Mount St. Helens is seen on a sunny Tuesday afternoon in Winlock.
Friday marked the 38th anniversary of the eruption of Mount Saint Helens and the date did not sneak up on the Washington Department of Transportation.
Last Wednesday SR-504, also known as Spirit Lake Memorial Highway, was opened after another winter on hiatus. The highway runs from Castle Rock up to the National Volcanic Monument, and can also be accessed by driving east from Toledo. Until last week the highway had been closed at the Clearwater Lake gates. Now travelers can drive for another seven miles all the way to Johnston Ridge Observatory.
However, the Johnston Ridge Observatory has been closed all week due to a loss of power at the far flung tourist outpost. A recorded message at Johnston Ridge Observatory states, “We are closed right now because we have had an electrical failure. We have an electrician up here right now trying to fix that and we will let you know as soon as we are open and ready to go. Sorry for the inconvenience.”
That message has been posted since last Saturday but representatives from the U.S. Forest Service were able to provide a more detailed explanation Wednesday afternoon.
Tedd Huffman, monument manager for the U.S.F.S. noted that the problem popped up three days after the Johnston Ridge Observatory had opened up for the season.
“It was discovered on the morning of Saturday the 19th,” said Huffman. “It was on again off again that morning and then we just decided to close it down for the weekend and figure out what’s really going on.”
So far attempts to track down the problem have been unsuccessful but the working hypothesis is that there is a problem with the main breaker somewhere between the Coldwater Science Center and the Johnston Ridge Observatory. Huffman noted that there is a generator system in place that can run both of those locations but a problem in between the structures leaves the entire circuit on the fritz.
Huffman said that the U.S.F.S. is in the process of working with a contractor to have the original breaker replaced but was still unable to provide a specific timeframe for reopening the observatory.
“It might be as early as a couple days but right now we are thinking we might have to be closed for the weekend, which we realize is not a good thing at all,” said Huffman.
He noted that staff at the observatory have set up stations outside in order to greet visitors with information and temporary restrooms have also been brought in for travelers.
Typically, snow and ice are the main concerns on the backroads through volcano country. Snowfall forces the closure of the road each winter due to safety concerns. Once snowfall ceases, WSDOT crews work to clear any remaining snow as well as boulders and other obstacles that may have accumulated over winter. A press release noted that WSDOT works in coordination with the U.S. Forest Service in order to ensure that SR-504 is open to travelers looking to catch a view of the St. Helens’ crater during the annual event commemorating the mountain’s eruption on May 18, 1980.
“Because winter weather is unpredictable, we’re always faced with new challenges,” said WSDOT Maintenance Supervisor, Aaron Yanez, in a press release. “This past winter was no different. It took a lot of effort over the past several weeks for crews to clear the highway of snow and debris, and we’re glad we could open it as soon as we are.”
Snowfall also forces numerous other rural routes to close in the winter and spring. Thanks to a bout of warm and dry weather in recent weeks though, several of those roads are already open or find themselves on the verge of opening for the season.
Skate Creek Road in East Lewis County is now open. That popular throughway, also known as Forest Road 52, runs from Packwood to the Elbe along the Cowlitz/Nisqually divide. The nearby section of Highway 123 that leads to the Grove of the Patriarchs is also open for the season.
Additionally, Cayuse Pass (Highway 123) and Chinook Pass (Highway 410) are set to open on June 11. Stevens Pass Road is slated to open that same day .
Lastly, Forest Road 99, which links up with FR 25 south of Randle and provides access to Windy Ridge and recreation trails on the east side of Mount Saint Helens, is currently open only a short ways past Wakepish Sno-Park. FR 99 normally opens around the end of June or beginning of July, depending on snowpack. That road is one of the most popular in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest during summer months and includes vistas of Spirit Lake from Bear Meadow Viewpoint, Miner’s Car, Meta Lake and Cascade Peaks.
Prospective visitors to the Johnston Ridge Observatory are encouraged to call the observatory at 360-274-2140 for updates before hitting Spirit Lake Memorial Highway for a day trip. Information can also be obtained by calling the U.S. Forest Service at 360-449-7800.
