Volcano Visit

Grey, crusty and liable to explode at any minute.

You may think I'm talking about Angela but actually it is a volcano, Mt St Helens, that I have in mind. Without wishing to reveal my age (silly Ralph, you told everyone you were 50 on the last blog!) I can distinctly remember the BBC News footage of the eruption of Mt St Helens in May 1980 and I have always wanted to visit the volcano.

A relatively clear day,an impressive Visitor Centre, archive footage and some very enthusiastic rangers helped bring alive the awesome destructive power of this volcanic eruption. I won't bore you with the details but, after an earthquake, this mountain blew out sideways with the force of 500 Hiroshimas and lost the top 1400 ft of rock, most of which either settled as ash up to 100 miles away or devasted an area of 230 square miles to the north and west.

It was a reminder of the incredible power of nature, to walk on ash deposits up to 400 feet deep, now covered with young trees and grasses, most there thanks to seeds being eaten and "re-deposited" by elk.

A surprise for me was that the mountain is still active, lava domes (seven since 1980) have been growing in the crater and only a year ago the area was closed off as scientists feared a further eruption.

After the excitement of live volcanoes, Angela and I headed to the Olympic peninsula and Olympic National Park, another gem in an very beautiful US state.