October, 2020
I thought that last blog post was going to be my last blog post from this camping trip. I thought that last blog post where I took you to the small town of Castle Rock, and then showed you the Toutle River bridge being swept away, and then shared that lovely evening sunset back at my campsite … I thought that blog post was my last one for this trip. But I woke up this morning, tidied up a bit inside the trailer, and then walked down to the lake for one last look.
I thought maybe, hoped maybe, maybe just maybe I’d get one last look at the mountain this morning across the expanse of the lake. Mount St. Helens had been so good to me yesterday … maybe I’d get one more glimpse this morning.
So, it depends on what sort of electronic device you use to read/watch this blog. Some of you can already see the photo below. Some of you can’t see it yet, but now I bet you will have scrolled down to look at the photo.
I walked down to the lake from my trailer this morning and turned to the east towards the rising sun and towards the mountain … towards Mount St. Helens.
When I saw this sunrise … oh my … I simply stood and stared … for a long time. (click on it to enlarge the photo)
Eventually, when I remembered to breathe again, I took more photos. But I also wondered why there was that dark area in the sky above the mountain, but then I figured it out. It’s the shadow of the mountain, because the rising sun is still below the mountain. The sun is just rising on the far side of the earth. It’s still so far east of the mountain that it is below the top of the mountain because of the curvature of the earth. You might try this to see how it works … turn off all the lights in a dark room, then turn on one table lamp, then take a piece of paper, and your hand … put your hand above the table lamp, and put the paper above your hand … you’ll see a shadow of your hand on the paper, above your hand.
In the photo above, the dark area on the water is NOT the shadow of the mountain, it’s simply a reflection of the shadow … the real shadow is above the mountain on the clouds.
In these photos, the very low eastern sun casts a shadow of the mountain UP onto the clouds, and so there is a shadow above the mountain.
I’ve never seen photos like this … with the shadow on the clouds above the mountain and with the stunningly brilliant orange glow of the sunrise on the rest of the clouds and then reflected down on the water of the lake.
I was stunned. I stood and stared for a long time.
Here are a few more photos. You may notice that the brilliant orange of the sky and the water start to lighten up a bit in each photo.
Someone else was out early and was equally spellbound by the sunrise.
The white “dome cloud” that sort of hovers immediately above the mountain is not actually a cloud. That “dome cloud” is the steam and gas that are emanating from the volcano, from the vents in the top of the new lava dome.
Spectacular. What a gift I was given.
* * * * * * * *
More really good information can be found at the link here in this paragraph … about volcanoes in general and about volcanoes in the USA in particular, with Mount St. Helens listed as the most dangerous among all of the USA volcanoes: https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/how-many-active-volcanoes-are-there-earth?qt-news_science_products=0#qt-news_science_products.
Almost forgot … why is Mount St. Helens named Mount St. Helens?
The name “Mount St. Helens” was given to this volcanic peak in 1792 by seafarer and explorer Captain George Vancouver of the British Royal Navy. He named it after Alleyne Fitzherbert who held the title “First Baron St Helens”. That title (First Baron St Helens) was named after the village of St Helens on the Isle of Wight in the English Channel, in England. Fitzherbert at the time served as the British Ambassador to Spain. Fitzherbert never was a naval officer on any ocean, never came anywhere near the Pacific Northwest, and never climbed a mountain that we know of. Why these sorts of names continue to be the official names of things is beyond me. This powerful mountain has been known for thousands of years as Lawetlat’la to the Cowlitz people here, and as Loowit or Louwala-Clough to the Klickitat people here. These people have lived with this mountain for many thousands of generations. Seems to me these sorts of places should retain their original name. That’s my two cents worth, and I’m sticking to it. 🙂
And, oh boy, am I sticking with my memory of this sunrise this morning. It was so beautiful. It was so powerful … just like this volcano was, and still is, and will be again.
Eventually, I walked away from the lake, back to my trailer and truck, and hitched up the trailer and headed up the road towards home. This was my last camping trip of 2020. Here’s to a wonderful winter coming up, and to health and happiness for everyone, and to more camping in 2021! Let’s go!