Julie with a B

Thursday, February 24, 2005
 
Helicopter ride into Mt St Helens
About 5 years ago I went to visit Mt St Helens. It's a bit of a drive out to it and the visitors center there. It's pretty clear from the view the devastation of the explosion. I wandered about a bit and was intrigued that there were helicopter rides up close to the crater. The helicopter was large (held a dozen people), expensive, and booked up until the next day. I thought it would have been fun. On the way back down the road, I saw another sign that said, "Helicopter Rides to the Crater". So I stopped to see what the deal was. Now I am not fond of heights, actually, it makes me hysterical. But the helicopter was small - 3 people plus the pilot - and seemed "OK" to my psycho brain, so I laid the plastic on the counter and signed up for the next trip. It was a two hour ride. We were well down the Tootle River Valley, so we flew following the river and up the valley. Then up the mountain, into the crater, down between the side of the crater and the lava plug in the center, around it twice, and then back up and out. From there over to a lake and to see all the trees laid flat over by the blast, then back down the river valley. Far below us there were elk racing along away from the helicopter. It was pretty stunning and well worth it. These are just a few of the many pictures I took.

|

<< Home

Powered by Blogger