Word: mountainous
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Mount St. Helens is something of a baby among volcanoes. It was born a mere 37,000 years ago, which is scarcely more than an instant in geological time. The mountain last erupted in 1857, when the area was an uninhabited wilderness. Last week's blowup ranked as middling, as volcanic eruptions go. But the people who stumbled off St. Helens' slopes, or were plucked to safety by helicopters, told tales that rivaled wartime survivor stories...
...later, it could have wiped out a crew of some 200 Weyerhaeuser Co. loggers who were to begin felling trees at 7:30 a.m. Monday. Many of the loggers lived with their families near the north fork of the Toutle River. Logger George Fickett was at home when the mountain erupted. Said he: "I heard the goldangest noise, like someone upending a bunch of barrels down the road. There was a roar, like a jet plane approaching, and a lot of snapping and popping. Those were the trees. We got out fast...
...mountain were several geologists, hikers and campers. Those that rose with the sun reported that the morning was exceptionally quiet; no birds sang. Oddly enough, when the mountain blew, many of the survivors never heard the explosion, perhaps because concussive waves can travel faster than sound; by the time the sound reached them, they were too shaken to notice...
...enchanted forest of moss and pine" and then set up tents 30 miles from the peak. On Sunday Nelson, Ruff and Terry Crall were beginning morning chores when they felt a searing wind. Recalled Nelson: "We were just cooking breakfast when my buddy said, 'Oh my God, the mountain blew!' " Ruff added, "We saw this thick yellow-and-black cloud rushing toward us. I remember thinking, 'I should take a picture of it.' Then I thought we'd better hide...
Then Nelson and Ruff began what turned into a 15-mile, ten-hour trek away from the mountain, over what Nelson calls a "white-hot desert" of ash. They soon joined up with a 60-year-old man. The three kept up their spirits by singing bawdy songs. In late afternoon they heard helicopters overhead and waved some of their clothes to stir up a dust cloud large enough to attract the pilot's attention. They were rescued, and choppers soon carried out Balch and Thomas as well...