Oct 2. 2004 (Steve Horton)

We flew into Portland with 4 BB seismometers as extra baggage around noon. We picked up batteries to power the seismometers and proceeded to Vancouver. We found a place to stay and made phone contact with Seth Moran of the Cascade Volcano Observatory (CVO). Dr. Moran is the seismologist at CVO in charge of monitoring Mount St. Helens along with a group from the University of Washington (UW). Due to the visit of the secretary of the interior (Gale Norton), we decided to meet at 8pm (PDT) at CVO to discuss the deployment.

At the CVO meeting, we discussed the deployment plan with Seth Moran (CVO) and were joined by phone by Steve Malone and Bob Noris of UW. We decided to meet Bob on Interstate 5 at the exit for route 12 (~1.5 hours from Vancouver) at 8 am. He will be our guide as we deploy instruments around the mountain.

Tomorrow, Oct. 3, we plan to deploy our four BB seismometers along the eastern and southern flanks. Probable sites for station locations are Windy Ridge road, South Climbers ridge and the present SHW station site. When the remaining instruments arrive on Monday, we will continue our swing around the southern and western sides. CVO has one BB to the north, but since the evacuation from that area access is limited.

CVO cannot provide internet access to us, although I can use Seth's PC. This will be a data transfer issue that we will have to deal with ( Perhaps at trip up to UW). Given the lack of internet access and the 2 hour travel time to reach the field area, we will look for a place closer to the volcano to stay. We have been supplied with all necessary safety equipment and have been issued a radio to monitor all official USGS and government communications. Safety is the number one concern here. However, there is a palatable presence of apprehension as the realization of the danger associated with an eruption remains in the back of everyone's mind.

Our day began at 5:00 AM. We had to meet with Bob Norris from the USGS stationed at the University of Washington (UW) at 8:00 at I-5 and route 12 just West of Randle. We loaded the vehicle, our behemoth Ford Expedition, to the top with batteries seismometers and gear. I know it seems like it would be impossible to fill up a vehicle like this, but it happened. Anyway, the plan was to drive and meet Bob and then head East to Randal. Bob is a super guy, very knowledgeable in the ways of a seismic network, the geology and history of Mount Saint Helens and its seismicity. He came armed with new reports on seismicity and a great attitude. After a quick discussion on how to proceed, we headed off to Randle to drop off Bob’s truck and head towards the mountain. The weather has cooperated nicely. In the AM it was foggy and misty rain that later cleared to a clear blue-sky with light winds from the north and perfect temps.

The first stop was Windy Ridge. However, in order to get to the Ridge we had to go through a gate that was locked and guarded by photographers and people of all types. Dealing with the photographers was not too bad, but we still couldn’t get through the gate. After much hand wringing we found an employee (Curtis Blankenship) of the Cascades Peaks restaurant and gift shop who could operate a radio and he got in touch with the forest service. A representative was notified and suppose to be on his way.

In the mean time I ran into a group of Graduate Students from the University of Oregon. Believe it or not they were all Vulcanologists. They had skipped class Friday and spent the weekend volcano watching. I was talking to them about what we were doing, and how we wanted to install a seismometer at Windy Ridge, and that we could not get beyond the gate, when an off duty park service person from Portland said to me “You need to get into the gate? No problem, I have a key”. Well of course, being a responsible person he made us prove we were legitimate, and call to inform the Cascade Volcano Observatory (CVO) what was going on.So Chris Gartmann saved the day and a very special thanks goes out him. The reason being when we called to cancel our forest service keys the guy hadn't even left and it would have been hours before he would have arrived. Chris even volunteered to accompany us to all our other sites and help us with the key situation. It is amazing how serendipity finds those that need it. Without the help of all kinds of people from all walks of life, we wouldn't have gotten four stations installed.

The first station is WIND (MEM1), it is located on Windy Ridge in the storage area of the restrooms (Steve says that out-of-service restrooms are good places to put seismometers)! The location is N 46

We are hoping to feel some of the earthquakes that are going on here. However they have been reasonably small and we are to far away to feel them. So in order to feel some of the tremblors, we will have to be real close (not an option) or have a larger one (around a 3.5 magnitude). So, we are hoping for the larger earthquake to give us a good shaking.

