St. George, which used to be a lighthouse until it was destroyed in a storm. I stood on a cliff looking down at the beach and watched the waves come in one after another. They come in differently than they do in southern California. The waves come in more frequently further north and are more dangerous with its stronger currents.

After a lunch at Jack in the Box at Crescent City, we crossed over the Oregon border and headed to Oregon Caves National Monument. We could smell the smoke from the Biscuit Fire almost immediately after entering Oregon. It was really severe when we got out of the car at Oregon Caves National Monument parking lot. The 100 degree Fahrenheit heat didn’t make things any easier either.

We took the 5:15pm tour of the caves. Oregon Caves was quite fascinating. They are wet limestone caves, so things were quite active inside there. There was a river running right through. The formations in the cave were so fascinating like the cave bacon, the bananas, the stalagmites, and stalagmites, and other weird formations whose names I forgot.

The cave went down 220 feet below the surface. What’s most interesting about this cave is something not many other caves have and that is the fact that is has all 3-rock types. Most of it is made of marble and calcite. But there is also sandstone as well as granite and basalt. An ancient volcano 3 miles east of the monument formed the bottom chamber millions of years ago.

There is also the evidence of a jagged fault on the cave ceiling. Pretty scary I would imagine being inside that cave if that fault ever were to rupture. After the tour we bought a few post cards and headed back to the car. The sun was a strange orange color cause the smoke had covered the entire sky.

We drove into Grants Pass and checked into a motel. We ate dinner at Pizza Hut and then went up the road to look at the stars. I saw 4 meteors in less than a minute! We then went back to the motel and went to sleep. 


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 284 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Thu, Aug 22, 2002 (20:15) * 12 lines
Monday, August 12th, 2002: We woke up and had breakfast at the motel. Before leaving Grants Pass we went to the campgrounds Sean and I stayed at last August when we were in Oregon and asked them if they had any lost sunglasses. I had lost mine last year in the campgrounds and stupidly I thought maybe they would have them a year later. Yeah right! The guy laughed at me and probably thought I was crazy. Oh well.

We then drove to Merlin to see Hells Canyon overlook. I wanted a closer look so I climbed down to the edge of the cliff and peered over. The Rogue River, which is a famous river in Oregon cuts through the canyon like a jagged knife. Most of the rocks are basalt. After that we went to the market to get some more food in Medford and had sandwiches for lunch.

Finally we drove to the destination I had been waiting for...Crater Lake. The smoke was very thick though and once we got into the park itself we could barely see much in front of us. We decided to stay at the cottages that were just outside the park boundary.

We then headed back to Rim Village to look at the gift store and eat dinner at the buffet upstairs. It would have been nice to eat at the lodge but not for $20.00 per person. Looking at the overlooks were useless cause the entire caldera and all the scenery around it was covered in smoke. It looked like there had been a giant silent eruption cause the smoke was so thick.

After dinner, we went to the historic lodge to look around. About that time the sky started to clear as the wind changed direction. Crater Lake, Mt. Thielsen, and the other peaks appeared out of nowhere. It was kind of eerie. Once it got dark out, I went with an astronomy group to the caldera rim where we set out telescopes and learned about different constellations, stars, galaxies, as well as watch the meteors from the Persieds meteor shower.

We could see some galaxies and stars that can’t be seen in many other places along the west coast due to how dark the sky was and our location which was about 50 miles or more in any direction from every town and city. We saw so many meteors. Some of them whirled by quickly faster than I could blink. Others seemed to go by so slowly that you could follow the hazy orange and white trails of glittering dust as they soared across the sky. It was absolutely spectacular. But Mom and Dad said it was time to go so we left, went back to the cottage and went to sleep. 


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 285 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Thu, Aug 22, 2002 (21:46) * 44 lines
Tuesday, August 13th, 2002: We woke up and after packing the car headed to Cleetwood Cove Trail. The ranger told us that things look very clear in the morning. The smoke seems to come in the afternoon. The trail down was quite steep but very easy in my opinion. Mom and Dad thought differently. I got down to the bottom first and waited patiently for them.

We took the 11:00am boat for a tour around the caldera. We stopped at many places such as Steel Bay, Llalo Rock, and Devils Backbone as the ranger gave us history on each formation. Then as we neared Wizard Island he announced that people who wanted to get off should take a special ticket from him before we got off so we could get back on the boat again later in the day. Mom and I got off, but Dad didn’t. He has a bad knee so he would wait for us back at the top near Cleetwood Cove Trail.

There were two trails on Wizard Island. One was to go to Fumarole Bay which I imagine is quite similar to The Pinnacles near Annie’s Canyon and the other was the obvious climb to the summit of Wizard Island. Mom and I and many other people took the climb to the summit. At first there were many trees shading us from the rays of the sun, but soon we left the tree line and were hit hard by the near 100-degree temperatures.

It was quite tough hiking up the last 2 switchbacks but when I reached the top I realized it had been well worth it. I walked around the crater rim a few times taking pictures and admiring the spectacular view. It was then that I realized I had just climbed a volcano inside a volcano! Wow! Mom finally appeared at the summit a few minutes after me. I was quite proud of her that she had made it. I climb volcanoes all the time, but this was Mom’s first.

I decided to take a walk into the crater. The walls were very steep so I actually slid down first on my feet but when I lost my balance and fell, I slid on my butt all the way to the bottom of the crater. That was a fun ride! *laughs* After exploring the crater I tried to climb back up but I kept sliding back down. Uh-Oh, I love volcanoes a lot but I really don’t want to have to spend my entire life inside one! I struggled to get back up to the rim. Each step I took a slid down 3 more. My hiking boots were already filling with cinders and pieces of basalt, but I eventually made it to the top.

I showed Mom different points from the crater, such as the Lodge that could easily be seen on the caldera rim, Mt, Thielsen, Garfield Peak, Mt. Scott, and many other formations. Finally we hiked down the cinder cone and reached the dock at 2:15pm. Everyone else was waiting patiently for the boat to come and pick us up. We would later realize that the boat doesn’t come till 5:00pm. I walked on to the dock and looked down at the water. It was about 50 feet deep at the end of the dock and you could see straight down perfectly to the bottom.

The water was a beautiful blue. Crater Lake is so blue because of the interaction with sunlight and water molecules. All colors of the rainbow are absorbed, but blue light penetrates to the deepest depths, especially when there are no suspended particles or dissolved materials in the large body of water.

I was very hot from the hike and I had also run out of water on the way down, which wasn’t good at all. The temperature climbed again and I watched the cool water anxiously as I hung my feet over the edge of the dock. I stood up. Well, it’s either now or never, I thought. I had left my wet suit in the car, but I did have my bathing suit on underneath my clothes. Another girl who was about my age or a few years older seemed to sense what I was about to do. We both walked back to the rocks and took off our hiking boots, and clothes. Everyone else watched us in shock, realizing what we were about to do.

We both walked to the end of the dock and just stared at the water for several minutes. The other girl jumped in first, and came up a few moments later screaming how cold it was. I cringed when I saw her expression, but I just couldn’t stand out in the heat any longer. I took a deep breath and jumped off the dock into the water. The minute I hit the water, I almost went into shock from the cold. It stung every part of my body. I surfaced and cried out. Everyone watched us and laughed.

