Former local lawmaker recalls helicopter trip around Mount St. Helens just hours before secondary eruption

May 27-With the recent 46th anniversary of the initial eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980, many recalled where they were when it happened, sharing photos of the towering volcanic plume, which rose some 80,000 feet in the air and deposited ash across 11 states and parts of Canada.

This included former state Rep. Gary Odegaard, who spoke with The Chronicle on the 46th anniversary of the initial eruption about how he was in the air around the volcano just hours before a secondary eruption occurred.

It was six days after the initial eruption on the morning of May 24 when Odegaard, along with state officials and several other state legislators whose districts were directly impacted by Mount St. Helens, went to the South Lewis County Airport and boarded a Bell UH-1 Iroquois - commonly known as a "Huey" - bound for the still-smoldering volcano some 30 miles to the southeast in Skamania County.

They did this despite the very real risk of a secondary eruption, a common occurrence with volcanoes due to the unstable geological forces. With some volcanoes, secondary eruptions can continue for years.

The others aboard the helicopter from Fort Lewis with Odegaard included state Secretary of the Senate Sid Snyder, and state Sens. Albert L. "Slim" Rasmussen, Peter Von Reichbauer, Don Talley and Del Bausch. Also present was former Lewis County Sheriff Bill Logan.

Luckily, while they were in the air being shown the extent of the damage around Mount St. Helens, no secondary eruption occurred, but one was about to happen after their flight.

Less than 24 hours after they were in the air early in the morning of May 25 at 2:30 a.m., the secondary eruption occurred.

"It blew again the day after, and that's when this area got all the ash," Odegaard said. "... Most of the area was my legislative district."

While not as powerful as the initial eruption, it was estimated the secondary burst still sent another column of ash some 48,000 feet into the air.

Considering how far Odegaard and the others flew into the blast zone of the initial eruption, if the secondary eruption happened when they were in the vicinity, they might have found their names added to the list of the 57 people killed by the volcano.

"We got pretty close. All that stuff was still bubbling up and gurgling under us," Odegaard said. "And it was so hot, the pilot had to pull the helicopter up."

He even saw geysers, like the ones at Yellowstone National Park. While not a sign of an immediate impending eruption, geysers are a form of volcanic activity, and Mount St. Helens was indeed still very active at the time.

In fact, multiple eruptions besides the secondary on May 25, 1980, continued in the months and years after.

Despite the danger, Odegaard borrowed a 35 mm camera to take some photos while in the air.

"I didn't know what I was doing, but I guess some of the pictures weren't too bad," he added.

After the flight ended, Odegaard went back to Centralia and loaded up his family for a trip out to Ocean Shores to camp. While he didn't feel the secondary eruption, he heard a "tinking" sound on the roof of the travel trailer they were in.

"It sounded different than rain. And our little dog, I went to let her go out, and when I let her back in, she was covered with ash," Odegaard said. "Then I knew for sure what was going on."

While he and his family wanted to get back home after their time out at Ocean Shores, they were restricted for a day as local authorities didn't want cars kicking up the ash.

And when they were finally allowed to return, they were advised to visit the local grocery store to purchase pantyhose to put around their car's air filter to prevent ash from clogging it.

Odegaard served the 20th Legislative District from 1969 to 1980.

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