#19 - Lava Canyon

Before

After

Kablamo!

Date: 8/13/11
Time: 3 hours
Distance: 6 miles
Difficulty: Moderately Strenuous
Stars: 5




Mt. St. Helens erupted on May 18, 1980. The column from the eruption rose over 80,000 feet into the atmosphere and ash was deposited into 11 different states. The elevation of Mt. St. Helens was 9,677 feet before it erupted. It now stands at 8,363 feet. The eruption instantly melted ice, snow, and entire glaciers that previously sat atop the volcano, and created lahars, volcanic mudflow, that traveled at 10-25 mph down the volcano and destroyed just about everything in it's path.

3,500 years ago, an eruption from Mt. St. Helens filled a deep forested valley with volcanic rock. A river carved dramatic cliffs and waterfalls through this rock, creating a beautiful canyon. Over time, mudflow filled the canyon, however, and forest grew back over the mud. But the lahars from the 1980 eruption blasted through this forest, removing the trees and softer mud and exposing, for the first time in thousands of years, Lava Canyon.

The path of the lahar

The most amazing part of the history of Lava Canyon, in my mind, is the power created by the eruption. And the most amazing part of the hike was the sense of that power you could feel just from your surroundings.

Evidence of the destruction left by the lahar

The hike started high, and we travel down into the canyon. Above, the evidence of the lahar is very apparent, with debris from the mudflow still present. The trail is very easy up top. There are boardwalks constructed, signs that explain what happened in the canyon during the eruption, and even some paved paths to make an easy, 1 mile loop for anyone to enjoy. Continuing past the loop and down into the canyon, however, the trail get's much steeper and dangerous.

Carved face of volcanic rock

Suspension bridge on the loop with the river flowing below

Dramatic cliffs carved thousands of years ago

A ladder takes you deep into the canyon, and presents you with a view of the landmark know as "The Ship". What looks simply like the face of a rock is actually evidence of the impact eruptions have had on the area. "The Ship" is significant because it was the forest floor before the lahar came through and blasted away all the mud, exposing the canyon

"The Ship"

Buried Treasure:
A view from atop "The Ship"

While standing atop "The Ship" it is very hard to imagine that we had no idea that this deep canyon just below even existed until the eruption cleared it out. It is very hard to imagine it was all buried in mud and forest.

We gave Lava Canyon our first 5 star rating for a trail because it is a unique experience in the Pacific Northwest. The views of waterfalls, cliffs, the valley, and the canyon itself are spectacular, and are unlike anything else we had come across so far. And with such a unique history, I don't expect to come across anything else quite like it.