I treaded water for several minutes looking down towards the bottom. It was eerie swimming in 50 feet deep water and being able to see the bottom clearly. Actually, you can see a lot deeper. Crater Lake holds the world record for water visibility at 142 feet. I could also feel warm and cold currents pass underneath my body. The coldest ones seemed to pass my feet and my stomach. The warmer ones were near my legs and my chest. It felt very weird.

I climbed back onto the dock and walked to the very start and took a running leap off the dock into the water. The coldness of the water was just as bad as when I first jumped in. I surfaced and cried out again. It didn’t matter how many times you jumped in, your body just never got used to it. Mom was video taping me from the shore. We’re swimming in a real volcano, I cried out.

I guess other people were getting jealous by how much fun we were having, so many people began to join us. Some didn’t even have bathing suits on so they just stripped down to their bras, underwear, and boxers. It was quite funny.

I got out for a bit and went over to the rocks to get my only snack I had, a yummy chocolate chip and peanut butter Cliff Bar. As I began eating it I noticed chipmunks were beginning to appear from underneath the rocks. How did they get on Wizard Island, I wondered. The ranger gave us some theories but no one really knows.

They could have come across on the only year that is was frozen over completely, which was in 1949. They may have gotten across many thousands of years ago when some of the rocky lava fingers that stretch from Wizard Island once connected to the caldera shore when water levels were lower.

The chipmunks climbed right up into my lap almost, as I ate, so I decided to just hand over my food cause they were beginning to get annoying. Must be the peanut butter. Mom and I watched as Mom’s backpack began to move. Suddenly a chipmunk popped its head out from inside with a potato chip in its mouth. We stared in amazement. The zipper had been closed, but the chipmunk unzipped it! Wow, guess these guys will do anything for a hand out. I saw one try to unzip my backpack but I shoed it away.

After playing with the annoying chipmunks, I looked at my watch. It was only 4:00pm. I was hot again so I ran to the dock and jumped back into the water only to come up and scream out again from the cold. I stayed in for a while, but my chest began to feel funny and my feet started to get numb. I think I had enough cold for one day. I got out and stretched out on the dock trying to get warm from the sun. Finally I put my clothes and hiking boots back on and waited at the end of the dock for the boat.

Finally, at 5:00pm, the boat arrived. Our group got back on the boat where we finally got the rest of our tour around the lake. We learned an interesting statistic about Crater Lake. To equal Crater Lake’s volume of water everyone in the U.S could have 5 gallons of water every day for an entire year. When you think about that you realize how much water is in Crater Lake.

We then saw Chaski Bay and Phantom Ship. The water near Phantom Ship was bizarre. It was a light green and then it turned blue as the sharp cliff underwater near Phantom Ship dropped off from 40 feet deep to 100’s of feet deep. We then saw Pumice Castle, which is a section of welded tuff that didn’t get eroded like the rest of the rocks around it and made a castle-like shape.

Then we saw the Old Man of the Lake, which is a floating hemlock log that was possibly carried into the lake by an avalanche. It was first noted in 1929. The log floats upright and before the park service had rules against it, many park rangers would stand on top of it to pose for everyone. The reason it floats vertically is because rocks are caught in the roots. The Old Man of the Lake can be seen floating in many places all over the lake.

There is also fish in Crater Lake as well. Kokanee salmon and rainbow trout were introduced to the lake in 1888 and continued until 1942. I also found out that there is geothermal hot springs 1,000 feet underwater, which means Crater Lake is defiantly just dormant. Just as we reached Cleetwood Cove, I began to see the smoke finally start to drift over the caldera. I was happy things were so clear today. It would be awful if we had spent all that money and couldn’t see a thing.

Mom and I decided to buy some water at the stand near the cove cause we had both ran out. We then slowly took the long grueling hike back up the steep trail. Every time we tried to stop the mosquitoes would bite us so we kept going until we were finally at the top. We walked back to the car and went to the town of Klammoth Falls to stay at a motel. We ate a quick dinner at the restaurant next door and then we went back to the motel to go to sleep. I didn’t sleep much at all because I realized I had gotten a very bad sunburn all over my body and blisters on my heels. Ouch! 




 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 286 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Thu, Aug 22, 2002 (22:56) * 9 lines
Wednesday, August 14th, 2002: We ate breakfast at the restaurant next door, then packed up and headed back to Crater Lake. We stopped at Mt. Mazama store to get some more water. We then drove to Vidae Falls, which looked even worse than last year due to the dry season. We finally ended up at the Pinnacles, which are ancient fumaroles.

We walked along the trail above the canyon to view them, but the bees began to swarm around us. Bees are my number one fear, as well as hornets, wasps, and yellow jackets too. After my little accident of being chased by an entire swarm 6 years ago, I have become terrified of them. I ran back to the car screaming and crying like a baby. Suddenly one lands on my leg and I start hyperventilating. Yikes! I really have some fear. I didn’t calm down until we were back in the car with the doors and windows shut and locked.

We drove over to the Phantom Ship overlook to take some more pictures. The Cascade Butterflies (that’s not their name, but I call them that cause I have seen them flying near ever Cascade Volcano) were flying all over the place. One landed on my shoulder and another one crawled on my hand. We then drove over to Pumice Castle overlook. We could see Mt. Thielsen very well from there.

Then we stopped at the volcanic vista, which had a panorama view of Red Cone, Diamond Peak, Diamond Lake, 2 of the 3 Sisters, and Mt. Thielsen. We finally ended up back at Rim Village. Smoke was now covering everything. Looks like we had taken our scenic tour just in time again. We couldn’t see the lake or the trees now. We saw several ash devils along the crater wall swirl back up over the rim.

We ate lunch in the cafeteria and browsed through the gift shop again. After, Mom and I sat on the crater rim wall and fed the chipmunks and birds that were walking up the ash along the caldera wall. We then headed through Pumice Desert and out of the park. We seemed to get closer and closer to Mt. Thielsen, but it too disappeared in the smoke and in the trees. We headed towards Roseburg and after a dinner at Denny’s, checked into a motel and went to sleep. Again I did not sleep well cause of my sunburn.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 287 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Thu, Aug 22, 2002 (23:19) * 11 lines
Thursday, August 15th, 2002: We woke up and ate motel breakfast. Then we packed up and headed towards Cottage Grove. I saw a red fox sneaking through a garden as we drove by. Mom wanted to see covered bridges so we took the covered bridge tour through Cottage Grove. I was bored so I picked blackberries along the side of the road.

We then headed into Eugene, where Mom and Dad let me stop at University of Oregon to get more information about attending. U of O is my 3rd choice university. We ate another lunch at Jack in the Box and headed up Mc Kenzie Pass. I had talked my parents into going to Proxy Falls. We could see the North Sister through the trees as we drove up. Along the way we stopped at another covered bridge and went into the ranger station to get another Northwest Forest Pass.

We reached Proxy Falls at around 2:30pm. We hiked to Lower Proxy Falls first. Only very physically fit people can get to the very bottom due to the steep trail that is covered in tree roots and rocks. Mom and Dad stayed at the top of the trail while I slid down to the bottom to get some very close up and personal pictures with the camera.

