The Years Go By

Just a quick thought, on this Sunday evening, before I delve back into regular work tasks (transportation planning)….I looked back to a place I visited – one of the most interesting places I have ever been….

 

Source – earthshots.usgs.gov

When I started my favorites list on this site – I was thinking about the places I have been to as a personal experience, and those that I have been to with her as a shared experience.  I recalled atrip to Mount Saint Helens in Washington because I had checked the DVR for the next thing to watch this evening, after finally completing a movie from a few years back that I recorded a month or two ago.  I went to my Nova folder and recalled that it recorded an episode about it.

The trip in 2004 was through beautiful forests and rugged mountains within the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.  Seeing the mountain crater was sobering, opening up to you as you got closer, and learning about the land’s rebirth served as great nourishment after learning so much about the destruction.  Lupen was interesting plant to learn about, in that it was one of the first few plants to come back and its natural ability to put nitrogen into the soil.

I recall reading later on that they closed the Coldwater Ridge center and lookout complex, due to budget cuts.  There has also been backlash over the government’s restoration of the highway that takes you to Mount Saint Helens from Interstate 5.  Its a long wide highway, providing access to local towns, forest lands, and the recreation and educational areas around the mountain.  Its truly an engineering marvel, but it surely took a lot of resources to return to an accessible road, within the area of destruction near the mountain.  Sometimes, it seems, we need to invest for the sake of eduction, recreation, and the nourishment that comes with visiting and learning about the natural environment.  I understand its a give and take, and perhaps other valuable projects and programs were delayed or cancelled so that the road and visitor centers could be restored.  That’s really a side-story, but the issues with the visitor center closure and the long-term politics of access in the area, changed my view of the area, to such a great deal.

OK, back to the original intent of this post….The years truly go by, because now the Coldwater Ridge center is re-opening.  Skylight glass had been destroyed by high winds and likely much else fell into disrepair over the years since it was shuttered in 2007.  It will now be a research-related center with special group activities.  It won’t be open to the general public, but at least the building is still there.  It helped me learn so much about the mountain on our visit, and it was open as daylight ran out on the trip.  If it had been closed, the last visitor center on the road at Johnston Ridge Observatory.  What if I had to turn back?  That would have been painful after the trek there, but it was open and so worth it.

I will post some of the better photos of that visit in an upcoming entry.