If you look at the picture from Windy Ridge you can see lots of dust blowing off the top of the mountain. It looks like it may be steam or something. Well it is something. As the magma rising to the surface fractures the rock and creates earthquakes the shaking causes the rocks on the steep slopes of the mountainside to tumble down. As they fall and roll they break apart and raise dust. This dust is then picked up by the wind and carried away. As you may know the winds can carry this dust al over the world. In essence I am sending back samples of Mount Saint Helens by airmail. I just hope you are there to receive the package when it is delivered.

We have probably all seen pictures of the devastation of the volcano, the videos showing the mountaintop blown off, the trees blown down and the total restructuring of a landscape. These sights are impressive and make you think about the power that must have been present. But when you drive around a mountain and suddenly come into a blow down that is 24 years old, the devastation and power suddenly becomes apparent. The devastation is complete, the power absolute. Trees bigger than the oaks of Memphis lay in rows and lines like great soldiers laid over in their tracks. Ash and pumice balls meters thick still cover the ground in places. The mountain stands tall and majestic. But the top is gone and you suddenly realize the amount of rock that was blown away and you feel very small and extremely vulnerable.

We picked up the instruments shipped by FedEx this morning around 9 am in Portland. Everyone was very cooperative in helping us pack the four shipping crates into the truck. There was little room to spare as we headed back to CVO in Vancouver; every right turn would cause the shipping container to squeeze in on Bob's space. Of course left turns righted the situation.

When we reached CVO there was a general pandemonium as a small steam venting had just occurred at Mt. St. Helens. This was rather frustrating from our perspective as it delayed getting a forest service key from Seth Moran. We need the key to get past gates that have been closed to keep volcano-spectators out of dangerous areas. We could not service our stations or deploy others without it. After cooling our heels for an hour or so, Seth turned up with the key. We had a short meeting of the minds to plan new installations, and we were on our way.

We proceeded to the south side of the mountain where we installed a new station (CLIM) at the climber's bivouac. This is a trailhead with parking and facilities for people who are going to climb the mountain. Since this area is closed to the general public under the current threat level, we were able to deploy a K2 and BB in a forest service restroom. This is a nice site, about 4,000 ft. up the mountain and pretty close in. The K2 deployment takes considerably longer than the BB. In part this is do to the complexity of the K2 installation, but more importantly in this case, the new firmware upgrade seems to have created communication problems. Not the best of circumstances to have to trouble shoot the K2's while that close to the volcano. And it made for a long day; a very long day.

After deploying the CLIM site, we removed the SNOW site (as it was now redundant), and proceeded to Windy Ridge (a trip of about 60 miles). Fortunately we ran into a forest service employee with whom we could discuss potential locations for a site on the east side of the mountain to close that gap. He checked with headquarters and found that the road to Smith Butte is passable. And so we decided to install a BB there. It turned out to be quite an adventure getting to the site. It is a rather narrow dirt road that runs along the side of a ridge. There is one trouble spot where the road is partially washed out, and the truck need to hug the side of the ridge. This spot may be a problem when the rain sets in, but will limit access for sure when snow is on the ground. We installed two batteries both with solar panels at this site. As long as the batteries remain charged, we could always hike in (about 3-4 miles) to upload data. This station is called SMTH.

It was sundown by the time we got back to the road (99) to head up to windy ridge. But being that far out, we decided to install a K2. This took a long time given the communication problems previously mentioned, and we had a nice view of the Milky Way by the time we headed back down the mountain. It takes a long time to get around here, and it was after 11pm by the time we reached a town, Randle. We spent the night in Randle and so still have no cell service. Unfortunately we may have left a laptop up on Windy Ridge.

October 5, 2003 (Thomas Brackman)

Woke up in Randle. What a time. We arrived in Randle late last night. All our gear was in Vancouver and since it was over two hours to there we decided to stay here with only the shirts on our backs. We tried to get with the Forest Service to see if we could get some off-road transportation to a site on the west side of the mountain for a broadband site. However, we were in the wrong district and that was the end of that discussion. At breakfast we got the call that we could go to Johnston Ridge and deploy our K2 accelerometer.

