Mt. Saint Helens in Washington State, about 55 miles northeast of Portland, Oregon, and 95 miles south of Seattle, Washington, erupted on May 18, 1980. It caused mass devastation as far as 19 miles from the volcano. Spirit Lake rests about five miles north of Mt. St. Helens as the crow flies. The eruption ripped up millions of trees and severed soil from bedrock. The blast fueled a tower of ash and magma 15-miles high for over nine hours over Mt. Saint Helens.
Volcanic mudflows, called lahars, pushed in an epic flow of large boulders and logs as far as 46 miles away from the eruption. Winds carried the ash for hundreds of miles. The eruption in 1980 wiped out Mt. Saint Helens’ dense forests. Explosions from steam created a 200 to 250-foot-wide crater through Mt. Saint Helens’ summit ice cap. The effects of the 1980 eruptions turned Mt. Saint Helens into a volcanic/earthquake laboratory.
What Is the Story of Spirit Lake?
The Cowlitz Indian Tribe and the Confederated Tribes and bands of the Yakama Nation inhabited the Mt. Saint Helens’ region for thousands of years. The Puyallup people called Mt. Saint Helens, Lawetlat’la, which means the “Smoker” and others called it Wy’east, and the Yakima tribe called it Si Yett, Lawetlat’la, which evolved from a beautiful maiden named Loowit, the subject of a legend, then it became Mt. Saint Helens.
Scientist believe that Spirit Lake is an intermittent lake, meaning it has been filled to capacity and intermittently partially drained by volcanic debris. Research suggests that 3,350 years of pyroclastic flows, destructive masses of hot ash, lava fragments, and gases from volcanic eruptions on the North Fork Toutle River and created Spirit Lake.
Research also suggests that Spirit Lake has been repeatedly dammed by volcanic material and partially drained due to dam failures causing several major floods and lahars down the North Fork Toutle River over its lifetime. Then the lake overflowed and was dammed again by many debris avalanches prior to the May 18, 1980 eruption.
Can You Swim in Spirit Lake Washington?
Before the 1980 Eruption of the Mt. Saint Helens’ eruption, Spirit Lake served as a beloved summer haven for boating, camping, fishing, hiking, and swimming with stunning views of not only Mt. Saint Helens, but Mt. Adams, Mt. Hood, and Mt. Margaret. All that went away with the 1980 eruption.
No, you cannot fish or swim in Spirit Lake. After the 1980 eruption, so dangerous was the Mt. Saint Helens region, with so much devastation to the entire region and all the waterways in it, that ecological recovery was the number one goal for Spirit Lake. The region looked like the moonscape. There was no oxygen for the fish.
Even though that without volcanic activity there would be no Spirit Lake, Spirit Lake became one of the most important volcanic activity recovery laboratories for scientists worldwide in 1980. Researchers believe that Spirit Lake’s water rose 2,500 feet above its pre-eruption surface up Mt. Margaret’s surface, and slammed back down into its basin with trees, boulders, and soil stripped from the mountain.
This explosive action doubled the lake’s area, filled Spirit Lake’s surface almost 200 feet above its former level with extremely degraded water quality and blocked its outlet into the North Fork Toutle River. The organic material from the wood and volcanic debris starved the lake of oxygen, creating black, toxic water. The U.S. Congress established the Mt. Saint Helens National Volcanic Monument in 1982.
What Activities are allowed at Spirit Lake?
Camping and hiking are allowed around Spirit Lake. You have to call the Mt. Saint Helens Ranger Station at 360-449-7800 to find out which trails are open and about guided tours. There are frequent trail closings and specific areas closed or off limits. The closings and off-limit areas change frequently. The Mt. Saint Helens Ranger Station updates its messages about them often.
The only access to Spirit Lake is from the Harmony Falls Trail, which leads to the northeastern shore of the lake. For camping and hiking permits, you can find them on Mt. Saint Helens’ Institute website, along with all the FAQs and regulations. The institute is home to a Science Education And Learning Center and located seven miles from the Mt. Saint Helens crater.
What Is Spirit Lake Filled With?
The National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine conducted a report commissioned by the U.S. Forest Service that recommended a collaborative response for handling flood and sediment risks that still plague Spirit Lake. The report resulted in The Spirit Lake-Toutle-Cowlitz River System Collaborative, an agreement among 20 groups to meet regularly and discuss the different approaches to handling the issues facing the water systems.
Today in 2023, Spirit Lake still has a vast log mat and sediment issues from the 1980 eruption. In 1982, the U.S.A.C.E. begin building the Spirit Lake tunnel to the North Toutle Fork River and completed it in 1985 to allow the lake to drain naturally since the logs jammed up its outlet to the river. Over 40 years later, it is time to repair the tunnel.
Are There Still Logs Floating in Spirit Lake?
Logs covered 70% of Spirit Lake immediately after Mt. Saint Helens’ 1980 eruption. In 2023, the Spirit Lake log mat covers 20% of the lake. The log mat floats around it driven by the wind velocity from its northern end in spring and summer to its southern end in fall. The logs move quickly during high winds at daytime and can move across the lake in an hour or less. They spread out with the little wind velocity at night.
Today, scientists believe the log mat has integrated into an important part of Spirit Lake’s ecosystem. Many of the logs have settled to the bottom of Spirit Lake. Earthquakes caused the Mt. Saint Helen’s May 18, 1980, 5.1 Richter scale magnitude eruption. The signs began on March 16, 1980, with a series of hundreds of small earthquakes. By May 18, steam explosions, called phreatic eruptions, caused this colossal eruption and the biggest debris avalanche in recorded history in the world.
Does Spirit Lake Have Fish?
Fish could not have survived in Spirit Lake after the landslide into it. Spirit Lake was starved of oxygen for several months after the 1980 eruption. Record levels of microbial activity depleted the resources fish need to survive. Fish have returned to Spirit Lake. However, scientists believe anglers illegally stocked Spirit Lake. The Washington Department of Fisheries and Wildlife (WDFW) discovered the first rainbow trout in the lake in 1993.
The WDFW began stocking 130 rainbow trout in Spirit Lake in 1997, and continued in 2002, 2003, and 2015, then twice in 2021. Scientists are consistently tracking its fish populations. Authorities agree that Spirit Lake is not ready for recreational fishing over 40 years after the 1980 eruption.