I climbed up the rocks and the moss to the top of the waterfall. I got my pictures, but on the way down I slipped and went crashing into a big mud puddle. My tennis shoes were covered in mud. I walked in the water to wash them off and walked up the trail squeaking and squishing all the way up. I accidentally took the wrong trail to Upper Proxy Falls cause the sign was switched so I ended up back at the car, so I hurried back and found the right way and took some pictures of Upper Proxy.

What is fascinating about Proxy Falls is that the falls doesn’t go anywhere. It flows right through the basalt and disappears. I finally hiked back up to the car and after collecting a few rocks, we headed to Florence. I noticed immediately the temperature change. It was close to 100 in Cottage Grove, Crater Lake, and in Roseburg, but in Florence it was freezing, probably in the low 50’s out. I was glad I had jeans and sweatshirt for once on the trip.

Along the way, I saw 2 bald eagle nests, with one being occupied. We got a motel room and then headed over to Moe’s one of the most famous seafood restaurants in Oregon. We had their famous clam chowder and fresh Oregon muscles and clams. After a great meal (for once), we headed back to the motel and went to sleep.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 288 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Thu, Aug 22, 2002 (23:28) * 1 lines
I'll continue the last 6 days tomorrow.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 289 of 342: Curious Wolfie  (wolf) * Fri, Aug 23, 2002 (11:59) * 1 lines
Julie, I'm going to go back up and read your posts but first I wanted to welcome you back *HUGS* We all missed you!!!!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 290 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Aug 23, 2002 (12:06) * 1 lines
*HUGS* Thanks Wolfie. I missed Geo so much while I was gone. I was thinking about everyone of you during my trip, especially when I was at Crater Lake.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 291 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Aug 23, 2002 (21:50) * 9 lines
Friday, August 16th, 2002: We woke up and went to Safeway to buy some more foods for breakfast and lunch. Had breakfast in the parking lot. We then headed towards Newport, OR. The street names along the highway were all U.S states. Once we reached Newport, we stopped at Devil’s Punchbowl. Devils Punchbowl is a collapsed sea cave that during high tides or stormy seas becomes a churning cauldron of foam.

We then went to Yaquina Head Lighthouse. We walked the 104 steps to the top of the lighthouse, which is 93feet, making it the tallest lighthouse in Oregon. I mostly took notice of the basalt that was covering all the beaches and cliffs. It turns out the basalt is from the Colombia River Basalt. A small section of the flow went southwest into Newport, OR area. Interestingly enough, almost everything along the Oregon coast seemed to be made of basalt.

After going to the interruptive center, we went south to Yaquina Bay State Park where we had a picnic lunch of sandwiches. Mom went to check out the other historic lighthouse in the bay. Next we walked up the trail to the Heceta Head Lighthouse and took the tour inside. I walked down to the beach after and felt the water. It was way colder than Crater Lake. We then drove to Sand Dunes Recreation Area where I had some fun making sand angels, and running and sliding down the sand dunes.

After, we took pictures of the Upmqua Lighthouse. We then headed to Coos Bay, OR where we got a motel and than ate pizza for dinner. After dinner we went back to the motel and went to sleep. 



 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 292 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Aug 23, 2002 (22:16) * 18 lines
Saturday, August 17th, 2002: We woke up and at marrionberry pancakes for breakfast, one of Oregon’s specialties. I then went down to the pool only to freeze to death when I got out. The pool may have been heated but the air was still in the low 50’s out. We then packed up and got gas for the car and ice for the ice chest. We drove towards Charleston where we went to their Annual Seafood Festival. The three of us shared some fresh Oregon coast BBQ salmon. It was so good!

We then drove to Sunset Bay Beach to take pictures. When we got to Simpson Reef Viewpoint, we spotted thousands of sea lions and seals resting on the huge rocks off shore. When we got to Cape Arago Viewpoint we could hear all the seals and sea lions very clearly. It sounded like a huge kennel of dogs. Once we reached Bandon, we went to the Coquille River Lighthouse. We found out that the Pacific Northwest has more shipwrecks than any other coasts due to its severe storms.

I was getting bored again so I played on the sand dunes and ran on the jetty only to get sand blasted, which really really stung. We then drove into the town of Bandon and stopped at their Cheddar Cheese Factory. They had about 50 different types of cheeses and you could sample every one of them. So I went around like 3 times of course! We then had Tillamook Ice Cream. I had the Cascade blackberry ice cream.

The Pacific Northwest is very big on their berries. In fact, most of the blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries that you buy in the markets come from Oregon. A marrionberry is a different type of blackberry. There are also huckleberries, katataberries, and loganberries. Huckleberries are very similar to blueberries. Katataberries are a cross between a blackberry and a marrionberry. A loganberry….umm…I forgot.

We then drove a little ways down the road to the Cranberry Bog where we learned how cranberries are grown and harvested. For some reason people think cranberries grow in water, but they don’t. They grow in a regular field and are heavily watered but not to a point of saturation. When they are ripe, which is usually in October or November, the field is flooded and the cranberries float to the surface. A machine goes in and scopes them up. We decided to take some cranberry relish, cranberry coffee, and marrionberry jellybeans home.

Then we took a walk through the historic old town and tasted more delicious foods, such as berry fudge, chocolate fudge, and other sweets and candies. If you want to pig out for free then go to Bandon, OR. We then moved down to Coquille Point where we went down to the beach to look at the face rocks. The face rocks are also called haystacks, sea stacks, or monoliths. I found a few pieces of agate along the beach.

We then headed over to Bandon State Beach. I thought there would be lots of agates on the beach like all the books said, but I couldn’t find any. In fact there wasn’t many rocks on the beach at all. Either there was all covered with sand or I was at the wrong beach. We reached Fort Orford close to sunset. Fort Orford was a very small town. I don’t think there were even a gas station there let alone any fast food places.

The motel we got was nice. It had a view of the ocean, the harbor, and well as a few sea stacks. We ate dinner at the only restaurant in town and then took some pictures of the coastal views. After playing a game of Scrabble, we went to bed. 




 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 293 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sun, Aug 25, 2002 (20:29) * 17 lines
Sunday, August 18th, 2002: Woke up and looked at the wonderful view outside the window. Not many times do you get a beautiful view of the coast. We packed up and headed over to Ray’s Market to get some more food. Had breakfast in the parking lot again. We then drove to Cape Blanco State Park to see the Cape Blanco Lighthouse. The winds were blowing about 50 miles per hour near the cape. Suddenly, Mom’s hat flew off and she chased it towards the cliffs. It went over the cliff but a nice guy climbed down the cliff to get it.

We took a tour of the lighthouse and then headed back into Port Orford to see the Myrtlewood Store. Myrtlewood is wood from a special kind of tree grown in Oregon. After, we made several stops along the way to see coastal viewpoints. We stopped at Boardman State Park and picked some more blackberries.

We then stopped at Arch Rock where we had some snacks. There were quite a few critters there as well; blue jays, sea gulls, squirrels, and rabbits. I decided to share some of my food with them, but that was a mistake. They thought I was the nicest person in the world so they came closer and closer until the squirrels were climbing at my feet. Yikes!

Imagine 5 squirrels as big as small cats, 2 huge sea gulls, 4 screeching blue jays, and a rabbit coming at you all at the same time. I just threw most of my food and ran and the squirrels ran after me! Dad tossed a tomato at the sea gull. I didn’t think it would eat it, but I was wrong...sort of.