Johnston Ridge is a main observation point that is very close to the mountain. Originally it was a simple observation point with a few campers. This is the place where researcher David Johnston was watching the volcano the first time it blew. He had enough time to tell the Volcano Observatory that the eruption had begun. The eruption began with the sliding of the mountain. What he probably saw was the better part of a mountain, fractured and water logged, sliding down towards him. The slide broke into three lobes. One went into Spirit Lake raising the water level over 300 feet. The second went 17 miles down the Toutle River and generated mudflows that almost took out the I-5 Bridge. The third came directly at the 1300 foot ridge and slopped over the top. Immediately after that the blast, possibly triggered by the release of pressure from removal of the mountaintop, the mountain sent out hot gasses and rock. The area was devastated, there was no sign of life. A thirty year old researcher had given his life in the pursuit of scientific knowledge.

It was an honor and privilege to be here. The view, immensely spectacular, also left you with the feeling of helplessness. We installed the K2, took some pictures and decided to leave. There were mixed feelings. The place wanted to keep you there. The pumice plain, with its large pieces of the old mountain top sticking out of it, the deep gullies, the mountain in the background with the ever-growing lava dome, all conspired to keep you there. However, the thought of a mountain and its internal fury coming at you at a high rate of speed put feelings of apprehension deep into your soul.

Most everyone has been very helpful. Access to sites has been easy since we got our key. Most people are happy to talk with you when they find out you are researchers. I think everyone who is a researcher, no matter your affiliation is with the USGS. Even if you're not associated with them you are now. The locals are extremely helpful and nice. We ran into Curtis (our plume photographer) again. He gave us the name of a good place to stay on the northwest side.

The data that is being collected here will undoubtedly be an incredible asset to volcano seismology. In addition to the seismic instrumentation, GPS packages have been deployed on the mountain. Researchers from the USGS have placed ash collection pans and rain collectors to determine if the ash is from new magma or still old rock being blown out. Water samples from streams are being analyzed for trace minerals. Regular flights over the mountain supply data on CO2, SO4 and other gasses. Pictures from satellites and observation points are studied and compared to old ones. Distance from survey monuments is checked regularly. The mountain is abuzz with activity.

Some interesting research ideas we had were resolution of event spectra and characterization, better depth resolution of the earthquakes for control of magma depths, wave form phases, modeling of long period wave forms for more info on the source, additional receivers may help with tomography studies. A cursory examination of the data suggests maybe some surface waves are present. The data could be filtered and particle motion analyzed and used to locate the source. It is a great honor for CERI to be invited here. It shows the caliber of the research and personnel that is being done at the University of Memphis.

We returned to Vancouver late. We are all tired and a bit weary. The last couple of days have been a blur. It is difficult to remember what day it is. We are all having a great time.

You would think that since we are all over the mountain that we would know everything that is going on with this volcano. Well that is just not the case. Cell phone coverage is nonexistent except in a few larger towns and some overlooks. Bob's cell phone is an old analog cell phone, it is large and clunky and can be used to break windows if needed (his words). However, the old technology is far superior to the new digital phones as it works in many places ours don't. Cell-service overlook is one of the few sites (see photo) where we can get service. The site is on the way up to climbers' bivouac and has a incredible view. It is really difficult to have to stop there and check in. But anyway I digress. So, you would think that we would know what is going on. Well besides looking at the data downloaded from the Guralps. The only thing we know is what we see on the morning and evening news.

From what we can gather the lava dome in the center of the mountain is growing at a fast rate. I have heard reports of it growing over 300 feet. In addition, there was a development of two vents near the dome. The danger level has been lowered from level three to two and the seismicity has dropped off a little. Looking at the seismograms today you see what looks like a very rhythmical pattern, Bob speculates that it may be shallow intrusion similar to what they saw in the 1980 event. But ask three seismologist what they think and you might get four different answers. (I think the same goes for Volcanologists.)

We got to put in a new station on the west side of the mountain. We named it WEST. Original huh? The trip to the site was interesting and momentarily exciting. The roads here for the most part are really nice. Many of the main roads are paved and almost all the back roads are gravel. Of course leave it to us to find the only bad road in the whole area. During our pursuit of the best spot for WEST, we went down a rather steep road that was less than poor. OK it was downright hateful. We decided that even if we could find a good site for the station along that road, we would never be able to get to it during a period of snow. So we decided to turn around and head back up.

