Mount St. Helens anniversary generates flood of memories

The ash dropped on Moses Lake by the eruption of Mount St. Helens left the town resembling a moonscape.
Bob Juarez/courtesy photo

Clouds of Mount St. Helens ash approach Moses Lake around noon on May 18, 1980.
Bob Juarez/courtesy photo

Bob Juarez/courtesy photo The cleanup effort following the eruption of Mount St. Helens left Moses Lake looking as if it had gone through a snowstorm. In reality, the watered-down ash resembled concrete.

Cleaning up Mount St. Helens ash required substantial efforts, as these employees at the North Stratford Road McDonald’s discovered.
Bob Juarez/courtesy photo

Dump trucks full of Mount St; Helens ash were disposed of in the cleanup effort that followed the May 1980 eruption.
Bob Juarez/courtesy photo

The May 18, 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens deposited several inches of ash in Moses Lake and throughout Grant and Adams counties.
Bob Juarez/courtesy photo

The ash falling on Moses Lake after the eruption of Mount St. Helens left the town looking like a moonscape.
Bob Juarez/courtesy photo

The cloud of ash from Mount St. Helens approaches Moses Lake on the afternoon of May 18, 1980.
Bob Juarez/courtesy photo

The cloud of ash from the eruption of Mount St. Helens turned a sunny Moses Lake day pitch-black.
Bob Juarez/courtesy photo

Traveling afoot was an easier way to get around Moses Lake and the surrounding area after the eruption of Mount St. Helens.
Bob Juarez/courtesy photo

Tow trucks in Moses Lake stayed busy in the aftermath of the eruption of Mount St. Helens, except when they broke down too.
Bob Juarez/courtesy photo

A truck trails a cloud of ash through Moses Lake after the eruption of Mount St. Helens.
Bob Juarez/courtesy photo