The sea gull took it in its beak, but all of a sudden the tomato squirted out juice and that must have freaked the bird out cause he dropped it and made a very weird noise like he was startled. We were laughing so hard, that we almost didn’t even see the two blue jays swoop down and fight over the tomato.

Finally we headed towards Brookings, OR. The smoke was getting worse again as we were getting closer and closer to the fire. We stopped at several more viewpoints along the way. We stopped at Harris State Beach for a rest stop. I did some bouldering on the monoliths, which was a lot of fun cause if I fell I would just be very very cold cause the water was right below me. Later, as we were picking blackberries, I saw a brown red-banded snake slither into the thorny bushes.

Once we got into the town of Brookings we gassed up the car and headed to Lobe State Park. Before we even got there we passed by a fire camp. There were hundreds maybe thousands of fire fighters, marines, and other volunteers who were just hanging around probably waiting to go back into the fire. We didn’t make it to Lobe State Park. There were 2 armed marines further up the road past the fire camp with a sign that said road closed due to fire hazard. The fire must be only a few miles from here. So we turned around and headed back into Brookings.

We decided to go to the Port of Brookings. There were many interesting stores and an art festival going on, but we had arrived there at closing time so we got to see everyone packing up. We did see a booth that had fire information about the Biscuit Fire. We learned on that day the fire was only 35% contained.

Then we left and crossed over the border back into boring California. Yak! We got to the motel, checked in, and then went out for Chinese food. After dinner, we went back to Battery Head Lighthouse again to take some pictures during sunset. We then went back into the motel and played Scrabble again and then went to sleep.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 294 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sun, Aug 25, 2002 (20:57) * 13 lines
Monday, August 19th, 2002: We woke up and packed the car. There was ash all over the car windows from the fire. We stopped at Wal-Mart and Safeway and McDonalds for breakfast. Then we headed south into Redwoods National Park. The fog was so thick that we could barely see more than 1oft in front of us. Actually we thought it was fog, but it could have been smoke mixed with fog. It was really hard to tell.

We stopped at the Trees of Mystery and went inside the gift store. We didn’t have time to walk through Trees of Mystery so we continued south again. We stopped at Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park and in there took Davidson Road to Fern Canyon. We had to cross a steam in our rental car to get to the parking lot which was kind of fun, even though Mom and Dad were freaking out. We had a picnic lunch in the parking lot and watched the elk grazing on the beach and in the marsh.

We then took the trail to Fern Canyon. Fern Canyon was beautiful. There aren’t too many words to describe it. The canyon walls were about 50 feet tall and growing everywhere, including on the walls was ferns. Some were dripping water on to the canyon floor. A stream ran through the canyon and I crossed it many times as we headed further and further into the canyon.

There were some huge trees that had fallen from above into the canyon and they lay across it like bridges covered in moss. I climbed up a few of the logs to try to get some better pictures, but my hiking boots were wet from the stream and I fell while holding the camcorder as it was recording! So now I can always watch myself and see what an idiot I am as I fall on my butt and cry out.

There were many banana slugs in the canyon, fish and other interesting critters in the stream, and wild mushrooms growing in the green moss. I finally caught up with Mom and Dad who were quite upset when they saw me muddy and soaking wet again. We then took the trail loop back to the parking lot. We went back onto Davidson Road and back to HWY 101 heading towards Ladybird Johnson Grove in Redwoods National Park.

When we reached Ladybird Johnson Grove, we took the trail loop too the giant redwoods and ferns. The sunlight in the forest made for some very unusual pictures. We then drove into McKinleyville and went into the Chamber of Comerance to see if we could find the blueberry farm. But we found out that it was closed. So we drove into Eureka and stopped at McDonalds for some more dipping dots. We then stopped at K-mart to get another battery for my camera. Then we drove to Fortona to get gas.

We drove through Avenue of the Giants and stopped again on the side of the road to pick blackberries. As we were driving out, Dad and I saw a tree on the other side of the road that had an opening big enough for 3 people to stretch out and sleep comfortably. We got to Ukiah close to 10:00pm. We checked into a motel and went to Denny’s for dinner. We then went back to the motel and went to sleep.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 295 of 342: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Sun, Aug 25, 2002 (21:39) * 1 lines
That's funny, about your mom and dad freaking out when you crossed the stream. Are you going to catch the blueberry farm still?

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 296 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sun, Aug 25, 2002 (21:43) * 9 lines
Tuesday, August 20th, 2002: We woke up and packed up. Had motel breakfast in our rooms. Then we left motel and headed to Santa Rosa. There were interesting basalt formations along the way on HWY 101 probably due to uplift from the San Andreas Fault. We went to Calistoga to see Old Faithful of California. Calistoga is near Gyserville. This whole area not only has a geothermal plant, but it also has hot springs and geysers as well. This is because the rocks are hot only a few hundred feet from the surface.

The geyser we went to see was erupting every 14 minutes that day. There were many others in the area but most were capped off. There was volcanic ash everywhere from ancient eruptions of a volcano that we were standing in the center of. We were told that the geysers eruption times change sometimes when there is earthquakes meaning that maybe geysers can be some means of prediction. The geyser was erupting almost every 2 hours before 1989. But then when the Loma Prieta Earthquake hit, the eruption time changed to about what it is now. That’s quite a change!

We then left Calistoga and headed through Wine Country back to HWY 101 north and back into Santa Rosa where we got gas and ate at Jack in the Box. We drove south again and went over the Golden Gate Bridge and through downtown San Francisco. Traffic all the way from Santa Rosa through San Francisco was almost worse than L.A. We got to Salinas and stopped at Denny’s to have a snack. Then we drove to Pinnacles National Monument.

Pinnacles National Monument is the result of uplift from the San Andreas Fault nearly 140 million years ago. The other part of the pinnacles is about 195 miles east. I wanted to go into Balcony Cave but there wasn’t enough time. We took pictures of the pinnacles and the California quails that were scurrying on the trail and then headed into Paso Robles where we got gas.

We then ate dinner in San Luis Obispo. We looked for a motel for hours but everyone was either too expensive or no vacancy. Finally we ended up in Santa Barbara where we found a motel around midnight. We then went right to sleep.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 297 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sun, Aug 25, 2002 (21:45) * 1 lines
Wednesday, August 21st, 2002: We woke up and packed up. Ate another motel breakfast. Then left Santa Barbara ate 9:00am and arrived back home close to noon.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 298 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sun, Aug 25, 2002 (21:49) * 1 lines
Nope, no more blueberry farm. We got there at 5:30pm and it closed at 5. Its sad. Only Northern California, Oregon, and Washington have those things on the west coast. There certainly isn't many berries here that are growing, I mean that are ediable. Its way too hot.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 299 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sun, Aug 25, 2002 (22:02) * 5 lines
Okay. I want to mention a few things cause over all I thought this trip was a disaster. It was way too much driving and I wasn't very fascinated by all the lighthouses but thats okay. Firstly, this may sound weird but I am not used to staying in motels. I am used to camping....as in pitching up the tent and snuggling in my sleeping bag with whatever else decided to crawl inside, lol. Don't ask!! The only thing good about staying in a motel is the beds....I got to jump on them as much as I wanted! LOL.

