Here, we turned south and descended through a long valley of eroded mud and ash, which resembles the slick-rock country of Utah more than the southern Cascades. After a mile or so of rock and mud, we were on the edge of the Pumice Plain near the southern shore of Spirit Lake. We watched log flotillas bobbing on the lake surface and bald eagles soaring above the lake and the plain, looking for fish or one of the small animals that have returned to this devastated region. The animals are indeed back. Just 20 years after this broad valley was inundated with up to 600 feet of mud from the initial landslide, birds and animals fill the area.
Elk roam the basin, browsing on lush plant life around small pothole lakes and ponds.
We identified the burrow of a snowshoe hare on the gentle western slope of Harry's Ridge, and we heard the yipping cries of a family of coyotes as we started up the trail earlier that morning. The eruption of Mount St. Helens 20 years ago is held up as an example of the destructive power of nature, yet today, the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument is the perfect classroom in which to learn about nature's strong ability to recover and rebuild. Dan A. Nelson is a free-lance writer.