The volcano gods must not be too angry with me, because last week we got two days of flying and a beautiful night of camping in the gravel yard at Mount St. Helens. On Tuesday morning, we got to CVO at 6am to learn that a marine layer had rolled in, and it was too cloudy for the helicopter to even get off the ground to meet us. So we were delayed a bit, but eventually got the okay to make the 2-hour drive north to the landing site. It was a tense morning, because everybody had a lot of work to do, and it we weren't sure when- or if- the sky would clear. Eventually the lower worksites were visible, so the teams working in locations below the clouds began heading out. We waited and waited, and eventually we could see the sky, so we made it out onto the mountain by early afternoon!
I was working with Mike again, the geodesist who studies deformation at volcanoes, along with Dave, who is a geologist who works with lots of different teams. He's a great guy to have in the field- an awesome hiker and smart worker who knows everything about the mountain! So we had a good time, even though nothing went as we had planned...
Mike and I flew up to the dome first, after we loaded all of our heavy equipment into nets to be sling loaded up to the mountain. After we landed, we had to wait for the helicopter to drop (literally!) our stuff off. So we got to work trying to pull the old, broken tiltmeter out of the ground so that it could be repaired. We rigged a setup of hydraulic jacks, a 2 x 6 and a chain attached to the tiltmeter by a hook, but we couldn't find a solid base on all of the loose rock (and then we broke one of the cables we were trying to attach to!), so we decided to wait for the rest of the equipment. Luckily, it was on its way!
Helicopter with half of our equipment in the sling load.
It's pretty cool to see a helicopter carrying 500 lbs. of equipment at the end of a rope just set it down and fly away!
Dave Sherrod setting up the tiltmeter extraction device.
After all of our equipment and Dave arrived, he got back to work on the old tiltmeter. Notice how much the snow has melted from the last time we were here!
Drilling equipment.
Mike and I set out to try drilling for the new tiltmeter where we had poured the concrete pad last time out. As we started clearing out rocks and digging a hole, though, we realized that the site we had chosen was one big pile of rocks, and there probably wouldn't be anything stable enough to drill a core out of. We worked for a couple of hours, but couldn't find a good place to install the tiltmeter. Eventually we went back up to help Dave with the extraction process, and all the three of us succeeded in doing was breaking another cable and bending two steel hooks... I think that tiltmeter just wanted to stay put, right where it was!
Mike walking back to check for supplies. There was a lot more snow here last time!
Ta-da! Clouds! The view OUT of the crater is out there somewhere... usually that's where you can see Mt. Rainier!
The clouds came and went periodically throughout the day. Luckily the clouds were high enough at the end of the day for the chopper to get to us, so we didn't have to hike out of the crater (yikes!)!
Between the clouds and the steam, we really felt like we were in our own little world. We could still hear all the rockfalls in the crater, but couldn't see anything... that was a little eerie!
View of the mountain from the flight down. The clouds were just barely high enough that the dome was visible and the helicopter could get in.
At the end of the day, we returned to the gravel yard to set up camp. It was a really nice night despite the mosquitoes, and we enjoyed the evening view of the mountain! Mike made a great spaghetti dinner, and we listened to the elk bleating in the distance.
Pink mountain in the evening.
Jamie and me doing dishes, and Ben "supervising."
Then it was time for some fun pictures!
The next morning, we headed back to the site at the dome to give it one more shot (both drilling and pulling), but in the end we decided to switch to Plan B (or C or D...) and move the drill to a new site, located on the east side of the dome. So we loaded our equipment back into the sling load nets and headed to Rembrandt site. It was a beautiful, clear morning, and it was refreshing to stand up out of the tent in the morning and look into the crater of Mount St. Helens!
With so much more snow melted, the different layers of lava flows, fallout, and pyroclastic material are more obvious in the crater walls.
Dave and me unloading the helicopter at Rembrandt.
View of the dome from Rembrandt (looking toward the west- the view out of the crater is to the right).
Helicopter delivering the rest of the drilling equipment.
Dave had already scouted out the new location, so we knew it would be a better place for drilling. We got everything all set up and secured, and started drilling into the hard rock. My roommate Jamie and her supervisor Ben joined us, to start setting up the rest of the electronic equipment (antenna, solar panel, etc.) for the tiltmeter.
Mike and me drilling.
It was a slow process, but we seemed to be making good progress- made it about 6 feet into the rock- when all of a sudden the drill jammed. We couldn't drill down any farther, and we couldn't pull it up mechanically. We were stuck!
Trying to decide how to fix our drill problem.
Drill stuck in the rock.
So we decided it was time for lunch!
It took all three men with wrenches, twisting the shaft, and me cranking up on the drill, but after about an hour we finally released the drill. Unfortunately, the threads on one section had stretched, so one piece was lost in the hole. It's also not quite deep enough to fully install the tiltmeter, but it was enough for a temporary installation until the next trip to finish the job.
So, it turns out the new site we'd chosen to drill for tiltmeter installation was a very solid place to work... I don't think the meter will go anywhere once it's installed! They are working on plans for the final installation, but I'm not sure if I'll still be here to get to help. I can't believe next week is my last week here!
All in all, it was a long and busy trip, and many things didn't go as we would have liked, but we now have a good location for a tiltmeter and I had a lot of fun! It's such an incredible place to work.
My roommate Jamie and me.
Getting ready to fly down to the trucks at the end of the trip. All done for now!
P.S. It really was amazing to see how much snow had melted since my first trip onto the mountain. Notice the difference between these two pictures, taken at the exact same place, 3 weeks apart:
First trip
Second trip
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