You see, my parents don't like camping or I should say roughing it. Sean and I are the only ones that do that. Funny, I thought my parents were trying to save money on this trip. They really didn't succed cause we kept eating every meal out. Sean and I would always go to the market the first day and get what we need and survive off that. This trip our food consisted of mainly burgers, fries, sandwhiches, and pizza. When I am roughing it with Sean we survive off of power bars, cliff bars, trail mix, granola bars, ramen noodles, jerky, and jelly beans, lol ( don't ask about the jelly beans. That may little thing).

Anyway, the only day I truely enjoyed myself was my second day at Crater Lake when I was hiking on Wizard Island and freezing my skin off in Crater Lake's chilly waters. I had a few kicks the other days but nothiung can compare to that day. I can't even describe what it was like see the inside of a caldera from inside another volcano. It was breathtaking. That day almost made the 3,300 miles we put on the car worth it......almost.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 300 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sun, Aug 25, 2002 (22:06) * 1 lines
Although I am starting school tomorrow, I want to continue decribing about the other volcanoes in the Pacific Northwest. What do I mean by other volcanoes? You will soon find out later in the week...I hope.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 301 of 342: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Sun, Aug 25, 2002 (22:45) * 1 lines
I hope so too!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 302 of 342: Rob Glennie  (AotearoaKiwi) * Mon, Aug 26, 2002 (06:31) * 27 lines
Hi all

Have people been going to Rob's Geo World or http://groups.yahoo.com/group/worldvolcanism to see the tour of New Zealand volcanoes that I am conducting? The messages are marked Volcanoes of New Zealand Part 1-10 (that is where I was up to in the 12 part series at the time of tpying this).

To date we have covered:

Mount Ruapehu
Mount Ngauruhoe
Mount Taranaki
Mount Tongariro
Auckland volcanic field
Mayor Island
White Island

Still to come in Rob's Geo World:

Mount Edgecumbe
Okataina
Tarawera
Tauhara

*********** (PS number of asterisks is not necessarily the number of letters in the volcano's name)

Rob 




 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 303 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, Sep  2, 2002 (13:44) * 3 lines
Hi everyone!
Well I finally have a bit of a break from school since today is Labor Day, so I thought I would finally post the rest of my photos from my trip to the Washington Cascades I took the end of May and begining of June. Enjoy! 


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 304 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, Sep  2, 2002 (14:03) * 3 lines


This is a photo of Lava Cast Tree, which is located on the Trail of Two Forests in Mt. St. Helens National Monument. Mt. St. Helens erupted a very large lava flow about 1,900 years ago on her south side. When the lava cooled some interesting things happened. Trees like this one were forever perserved in a lava tomb. Sean and I crawled through this one. There is also another bunch of trees that have been growing in the area since...hence the name Trail of Two Forests.


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 305 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, Sep  2, 2002 (14:12) * 15 lines


Mt. St. Helens as seen from her south side




Mt. St. Helens in the shadow's




Mt. St. Helens with with some of the blown-down forest tree stumps




Mt. St. Helens scars eched into her valley's


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 306 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, Sep  2, 2002 (14:20) * 5 lines




Spirit Lake as seen from Harry's Ridge. The brown sections in the water you think might be land is actually logs. Most of the logs from the 1980 eruption have sunken to the bottom froming a eerie submerged forest. But there is still plenty that are still floating, many of which are scattered along the sides and in the middle of the lake.


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 307 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, Sep  2, 2002 (14:40) * 17 lines


Not many people see these signs where they live...unless they live in the shadows of a dangerous volcano like the little town of Orting, WA.




Mt. Rainer as seen from Orting




Its frightening just to see with your eyes how close Mt. Rainer is to Orting




The Nisqually River cuts right through Orting. Where does the Nisqually River come from? The Nisqually Glacier on Mt. Rainer's slopes of course. Its one of the biggest glaciers too. Hmmm...can you imagine what could happen here?


On a personally note... I just want to say that the people in Orting are extremely friendly. The Chamber of Comereance was very helpful when I asked for some more information on their hazards. The gave me the phone number of the fire fighter in charge of the town evacuations. I intend to call him when I get a chance and ask some more specific questions. As the sun begins to set, the people of Orting almost don't even seem to notice the huge sinister giant as it sits in a peaceful alpine-glow. They go on with their everyday lives not worrying what may lie before them. In a way I suppose thats good. They cannot go on with their lives if they keep worrying about it. But I know every one of them knows. And deep down inside they all worry that they are sitting on borrowed time. All one can do is just hope that they can evacuate in time. To Orting...God Speed.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 308 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, Sep  2, 2002 (14:47) * 11 lines


Mt. Rainer as seen from Paradise on top of the Nisqually Glacier




Mt. Rainer...the lethal giant with clouds swirling over the summit




Mt. Rainer from the highway in Mt. Rainer National Park


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 309 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, Sep  2, 2002 (14:50) * 3 lines


This is a very bad photo Of Mt. Baker. Its very difficult to take a picture of a sky thats white and a volcano that is almost completely white. Weather conditions never cooperated when we were at Mt. Baker.


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 310 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, Sep  2, 2002 (14:53) * 1 lines
Well, there you go. I just showed you all just about the entire Cascade Range minus a few, including one very significant one...Glacier Peak. Glacier Peak is a very difficult volcano to get access to since their is no roads near it so getting a picture is almost close to impossible unless you have about 2 days to spend hiking to it, which we unfortunatly didn't have.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 311 of 342: Dorine  (gomezdo) * Mon, Sep  2, 2002 (14:58) * 1 lines
Julie, did you get to hike Mt. St. Helens? It's a cool view to look down into the crater at the lava dome. Thanks for the pics. I lived in Aberdeen, WA 5 years ago (for about 5 months) and I miss the area (not the town though). We hiked almost every weekend....Mt. Rainer, Mt. St. Helens, the Olympic Pennisula, Mt. Hood, the Cascades. I loved it!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 312 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, Sep  2, 2002 (20:24) * 1 lines
Hi Dorine. Yeah, I hiked Mt. St. Helens last May and June. Actually it was my 3rd time hiking Mt. St. Helens. I have been through the Cascades 5 times now. I have seen the entire range though I have not hiked through it too much. And yes, Mt. Rainer, Mt. St. Helens, the Olympic Pennisula, and Mt. Hood are some of my favorite places to go to. I have only been to the Olympic Pennisula one time though. I hope to go back again next year except this time hike the Pacific Crest Trail up through the Cascades.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 313 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, Sep  2, 2002 (21:05) * 7 lines
I have two more volcanic areas in the Pacific Northwest left to mention. One is the Coast Mounatins which is a chain of volcanoes starting in British Colombia and stretching to the most northern sections of Canada and the Alaska border and the other is the ancient volcanic ranges on the eastern sides of the Cascades.

I know I already talked about Mt. Garibaldi and Meager Mountain when I talked about the Cascade Range. But sometimes Mt. Garibaldi and Meager Mountain are not considered part of the Cascades Range. I suppose it depends how you look at them.

Next to Garibaldi is Watts Point which is a volcanic area composed of porphyritic jointed dacitic lava. This could be a subglacial dacite lava dome.

