Probably the most studied eruption in history--being it was situated between two major cities with a handful of research universities in the region. Traversed the east flank--about a 17 mile hike--a few years later. You went from a completely unaffected timbered ridge out onto a plateau created by the blast zone. Kind of felt like the moon. Have some photos somewhere I should probably dig out.
Yeah, well they were shot on an Instamatic so the risk/reward of spelunking into that cubby hole is debatable.
Don't doubt it. The fumarole near the south summit of Hood usually reeks. Never seen steam though.
My (future) wife's youngest sister was born in Portland during the eruption. Lots of good stories.
Yeah, caught a few kind of by surprise lol. Fuck them damn scientists. Haven't been up there in years but when they first reopened some observation points they left some "monuments"--such as the burned out shell of a "miner" and his family's car (they were vaporized). At the time most of the north side was owned by Burlington Northern.
Vaporized may be a little dramatic but I'm not sure there was much left to bury. Nearly 60 people died all in all.
