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"The Huey chopper, piloted by National Guard Captain Harold Ward, went up the south fork of the Toutle, which had turned into a caramel ribbon, toward the peak, still shrouded in clouds of steam and ash. The mocha-colored terrain appeared otherworldly, a madly undulating landscape. The trees looked as if they had been strewn across the foothills by a careless child. As we passed over Baker Camp, a logging base, we spotted a pickup truck, a dead child lying face upward in the back. Ward swung the Huey over a huge mudhole that had once been Spirit Lake, a body of water so clear that it mirrored St. Helens like a reflecting pool, then did slow loops around another pickup truck on a nearby ridge. The truck's passenger must have had a perfect view of the terrifying blast. Seconds later, both passenger and driver were dead, probably from the heat and poisonous gas. As the Huey made another pass, the peak spouted ash 14,000 ft. into the atmosphere, a mini-replay of Sunday's monster explosion."
Within four days the worst was over —maybe. The dust had settled in the heavy-fallout area, roughly from the ruptured peak to as far east as Montana. Fine ash particles, mostly glasslike silica, had spread in a gigantic, banana-shaped arc in the stratosphere across the nation and will slowly dissipate into invisible clouds after blowing round the world several times. Outside the Northwestern U.S., people will probably notice nothing more than some spectacularly colorful dawns and sunsets over the next several months.
But there was a possibility of another natural disaster. A 200-ft. wall of mud and ash from the volcano prevented the waters of Spirit Lake from flowing into the Toutle River. Local officials feared at first that the dam might suddenly give way, sending backed-up water and mud flooding through the riverbank towns of Longview, Kelso and Castle Rock, menacing the lives of 50,000 people. By the weekend, however, water was slowly seeping through the mud-and-ash plug, and pressure on the dam had eased.
At the same time, there were further rumblings from Mount St. Helens, indicating that molten rock was once again moving inside the mountain. Geologists hoped that the monstrous blast had vented sufficient gas to prevent another major eruption. But they simply do not know enough about volcanoes to make any firm predictions.
Four days after the blast, President Carter decided to inspect the devastated area. After a night in Portland, he climbed into the first of a flotilla of eight helicopters, packed with Cabinet officers, Senators, Congressmen and local government officials, including Governors Dixy Lee Ray of Washington and John Evans of Idaho. From the air Carter could not see the still-smoking peak of Mount St. Helens. It was hidden by rain clouds. But as his chopper flew at treetop level, he was astonished by the colorless landscape.