Wells Grey is after Meager mountain towards the east. Wells Grey is a volcanic area made up of basaltic volcanoes and cinder cones. This area has been active for the past 3 million years. Most of the lava flows are subglacial.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 314 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, Sep  2, 2002 (21:12) * 3 lines
Nazco is a small cinder cone that has erupted numerous times during its life cycle. Its last eruption dated back about 7,000-10,000 years ago. This cinder cone erupted quite violently at times forming deep layers of lapilli, ash, and volcanic bombs in the surrounding area.

Tseax is a cluster of cinder cones that may have erupted less than 500 years ago. The area is composed mainly of differnt lava flows.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 315 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, Sep  2, 2002 (21:21) * 5 lines
Lava Fork is the youngest volcano in Canada. Lava Fork is a cinder cone on top of a mounatin ridge. The volcanic vent is made up of lapilli and volcanic bombs. The youngest lava flow is only about 150 years old.

The Iskut River has dozens of cinder cones located on the east and west sides. Large lava flows may have blocked the river off when it last erupted which was about 70,000 years ago.

Hoodoo Mounatin is a flat-toped composite volcano. The most recent eruption was only about 7,000 years ago. The rocks of Hoodoo are peralkaline phonolite and trachyte.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 316 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, Sep  2, 2002 (21:37) * 7 lines
The Mountain Edziza complex is a volcanic plateau composed of basaltic lava flows, cinder cones, and four composite volcanoes. This area has erupted numerous times during the last 10,000 years.

Tuya Butte is one of six subglacial volcanoes. The base of the volcano is made of pillow basalt and hyaloclastite indicating that the volcano may have formed beneath the ice or in a large lake. The 4 other subglacial volcanoes are South Tuya, Mathew's Tuya, and Ash Mountain.

Cracker Creek Cone and Volcanic Crrek Cone are to young cinder cones that surround Ruby Mountain a composite volcano. 



 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 317 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, Sep  2, 2002 (21:43) * 1 lines
Well that didn't take long, lol. There is hardly any information at all about the volcanic ranges in Canada. I think this is because of two reasons. One is that most of the volcanoes are probably extinct and they are so old that much has been eroded away. And two is not many people live in this section of Canada so there isn't much concern about any eruptions. But there is a few that have erupted as recently as 150 years ago, but I doubt any will erupt in our lifetimes, since most are cinder cones and cinder cones are "usually" a one time thing. But that doesn't mean that new cinder cones won't form.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 318 of 342: Cheryl  (CherylB) * Wed, Sep  4, 2002 (16:14) * 1 lines
Beautiful photos, Julie. Thanks for posting them.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 319 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Fri, Sep  6, 2002 (18:11) * 3 lines
I just came to the conclusion last night that I missed a lot in the Cascade Range. Mainly lava fields, craters, and butte's. And of course I am going to have to back up and tell you about them. So now you are probably thinking she's completly obsessed with those crazy volcanoes of her's. Well I already know that.

People tell me I am obssessed with volcanoes all the time. Nothing that I haven't heard. But the thing is I know the Cascades VERY well and the fact that I missed some bothers me a bit. Okay...I admit it...I am a perfectionist. But hey, its a good learning expereience for everyone including myself. So.....I will start going back to the Cascade Range to do the things I missed very shortly.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 320 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, Sep  9, 2002 (14:30) * 3 lines
Everything seems to be quiet in the Pacific NW. Only a few small quakes at Rainer and St. Helens and several small ones near Tacoma and Yakima. A little too quiet if you ask me. I emailed the CVO last week and asked them what is currently going on up near the South Sister and if the uplift is continuing, slowing, or staying the same. I haven't heard back from them yet so we will see.

The only thing in the Pacific NW that is shaking up at the moment is the Blanco Fracture Zone and the Juan de Fuca Ridge both located about 210 miles W of Coos Bay, Oregon. There has been many quakes in the past few months with many of them being M 5.0 and above.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 321 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, Sep  9, 2002 (14:41) * 1 lines
Some of you probably wonder why I am so worked up over earthquakes in the Pacific NW. Well, to answer that I will post my research paper I did last semester on it. Some of what you will see may be very very surprising but its all true. Just look up my references . That is proof that the Pacific NW is one of the most dangerous places to live in the U.S.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 322 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, Sep  9, 2002 (14:50) * 16 lines

RAIN IS THE LEAST OF THEIR PROBLEMS!

It’s a gloomy, rainy, Monday morning in downtown Seattle. You are looking at the vast views of the Puget Sound, Mt. Rainer, and the busy commute of traffic from the top of the Seattle Space Needle. An eerie silence settles over the city. As your face is pressed up against the window, looking out at the marvelous views, you feel the window ever so slightly begin to shudder.
You step back looking for the little brat that was pounding on the window. But to your horror you notice that the shudder has increased and the windows begin rattling, making a sound you have never heard in your life. Suddenly, the whole floor seems to fall from underneath you as the jolt violently shakes around the historic tower. You hear the sounds of people screaming, glasses breaking, objects falling, and bodies smacking against the wall. You try desperately to grab on to something, but fall hopelessly to the floor.
One minute has gone by and the violent shaking continues. You hear the sound of metal and steel cables snapping in half. Finally, after nearly three minutes the earth heaves its last hiccup. But all you can hear now is your heavy breathing, everything and everyone else around you is silent. The once busy city of Seattle now lay in ruins.
Most of us that have lived here long enough, would probably consider California to have an earthquake risk. What about the Pacific Northwest, our northerly neighbors? Surely, they couldn’t have an earthquake risk. Not only is the Pacific Northwest far away from California, but also you don’t hear much about earthquakes in that area. That doesn’t mean they cannot happen though. In fact, earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest can be far more intense than they are for us here in California! Why is that?
First of all, we are dealing with two different types of plate movement here. The San Andreas Fault in California is a transform boundary where the two plates slide past one another. The Pacific Northwest though is a convergent boundary, where one plate, typically the heavier oceanic plate, subducts underneath the lighter more buoyant continental plate. In the Pacific Northwest, the Juan de Fuca Plate subducts underneath the North American Plate.
“The Oregon Earthquake Handbook” states that the area where the subduction occurs is called the Cascadia Subduction Zone The Cascadia Subduction Zone runs along Northern California all the way up into British Colombia (Cope 29).
In a subduction zone, the slab that is subducting dips towards the mantle at 45º and extends to a depth of 700km. This area, known as the Benioff Zone is where deep quakes occur because brittle lithosphere is being subducted underneath another plate.
Most subduction zones else where in the world such as near the coastlines of South America and Central America are producers of major catastrophic earthquakes (Cope 39). So where is the evidence of earthquakes along the Cascadia Subduction Zone? Around the Pacific from Alaska to Chile, there is a chain of intense earthquake activity.
The intense earthquake activity seems to be missing in the Pacific Northwest though. It is likely, that this area is a seismic gap in which fault lines are broken up into segments and each one breaking at different times. A seismic gap will often lack activity because it is simply locked into place. So maybe the reason that the Cascadia Subduction Zone is quiet is because it is stuck (Cope 40).
This could defiantly be true. In all other areas around the Pacific where there are subduction zones, you can see heavy evidence of earthquakes. How many times have you heard about earthquakes in Chile, or Central and South America? A lot! What does it mean though if the Cascadia Subduction Zone is stuck? Big trouble that’s what!
“Northwest Exposure” mentions that the continental shelf just offshore is rising at a rate of two feet every one hundred years. Areas fifty miles inland though are sinking. The oceanic crust sinking through the offshore trench is jammed against the coastal part of the oceanic crust. This means that the trench is stuck and when it does break loose, which will happen eventually, it may cause a quake of great proportions (Alt, Hyndman 400).
You can easily compare this to the Elastic Rebound Theory of earthquakes. The two faults or in this case plates, are locked in place. The pressure builds up under the strain along the locked section and eventually enough energy builds that friction is overcome. The energy released is in the form of seismic waves, in other words, an earthquake. (Continued...) 


