What if... Mount Hood erupted again

[kepPNW]

I've always wondered about the potential for more than one Cascade peak to erupt at the same time. Imagine Mt Hood, Mt Rainier and Mount St Helens going off at the same time! You'd have a regional disaster that would dwarf anything that's happened in recent human history.

Baker and (something in) Three Sisters are right up there (or even higher) in probability, too. Multiples would be a lot to handle, but statistically nearly unthinkable.

[pdxgene]

It'll happen at the same time as a 7.0 earthquake rocks the valley...

In which case I'd probably rather be at Ramona Falls... Though Burnt Lake would have a killer view..

[miah66]

I would be heartbroken about the loss of trails and scenic spots...

I'm with you Cheryl, I'd be totally devastated if I didn't have that beautiful silhouette to look at every clear day.

[Steve20050]

I had to wait about 30 years for the dust to settle on St. Helens. Then returning to St. Helens was a very pleasant experience. The views there are sensational now. Much like being in high alpine without the forest canopy. While this is a very insignificant time period for the mountain, I think I'm too old to do that one again. I knew a guy in Hood River that was a small plane pilot that flew me around St. Helens a few times, right after the eruption. Guess I'd have to settle for something like that if Mount Hood had a major eruption.

[retired jerry]

Mt St Helens - cinder cone easily blown away

Mt Hood - more likely to have a vent on the side, most of mountain would be relatively unchanged

If you look at pre eruption picture from North side, with a little imagination, you can see how the cinder cone grew out of a crater very similar to today's crater

[Steve20050]

Mt St Helens - cinder cone easily blown away

Mt Hood - more likely to have a vent on the side, most of mountain would be relatively unchanged

If you look at pre eruption picture from North side, with a little imagination, you can see how the cinder cone grew out of a crater very similar to today's crater

Agreed Jerry. Though I recall the tee shirts of St. Helens before it actually blew. The tee shirt had the snow covered peak with a small black vent hole on top. It said something like " I survived the Mount St. Helens eruption". So my point is the Cascades are stratovolcanoes and un predictable.

http://www.extremescience.com/stratovolcanoes.htm

[kepPNW]

Mt St Helens - cinder cone easily blown away

Mt Hood - more likely to have a vent on the side, most of mountain would be relatively unchanged

If you look at pre eruption picture from North side, with a little imagination, you can see how the cinder cone grew out of a crater very similar to today's crater

Agreed Jerry. Though I recall the tee shirts of St. Helens before it actually blew. The tee shirt had the snow covered peak with a small black vent hole on top. It said something like " I survived the Mount St. Helens eruption". So my point is the Cascades are stratovolcanoes and un predictable.

http://www.extremescience.com/stratovolcanoes.htm

Yeah, no way, no how, would I have called pre-1980 MSH a "cinder cone." And now that you can easily look inside it, that point is even more clear.


Not the inside of a cinder cone!

I had to wait about 30 years for the dust to settle on St. Helens. Then returning to St. Helens was a very pleasant experience. The views there are sensational now. Much like being in high alpine without the forest canopy. While this is a very insignificant time period for the mountain, I think I'm too old to do that one again.

I was thinking the very same thing. The USFS would bottle it up, and set it aside, and not let anyone play on it again until I was too old to go out and play anymore.

[retired jerry]

Here's a picture pre-eruption:


You can see something sticking out on the left (maybe that's "The Dogshead") and maybe on the right with a cone coming out in between

Maybe require a bit of imagination

[kepPNW]

Just look inside the current crater for an example of that sort of feature currently under construction. There've been a lot of lava domes on/near that spot over the millennia.

[retired jerry]

exactly!

dome gradually builds

after a while there's enough on top to block it

pressure builds up

Pop! - cycle repeats

I remember going across Spirit Lake on a boat. Looking down into the water there were zillions of trees on the bottom. Now I see where they came from, the previous eruption.

A similar eruption has repeated itself many times.

Mt Hood has those vents on the side like Barret Spur and Illumination Rock. And Lahars down the Sandy River.