Colin Mulvany shot video and still photos at various points of the hike up to the crater rim of Mount St. Helens on Tuesday (Aug. 15). It's tough enough just to negotiate the difficult terrain for five miles and roughly 4,500 feet of elevation without having to work all along the way. So if Colin looks a bit tired in these photos, he's got good reason.

The weather was perfect -- sunny and clear. The vent at the top of the crater dome was spewing smoke and gurgling occasionally. Rockfalls could be heard somewhere around the crater every few minutes. The mountain put on a good show. One hundred people a day receive permits to make the tough trek. When asked, most people say the view was worth the effort. And it requires a lot of effort.

Look for the upcoming multimedia report from Colin and a story from John Stucke.

Ken Sands called earlier today to inform us that the climbing party made it safely up and down the mountain. Look for updates and a multimedia presentation later this week at spokesmanreview.com.

I'm driving over to Mount St. Helens today to pick up permits that have been reserved for hiking to the crater rim tomorrow. Now that the mountain is open again, we felt it was appropriate to do some first-hand investigation on your behalf.

Reporter John Stucke and photographer/videographer Colin Mulvany will document the adventure. Eastern Washington University students Justin Grimes and Laura Heath also are along for the trip.

We'll let you know how it goes!

(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Great news for hikers. It's been almost two years since renewed activity within the crater caused the mountain to be shut down to hikers. Reporters got a sneak preview last week. The mountain re-opened to the public today. Here's a very cool statistic:

Near the center of the crater, the volcano is rebuilding itself, churning out a cubic yard of rock per second – a rate that could see the volcano return to its pre-1980 size in just 100 years.

On Wednesday, a 3.6-magnitude quake hit the volcano. The quake will not affect the hiking program. If you want to go, the permits are $22 each and are limited to 100 a day. Weekends are selling out quickly. Here's where you go to sign up.

This from AP:

Mount St. Helens shot a steam and ash plume at least 16,000 feet into the air Monday after a large rockfall from the lava dome in the Southwest Washington volcano's crater, scientists said.

Pilots reported the plume rose between 16,000 and 20,000 feet in the air, said scientists at the Cascades Volcano Observatory.

The rockfall coincided with a magnitude 3.1 earthquake shortly after 9 a.m. Monday at the mountain, scientists said, adding such events are expected during growth of the lava dome.

"There is no evidence of an explosion associated with this event," the observatory said in a statement.

Clouds obscured the crater at the time.

Lava has continued to push into the crater — most recently forming a sheer rock fin — since the 8,364-foot mountain reawakened with a drumfire of low-level seismic activity in September 2004. The crater was formed by the volcano's May 18, 1980, eruption.

Gotta love this:

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) - An emergency radio station mistakenly warned that a massive, volcanic-caused mudflow was headed from the flanks of Mount Rainier and that listeners in the valley below should rush to higher ground.

The emergency lahar warning was broadcast Wednesday for nearly an hour on the 1580 AM frequency in the suburban Pierce County town of Puyallup.

Authorities had no estimate how many people heard the broadcast on the weak frequency, or how many evacuated.

Nancy Eldred heard it while driving in the Puyallup Valley and called her daughter, Renee Hutchinson, in Tacoma.

"I was in tears," said Hutchinson, whose 17-month-old son, Ethan, was in the car with his grandmother. "I was shaking."

After Hutchinson warned co-workers, about 30 people started frantically calling loved ones. Some called their children at schools in the Puyallup Valley and told them to leave immediately.

Emergency officials in communities around Mount Rainier routinely test the system that would, in the event of a real lahar from the volcano, activate 24 sirens around the valley and broadcast a radio alert.

But on Wednesday, 1580 AM picked up the test signal as real and said the lahar was coming. The prerecorded radio message apparently was triggered by a software error.

Puyallup Fire Chief Merle Frank said the problem should be taken care of in the next few days.

(AP Photo/Ed Wray)

(AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
This past winter has seen Mount St. Helens' highest recorded number of elk deaths in seven years, according to the latest from AP. An state management plan for elk has been slow to develop. Shown here are the remains of an elk, one of many undernourished over the winter. Winter elk deaths are routine and this past year's 63 deaths are considered within the typical range, according to state's regional wildlife manager Brian Calkins.

There has been more local concern for elk since this spring, when a local television news station broadcasted a privately filmed video showing dead and dying elk.

The 1980 eruption disrupted living conditions for elk in the river valley.

More information is available from the Department of Fish and Wildlife

Here's the latest from AP:

If the skies are clear as forecast, volcano watchers who turn out for the reopening of the Johnston Ridge Observatory on Friday will get a spectacular view of a hulking slab of rock that's rapidly growing in Mount St. Helens' crater.

