Mount St. Helens

The cool wind whispers around my peak, and a fuzzy blanket of tall green trees covers my sides. For a very long time, I stood peacefully in a part of America called the Pacific Northwest. Squirrels and deer played in my forests, and snow sparkled on my head like a glittery crown. I was quiet, beautiful, and happy. My name is Mount St. Helens.

I am not just any mountain. I am a special kind called a volcano. This means that deep, deep inside me, there is a powerful heat. For thousands of years, the Indigenous peoples of this land, like the Cowlitz and Yakama tribes, knew about my power and told stories about me. For more than 100 years, I was sleeping. But in the spring of 1980, I started to feel a strange tickle from deep within. On March 20th, 1980, the ground began to shake and jiggle. It felt very funny. Then, a big bulge started to grow on my northern side, puffing out like a balloon being filled with air. Something was about to happen.

All that rumbling and wiggling was leading to something big. On the morning of May 18th, 1980, I let out a giant sneeze. It was so powerful that the whole top of my mountain slid away. A huge cloud of gray ash puffed high into the sky, like a big cloud of smoke from a campfire. The ash traveled for miles and miles, making the daytime look like nighttime. My beautiful, pointy cone shape was gone. In its place was a big opening that looked like a horseshoe. It was a very loud and powerful day that changed everything around me in a flash.

After my big sneeze, I was covered in gray ash and everything was quiet. It looked like a whole new world. But nature is very strong. Soon, brave little green plants started to poke their heads through the ash to say hello to the sun. Colorful flowers began to bloom again. Slowly, the animals returned to my slopes. Scientists came from all over the world to watch how life could come back after such a big change. Today, I am a living classroom. I show everyone how the Earth is always changing and growing. I am still a mighty volcano, but I am also a place where new life reminds us that even after a big change, beauty can always return.