Technology strikes again. The behemoth (our name for the Ford Expedition) has Soccer Mom touch button four-wheel drive. It is so simple, just push the button and if you're lucky it goes into four-wheel drive. NOT! Thinking the behemoth was ready to go we head up the road (I use road loosely) and get to this really tricky part. I dropped it into low and started to crawl up. Then clunk and spin.

Oh no, here we are miles from nowhere with no cell service and probably no radio contact and we are stuck beyond belief. We got out and looked around. It didn't look that bad. I got back in and tried the behemoth again. The engine strained hard and the tire spun. The tire spun being the operative words here. The Behemoth had spent its entire life in two- wheel drive and was reluctant to try its newfound wheels. I put it in neutral trying to coax it into acceptance and waited a minute. The four-wheel drive finally engaged. The behemoth entered a new stage of its life it was now a true Expedition, a Seismo-Expedition. With its newfound traction it roared up the hill ready to take on anything. A collective cheer was heard amongst us all. Enough of this messing around let's go set some seismometers.

And set we did. West seemed to be a good site. It is on top of an easily accessible ridge with a good view of the mountain and with analog cell phone service. We buried the instrument, set up two solar panels with two batteries, and buried all the cables and the batteries. We will attempt to come back soon for data.

We are developing a decent little route to service the instruments on the south side. We enter from the south on route 503 turning onto route 81 just before the town of Cougar. At this point you enter the National Forest lands. We have become familiar with many of the people working the roadblocks so access is not much of a problem. From here we go to WEST, then BLUE at Blue Lake, CLIM at Climber's Bivouac and LAVA at Lava Canyon.

Oh, on the way up to LAVA Steve saw a porcupine. We tried to get a picture, but the porcupine and us were both moving at a fast pace. On the way back we encountered a herd of elk. There were about eight or so, but it was hard to tell. They quickly moved into the dense forest and disappeared. Next time we will try to sneak up on them and photograph them.

Setting seismometers seems to be 1 part location and 99 parts getting to where you want them to be. The procedure for location is simple. You look on a map and surround your target the best you can. You try not to leave any large holes or gaps in azimuth. Once you determine about where the stations should be located, you look for roads and trails that get you as close as you can. In our case the roads are few and far between. The round trip from Vancouver out to Windy Ridge and back is well over 300 miles. Part of the problem is that roads don't directly connect places we want to go. For example, even though you can see Johnston Ridge from Windy Ridge, no direct road connects them and the trip between them winds this way and that for a hundred miles and three hours. The mountains on the west side are covered with a maze of logging roads. One feels like a rat looking for the cheese. However, all this just adds a little spice to the trip. And we like spice!

On the way home tonight we decided to stop and have dinner at Jack;s. This used to be a big place for USGS people to eat. However, when we got there it was neighbor appreciation night. No USGS were there, but a whole lot of locals, with kids, grandmas and everything in between. We were momentarily mistaken for locals and offered a free meal of our choice of hot dogs, hamburgers and fries. We opted for other fair. This has been an awesome trip. It has always been a goal of mine to do some volcanology-oriented studies. Now I get to combine my geology and seismology background with a touch of volcanology.

This day began with a teleconference at the Cascade Volcano Observatory (CVO). There were a whole lot of people participating in this event. I couldn't begin to tell you who was there. But anyway the upshot of the teleconference was that we will continue to operate thenetwork in its present state until the snow starts to fly. Once the conditions become such that we cannot reliably service the network we will pull the stations back to a more easily serviceable area. Many of the station locations have the potential to receive up to 15 feet of snow. For example the bathrooms at Windy Ridge where we have a broadband and strong motion station will most likely be totally buried in snow. The site could be accessed by someone on cross-country skis or by snowmobile. However, the site would have to be dug out in a big way. The snow removal process could take all day. The batteries don't work well in cold weather and the solar panels would be useless. So the decision to move away and down the mountain seems like a good one. Otherwise the stations would remain in cold storage over the winter. Bob has been temporarily reassigned to the CVO. He was at Mount Saint Helens during the first period of seismicity and eruptions in the 80's. He was working out of the University of Washington but with all the volcanic activity they moved him down to Vancouver. His expertise will undoubtedly be very useful. Unfortunately he most likely won't be able to help us any more. CVO's gain is definitely our loss. Bob has really been a Godsend. We will miss him. I think we will have to go and kidnap him from CVO one day. I wonder what the prison term is for kidnapping a Government Employee? I guess we have to get caught first.