It's jutting up from one of seven lobes of fresh volcanic rock that have been pushing their way through the surface of the crater since October 2004.

The fin-shaped mass is about 300 feet tall and growing 4 feet to 5 feet a day, though it occasionally loses height from rockfalls off its tip, said Dan Dzurisin, a geologist at the U.S. Geological Survey.

Good news for hikers who haven't been able to peer into the crater of Mount St. Helens ever since it bubbled back to life in September 2004.

If all goes well, permits could be issued to climb this year. Scientists say the likelihood of a dangerous eruption appears to be low.

As Mount St. Helens continues pumping out lava, scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey are plotting a possible mission into the crater floor.

They want to explore the smooth face of part of the lava dome that pushed out of the volcano several months ago. It's largely intact from the time it oozed out of the volcano's vent as a whaleback-shaped hump earlier this year.

The extrusion sits along the east side of the crater, an estimated 1,300 to 1,600 feet from the active part of the dome.

Coated in a chalky shell of material gouged from the interior vent, the massive hunk could provide clues about how the eruption has occurred and what the volcano may do in the future.

If they go, it won't be an easy mission.

Observers at Mount St. Helens reported seeing an intense glow and vertical column over the volcano last Thursday night -- a sight that lasted several minutes beginning around 9:20. p.m. See the full story.

The ever-expanding 500-foot-high lava dome in Mount St. Helens' crater is a towering pile of rubble on Aug. 2, 2005, following eight magnitude 3 earthquakes in the previous week. The quakes, slightly larger than normal, shook loose parts of steeply pitched fins running atop the structure. Scientists say there are no signs, however, of an imminent eruption. Mount Hood looms to the south. (AP Photo/The Oregonian, Bruce Ely)

At this rate, how long will it take for the dome to fill the crater and regain the mountain's previous height? Probably won't occur in our lifetimes, but it is something to monitor over the next few centuries.

Another earthquake reported this morning...

Story

From AP: A magnitude 3 earthquake rattled Mount St. Helens today, triggering rockfall and sending an ash plume above the crater rim, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

The quake occurred at 5:22 a.m., the largest recorded at the volcano in several months. Its cause was not immediately known.

Harry Truman would be proud. Don't let a thing like a live volcano get in the way of business as usual. A Spokane company wants to mine copper from the area. See the AP story, taken from a Vancouver Columbian piece.

Kevin from kevision.com has posted some great images of some recent rockslides on the volcano. Kind of eerie from a distance...

The Cassini spacecraft has spotted what scientists believe is an ice volcano on Titan. Here's a link to the Cassini mission page.

Well, not really. Found this 2004 AP photo on the wire - kind of a neat take on the St.-Helens-framing-Rainier shot.

Jim Camden has a great story in today's paper about the re-emergence of life around the volcano. Follow the link for people's recollections of the eruption, as well as a photo slideshow.
Those of you with the print edition in hand have no doubt seen our reproduction of the May 25, (not the 18th, as I have been erroneously reporting) 1980 Spokesman-Review. Not to be outdone, we on the Web team have painstakingly assembled a replica of our Web site as it appeared in 1980. Enjoy!

Here's a sneak peak at tomorrow's special section - we're recreating the May 18, 1980 newspaper, which was no small feat to put together. We've also got a photo slideshow or two planned for the Web site - stay tuned.

Still no souvenir photos in my inbox - I had a feeling I'd be setting the bar too high with the "Cats" music box.

Also - columnist Doug Clark has found a use for all that ash you've been hoarding away.

Saw this photo from the Yakima Herald-Republic on the wire - oh, the irony...

KSPS had a great documentary on the 1980 eruption on Sunday afternoon, and it looks like they'll air it again Wednesday night at 8 p.m. and 10:35 p.m. (PDT). You'll hear some amazing stories - including an interview with one of the first people to go into the blast zone looking for survivors.

Found this on eBay. If you wind up the glass ash plume (say that five times fast), it actually plays -- really -- "Memory" from "Cats."

This might be the week to dust off those St. Helens souviners you've got cluttering up your closets. Drop me an e-mail with photos and I'll post 'em up on the blog. The more tacky and bizarre, the better.

We've been a little tied up over here at the S-R, but that doesn't mean we've forgotton the eruption anniversary next week. Be sure to get ahold of Wednesday's paper before the dog does -- we've got a surprise coming.

The 25th anniversary of the eruption is just a week away. Smithsonian magazine offers this look at the re-emergence of life around the volcano.