Mount St. Helens memories: Reader photos

Readers submitted photos from Eastern and Western Washington after the May 18, 1980, eruption of Mount St. Helens. A selection is presented here.

Section:Gallery

Tue., May 18, 2010

Terry Flume, center, and Vicki Flume, not pictured, were married May 24, 1980, in Spokane. "Since they were unsure what the effects of the ash would be, officials recommended wearing masks... of course most people didn't," Vicki recalls.

Courtesy Photo Courtesy Of Vicki Flume
"The picture is of my husband Leroy, who had a great sense of humor and put the sign on our front gate on the South Hill," writes Joyce Deitz, of Spokane.
"Mount St. Helens blew one day before our first wedding anniversary. My wife said I didn’t have to do anything that big ever again for our anniversary. Staying indoors for a few days just added to the festivities," writes Sam Richart.
Spokane resident Ann Kaluza's initially kept her children inside after the May 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. "Eventually we heard that it was okay to go outside if you wore a surgical mask," she wrote in an email.

Courtesy Photo Courtesy Of Ann Kaluza
Betty Pontarolo, center, poses with her daughters Christie and Amy by their garage doors after her husband, Mike, hosed off the driveway May 18, 1980. Betty was eight months pregnant with her sone, Nick.
Mike Pontarolo hoses ash from his driveway on May 18, 2010.
Nicholas Schuerman, 2, outside his Mead home in May 1980. "The kids were so desperate to play outside, so we relented, but with the infamous masks," writes his mother, Jan Schuerman.

Jan Schuerman Courtesy Of Jan Schuerman
Dennis Stoeser stands in the ash-covered street on May 18, 1980.
Jan Stoeser stands in her driveway May 18, 1980. "The ash was so heavy, it was almost impossible to move any distance. Removing it from the driveways and streets was a real challenge," she writes.
Ash covers Dennis and Jan Stoeser's Mustang on May 18, 1980.
Mary Farmer, of Spokane, holds up the Spokane Daily Chronicle from the day after Mount St. Helens erupted.

Courtesy Photo Courtesy Of Julie Farmer
Julie Farmer's backyard in north Spokane on May 18, 1980.
Jerry Prophet stands with a bucket of water he was taking to his pony, in the background, after the eruption of Mount St. Helens. "Although the pony had a shed where he could have saught shelter, he apparently stood outside all night and was covered with the ash," writes his wife, Colleen Prophet.
A boot print can be seen in the ash covering Colleen Prophet's back porch after the eruption.
Lorna Van Lankeren, second from left, and her husband, Evert, far left, operated the Mountain View Guest Ranch in Eureka, Mont., in 1980. This photo, taken after the eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18, shows how ash obscured the ranch's namesake view. Also pictured, from left, are Julius and Robert Stadler, of Pennsylvania; Lorna's mother, Jessie Dunstan, from Australia; and Hilda Gerhard, from Canada.

Courtesy Photo Courtesy Of Lorna Van Lankeren
The eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980, led to the cancellation of the Coeur d'Alene Marathon, which was to be held the following weekend.
Howard Fleenor tries to clean up ash on his Latah Valley property May, 20 1980.
Ash covers Marilyn Fleenor's garden in Latah Valley on May 20, 1980.
A cloud of ash rolls over the Palouse in this photo taken at the rest area between Lewiston and Othello on May 18, 1980, taken by a friend of Betty Ehr, of Medical Lake.

Betty Ehr Courtesy Of Betty Ehr
Clint Morton, 8, and Jill Morton clean volcanic ash of the deck of their home on the Palouse Highway.
Pat Kile's husband, Bert, attempted to go to work at The Spokesman-Review on Monday, May 19, 1980, but returned home from the bus stop 30 minutes later, covered in ash.

Photo Kile Courtesy Of Pat Kile
Gene Rosa, then a professor at Washington State University, shot this photo in Pullman after the eruption of Mount St. Helens.
A dark cloud of ash approaches Pullman on May 18, 1980.
Dust clouds the air in Pullman after the eruption of Mount St. Helens.
Mount St. Helens at 8:32 a.m. on May 18, 1980 (first in series of six).
Mt. St. Helens erupts May 18, 1980 (second in series of six).
Mount St. Helens erupts (third in series of six).
Mount St. Helens erupts (fourth in series of six).
Mount St. Helens erupts (fifth in series of six).
Mount St. Helens erupts (sixth in series of six).
A dog wears a painter's mask in Farmington, Wash., after the eruption of Mount St. Helens.
Ron Cauvel points to a tree showing the height mud flows reached after the eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980. Cauvel, at the time a teacher in Cheney, was in the area as a member of the Army Reserve Corps of Engineers.

Courtesy Photo Courtesy Of Ron Cauvel
These photos show the scope of destruction in the area around Toutle Lake after the eruption of Mount St. Helens.

Ron Cauvel Courtesy Of Ron Cauvel
Mud flows destroyed trucks at the lumber mill in Toutle Lake after the eruption of Mount St. Helens.

Ron Cauvel Courtesy Of Ron Cauvel
Celeste Frost's husband washes volcano ash off their driveway in May 1980.

Courtesy Photo Courtesy Of Celeste Frost
Barbar Greer Richards cleans off the family car at on West Dean Avenue after the eruption of Mount St. Helens.

Barbara Greer Courtesy Of Barbara Greer
Tim Swartout cleans out his pool at 2642 E. 35th Avenue in Spokane after the eruption of Mount St. Helens.
Mark Swartout examines the ash on a car at his home at 2642 E. 35th in Spokane.
Ron Stowe and his son Dan pose while shooting shooting hoops in their Spokane driveway. "After a minute or two, it was determined the masks definitely didn't help with accuracy or add much fun to their game," recalls Lonna Stowe.
Field work kicks up volcanic ash near Nancy and Mike Weber's home in Ritzville.
A breeze stirs up volcanic ash in the fields near Nancy and Mike Weber's home in Ritzville.
Tim Florin and his roommates pose outside of our apartment May 20, 1980, while piles of ash had Spokane shut down.
Tim Florin and his wife encountered a washed-out road to the Mount St. Helens visitor center in late summer 1980.