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 323 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, Sep  9, 2002 (14:58) * 14 lines
There have been quite a few fairly good size quakes in the Pacific Northwest. The most recent quake occurred on February 28, 2001 in Olympia, Washington and was a magnitude 6.8. Another significant quake was on April 29, 1965 near Tacoma, Washington and was a 6.5 magnitude. On April 13, 1949, a 7.1 magnitude quake hit Olympia. In December of 1872, approximately a 7.4 magnitude rocked the area near the North Cascades.
The largest and most chilling earthquake ever may have occurred on January 26, 1700. In the sediment deposits along the Pacific Northwest there is some layers of sand. In many areas, this layer of sand covers tree stumps that once grew in marshes. The wood was dated and it showed that the layers of sand were deposited approximately 300 years ago. These layers may be evidence of powerful earthquakes that caused huge tsunamis (Alt, Hyndman 399).
It is very likely that this earthquake occurred around 1700. There have been legends that tell of this mega quake and how a tsunami washed away several villages in Japan. There is no other evidence that suggests a quake occurred in another region around 1700, making the Cascadia Subduction the likely culprit. We can see that the Pacific Northwest has had in fact, quite a few very powerful quakes, but not even close to the amount as most of the other subduction zones in the Pacific.
Most of the quakes in the Pacific Northwest range in depth from about 40km to 70km. One thing to realize though, is the shallower the quake, usually the more destructive it will be. Most of the quakes that occur along the Cascadia Subduction Zone range in depth to about 40 to 70km. How deep is this?
Take the Chilean quake of 1960 for example. This quake registered about a 9.5 magnitude, the largest quake in history. The death toll in Chile was about 2,000, but since it generated a tsunami, there were hundreds of more deaths in other countries around the Pacific. The quake though originated at a depth of about 74.5km.
If an earthquake of this size and slightly shallower occurred on the Cascadia Subduction Zone, the death toll would be enormous and the devastation form the actual quake would be catastrophic.
When will the next one hit? Obviously no one knows an exact date, but here is what we do know. “Agents of Chaos” mentions that the Cascadia Subduction Zone produces a great quake about once every 300 years. If the last one occurred in 1700, then it looks like we are now overdue (Harris 78).
This is a very serious problem. Some people don’t realize the severity of the risks of earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest. The major city of Seattle has a population now of almost 600,000 people. An earthquake occurring near a major metropolitan city like that of Seattle, Olympia, Tacoma, or Portland, would be disastrous.
How big will it be? If the whole plate broke at once or if a very large segment broke the earthquake could be up to a 9.0 magnitude. The plate could also just slip a little bit at a time causing several magnitude 8.0 quakes over a two to three year period (Cope 45).
Okay, so what is the worse case scenario? The shaking of the quake itself my last up to two or three minutes compared to the half minute of shaking of the Northridge California quake in 1994. There is also the problem with buildings. Since the Pacific Northwest has not had a major quake in so long, building codes are not as strict. There would be many buildings susceptible to severe earthquake damage.
If the locked plate breaks free in one single motion its swift drop would cause severe subsidence along the coast, meaning the earth’s surface would sink in. If the quake occurred a hundred miles or so offshore, it may trigger a tsunami that would spread around the Pacific, endangering the lives of many coastal communities. Some areas close to the coast may even liquefy during a big quake.
The population of the Pacific Northwest is slowly beginning to increase, especially in the major metropolitan cities. These people need to get prepared as soon as possible because Mother Nature doesn’t wait for anybody. Building codes need to be reinforced and emergency planning needs to occur.
It is critically important that people understand that an earthquake can happen at any time without any notice what so ever, so don’t put your planning off for tomorrow, because tomorrow may already be too late. Most deaths caused only by the quake itself happen because people are not prepared, nor are their structures that they reside in.
Don’t get me wrong though, a 9.0 magnitude quake is enormous, but the more prepared a person becomes and the more prepared their city in which they live in becomes the more of a chance they have of surviving it.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 324 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, Sep  9, 2002 (15:00) * 8 lines
Here's a list of my references if you are curious to know more about earthquakes in the Pacific NW...

Alt, David, and Hyndman, Donald W. Northwest Exposures: A Geological Story of the Northwest. Montana: Mountain Press Publishing Company, 1995.

Cope, Vern. The Oregon Earthquake Handbook: An Easy-To-Understand Information And Survival Manual. Oregon: Vern Cope, 1993

Harris, Stephen L. Agents of Chaos. Montana: Mountain Press Publishing Company, 1990 


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 325 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, Sep  9, 2002 (15:02) * 7 lines
Drabek, Thomas E., et al. Earthquake Mitigation Policy: The Experience of Two States. Colorado: U of Colorado, 1983

Brumbaygh, David S. Earthquakes: Science and Society. New Jersey: Prentice Hall,1999

McKee, Bates. Cascadia: The Geologic Evolution of the Pacific Northwest. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1972 



 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 326 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Tue, Sep 10, 2002 (22:41) * 1 lines
Thanks for such a thorough study and for listing your sources. My son wants to move there. That is unsettling...

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 327 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Sep 14, 2002 (18:45) * 15 lines
Date-Time 2002 09 14 09:06:59 UTC
Location 44.17N 129.64W
Depth 10.0 kilometers
Magnitude 4.4
GO ANGELS GO!! Lol. The Angels are in 2nd place in the western division behing the A's. I can't believe this! This is so cool! The Angels, my home town team, were doing so bad last year now it looks like they may make it to the playoffs and maybe the World Series! WOOOOOHOOOO!!! I am hoping to get tickets to their last game the end of September where they play against the Mariners. GO ANGELS!!

Okay well thats baseball news, lol, here is some news about the Pacific Northwest...

Region OFF COAST OF OREGON
Reference 275 miles (445 km) WNW of Coos Bay, Oregon

Another small quake off the coast of Oregon. This area has had a lot in the past 6 months with a lot of them being 5.0 magnitudes and above. This map is pretty cool...http://newport.pmel.noaa.gov/geophysics/images/JdFR_color.gif
Gives you a good idea where the fracture zones are and where the Axial Seamount is. 



 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 328 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Sep 14, 2002 (18:46) * 1 lines
ARGH! Someday I will learn how to space things right! *smacks herself in the head*

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 329 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Sep 14, 2002 (18:51) * 1 lines
WOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!!! I just got done watching the game. THE ANGELS WON AGAIN!! The score was Angels 8 Texas 6. Now the Angels and the A's are both tied for 1st place in the western division!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 330 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Wed, Nov 20, 2002 (12:52) * 5 lines
I haven't posted anything on my topic for a long time, mostly cause there hasn't been a whole lot happening in the Cascades. Until now that is. Firstly, I want to make a note about the South Sister. The uplifting is still continuing. Very slowly of course, but scientists are still keeping a close eye on it. This is a perfect chance for us to see what happens before an eruption. This is quite exciting actually. I hope when I get out to that area next year I will be able to study it too.

