40 years ago. At the time I was fishing at Blue Creek on the Cowlitz river. The eruption seemed to go up directly over our heads and the ash column was filled with lightening probably from the static electricity of the ash particles rubbing together. A lot of steam was blown out first and created a white rim over the top of the black ash column. We took off fast down the Cowlitz to the boat launch site, power loaded and got the hell out of there. We were thankful that the wind was blowing from the west otherwise all that ash would have come down on top of us. Saw multiple accidents on I 5 from people watching the eruption rather than their driving. The WSP was already preparing to stop traffic at the Toutle River high way bridge.
Forgot to take my camera.
Forgot to take my camera.
