Well, we were taken out to visit Mount St. Helens! AND, at that time, the volcano was smoking! I have a photo of us in front of Mount St. Helens WITH SMOKE piping out of the top!
Living in Kentucky, volcanoes are so foreign..... and I am really grateful that I was able to visit this one. I remember driving toward the volcano (and this was in the mid 00s), but you could still see a lot of the destruction from the eruption in 1980- in fact, we just passed the 40th anniversary of the event!
I am still fascinated with it. Luckily, I was given the book, "In the Path of Destruction: Eyewitness Chronicles of Mount St. Helens" by Richard Waitt!
This is a GREAT book, mostly giving quotes from people who witnessed the eruption (and even some who were killed by it).
The author has put together over 300 FULL pages of quotes. Its a big, thick book, and it is NOT a quick read. This is one to dive into and really immerse yourself in.
I wouldn't call it a complete volume on the event, but it is a complete enough collection of first hand accounts, all in one nice book for your bookshelf.
Waitt sets up the scene at the beginning of the book before getting in to the accounts. There are some characters that are forever linked to the event (David Johnston and Harry Truman) that I learned more about here. My jaw dropped as I also learned about people affected very directly who were MANY miles from Mount St. Helens.
AND, my heart broke as I read about the animals described by those who were there.
I read about families, children, an entire lodge, and a huge section of the US affected by this.
Richard Waitt's book is mammoth in size and content and I really enjoyed slowly reading through it. It gets my highest possible recommendation.
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