Now....for a seismology update...not much happening in the Pacific NW, except for a few quakes at Mt. St. Helens and Baker, Oregon.

As for me...things are pretty hectic around here. The semester is just about to end for me and so far things are going great..maybe a little too great. I am waiting for the first snow to fall in the local mountains so I can try skiing out again for the first time since my surgery. My family and friends have mixed reactions about that, but I don't really care. I have been skiing since I was 3 and I'm certainly not about to stop now just because I had an unfortunate accident. Besides...my friend Michael said he is not going skiing with me unless I wear a helmet, so no worries.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 331 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Mon, Dec  9, 2002 (23:21) * 1 lines
Quit a few quakes on the Blanca Fracture Zone again. That area seems to become very active about once or twice every 2 months or so. Very Interesting pattern. http://wwwneic.cr.usgs.gov/neis/bulletin/

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 332 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Wed, Dec 11, 2002 (23:20) * 3 lines
I notice nothing much happening anywhere except for the Indonesian arc which is always active.

Hi Julie! I miss talking to you!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 333 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Thu, Dec 12, 2002 (23:01) * 3 lines
I feel like my dreams keep getting further and further away from me. This year has been the worst year of my life. Marcia, Rob, and Brenda....you guys were right. You knew I would burn out if I didn't relax and stop stressing, but I didn't listen and I did burn out. I am an emotional wreck right now. Yes...my semester is now over. But it came at a terrible price. I don't even think I did well in ecology this evening.

I think I will stay home on my b-day and do nothing. I find out my grade for ecology the very next day. I had a nervous breakdown yesturday and Tuesday. It got really bad. No one could calm me down. My parents are really worried about me. No one understands the way I feel about things. I wonder if I will even get to transfer up north next year. 

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 334 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Fri, Dec 13, 2002 (13:12) * 1 lines
Oh Julie! *BIG HUGS* This year has been the agony and ecstasy for me, too. I have some more agony to deal with before I can get back the ecstasy. So does Geo's archaeologist. Supportive hugs all around. I'll be online if you need to vent to someone or to get some "older and wiser" advice.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 335 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sun, Mar  2, 2003 (18:14) * 3 lines
I noticed a few quakes at Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainer, but everything else is relatively quiet which is good. CA on the other hand has been hit by quite a lot of small quakes. The city of Big Bear which is about 60 miles or so from me has had thousands of aftershocks after a fairly sharp 5.4M. I must of been dead tired cause I sure didn't feel it but almost everyone else I know did.

I am still waiting for that day when I get to leave CA for the beautiful Pacific Northwest. Looks like that won't be happening till at least 2004. It doesn't look like I will be able to go back there this summer either which I seem to have done for 8 years in a row now. Oh well. 

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 336 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Fri, Mar  7, 2003 (10:22) * 1 lines
Oh No!!! A whole year away? There must be a good reason for it, but we never seem to know until it is all over and we can look back. I am still wondering why I am stuck in Hilo useless and with a whole house to empty. I am overwhelmed.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 337 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Fri, Mar  7, 2003 (10:23) * 1 lines
I noted the quakes off the coast of Oregon have quieted down. Quite a number of 4+ magnitude quakes were happening a few weeks ago! I wonder what was happening.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 338 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Mar 15, 2003 (20:30) * 3 lines
Its moments like this one when I know I really belong in the Pacific NW. Either that or a mental institution. LOL! That huge storm that was in San Fran and Sacamento hit us really hard starting very early this morning. I love the rain and I am sure some of you might too. But I did something really crazy, knowing me to no surprise. I am into way too many sports and I don't like a day when I am just sitting around...rain or no rain. So....I put on my bathing suit, some goggles, and a helmet and rode my bike out into the rain.

It was absoultly halarious to everyone driving on MacArther Blvd. Some people were shaking their heads, some people honked at me. They thought I was crazy but I didn't think so. I had great fun riding thru knee deep puddles and sloshing thru the thick mud in the flooded fields at the park. All the while the rain was coming down so hard that I didn't have to worry about becoming thirsty after all that excersise. I had plenty to drink. LOL! It was great fun.

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 339 of 342: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Sat, Mar 15, 2003 (20:33) * 1 lines
Although there is one disadvantage to riding your bike in the rain. You lose control easier which is what I did and flew right into a bush and a huge mud puddle. More great fun! Yes... I know I am crazy so no need to mention that, LOL!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 340 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Tue, Mar 18, 2003 (22:48) * 1 lines
Julie, I have done the same thing in several hurricanes off the coast of Delaware. I love rain. I know I belong in Kentucky and Tennessee. What is really funny is at the slightest drizzle they all pop the umbrellas. They don't know what real rain is!

 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 341 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Thu, Apr  8, 2004 (05:58) * 48 lines
Earthquake swarm in Three Sisters (Oregon, USA) area of uplift


Source:
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/Sisters/WestUplift/information_statement_24m
arch2004.html
(be sure to paste entire URL in browser)



Three Sisters Earthquake Swarm
Information Statement Update -- March 24, 2004

At approximately 10 a.m. yesterday (Tuesday, March 23), an ongoing swarm of
small earthquakes began in the Three Sisters volcanic center in the central
Oregon Cascade Range. This activity poses no immediate threat to the public. As
of this morning, the regional seismic network has detected approximately 100
earthquakes ranging in magnitude up to about 1.5. The rate of earthquakes
peaked late yesterday and appears to be declining slowly. The earthquakes are
occurring in the northeast part of an area centered 5 kilometers (3 miles) west
of South Sister volcano in which the ground has been uplifted by as much as 25
cm (about 10 inches) since late 1997. On the basis of multiple lines of
evidence, scientists infer that the cause of the uplift is the continuing
intrusion of a modest volume of magma (molten rock). The magma appears to be
accumulating at a depth of about 7 kilometers (4 miles) below the ground
surface and now measures about 40 million cubic meters (about 50 million cubic
yards) in volume.

The processes that have been causing the uplift over the past seven years could
eventually lead to shallower intrusion of magma or even to a volcanic eruption;
however, both are unlikely without significantly more intense precursory
activity. Scientists continue to monitor the situation closely and to evaluate
data from field instruments.

Today scientists are deploying another seismometer in order to locate
earthquakes more precisely. With the assistance of the Willamette and Deschutes
National Forests, additional fieldwork over the next week will fix problems
with some field instruments that resulted from the heavy winter snow-pack and
will assess sites for new instruments.

Additional information, including maps and a volcanic-hazards assessment, may
be found on the Internet at Web at URL:
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/Sisters/framework.html and
http://www.pnsn.org/SISTERS/welcome.html.

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
CASCADES VOLCANO OBSERVATORY 


 Topic 70 of 92 [Geo]: Majestic Fiery Peaks: The Cascade Volcanoes
 Response 342 of 342: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Thu, Apr  8, 2004 (05:59) * 1 lines
Julie, what is happening? Do you have any newer information?
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