We returned to Johnston Ridge today to download data and adjust the trigger parameters on the K2. The facilities here are very nice. They have a 300-seat auditorium that faces the mountain. They close the curtains and show films then open the curtains to reveal the mountain framed perfectly in the window. After we finished our work we sat in the auditorium and watched the mountain. Having this great big facility all to yourself, kind of gives you an odd feeling.

We woke up in Packwood. Packwood is a nice little town nestled in the mountains. It has a stunning view of Mount Rainier, which is also a volcano. Here is a list of the volcanoes in the Pacific Northwest according to the Cascades Volcano Observatory.

• Mount Adams, Washington
• Mount Baker, Washington
• Crater Lake, Oregon
• Mount Garibaldi, British Columbia
• Glacier Peak
• Mount Hood, Oregon
• Mount Jefferson, Oregon
• Lassen Peak, California
• Meager Mountain, British Columbia
• Medicine Lake, California
• Newberry Caldera, Oregon
• Mount Rainier, Washington
• Mount Shasta, California
• Mount St. Helens, Washington
• Three Sisters, Oregon

As you can see the area is no stranger to volcanic activity. As you can imagine this leads to a variety of rock types, according to Bob, Mount Saint Helens has spewed everything from Basalt to Dacite. This is very evident as you drive along the highways. You can see the iron rich basalts with their red colors next to dark colored dacites. The pyroclastic flows are light yellow to orange. The mountain is an ever changing mosaic of colors.

Ever present are the reminders of past dangers. Looking around, you see layers in the hillsides of boulders, cobbles and gravels, that are evidence of ancient lahars. The pyroclastic flows, hot gasses mixed with shards of semi-molten minerals, lie in obvious layers. Who knows what the people of yesteryear thought as they viewed the power of the lahars move down a mountain valley with pyroclastic flows billowing in the distance? Having no knowledge of the actual cause of the events taking place, I am pretty sure they thought the place was the home of a demon or something. Knowing what I know I still feel every so often that there is a beast under the mountain. I think I now know where Tolkien may have gotten his idea for the Balrog. If ever there was a place where an ageless creature, with awesome power, that wields a fiery whip lives, this would be the place.

On a visit to Windy Ridge we discovered the meaning of Pacific Northwest Weather. A steady rain punctuated with periods of heavier rain was the order of the day. The Ridge and the drive up to it were socked in. Visibility was down to100 feet and less at times. Further up the mountain the rain changed to snow, leaving the mountain cloaked in a new shroud of white. You would think that with all this rain, the back roads would be a muddy mess. This is not the case here. The pumice is very porous and quickly soaks up the rain. In addition the porosity allows the water to quickly drain away. There is little clay in the soils so they are not as slippery as you would think. This turned out to be a good thing. I had feared that the roads would be a slick, muddy mess. My fears were unfounded.

We got to quit early today! Hurrah! Time to get caught up on things.

The safety level is still at a two. However, the 5-mile safety radius is still in effect and is being strictly enforced. Seismicity is low at the present time as it declined over night. The earthquakes are coming in at magnitude 1 or so and occurring every six to seven minutes. The steam being emitted from the mountain is a clear example that the activity level of the volcano is still in a heightened state and should not be discounted. Mount Saint Helens is not asleep. In order to get a handle on what the mountain may be doing, gas flights will be flown next week on Monday, Wednesday and possibly Friday. The stream that is being released is mostly passive fumerol activity. The recent rains have seeped into crack and come into contact with the hot magma, generating large steam burst. This is in opposition to the vigorous venting of earlier.

Steam clouds of this type are advantageous for gas flights. The clouds allow the researchers to obtain a visual location of the gasses escaping from the volcano. This allows for more accurate sampling of the gasses. The gas flights rely on long term information to tell the story. No single measurement will tell if it going to blow or not.