A peek at the peak

Thursday, January 25, 2007

TOM VOGT Columbian staff writer

Crystal clear skies this week gave scientists a chance to get some work done on Mount St. Helens.

The U.S. Geological Survey monitors the mountain around the clock at its Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, but actually getting on Mount St. Helens -- or even just getting a good look at it -- can be tough this time of year.

With bright blue skies Tuesday and Wednesday, eight scientists could catch up on some chores, collect data and check on the changing face of the dome inside the crater.

Thermal images taken from a helicopter Tuesday morning, before the sun warmed the rock, showed hot spots on the dome. New photographs were taken to provide a visual yardstick as spines and ridges rise out of the crater or fall away.

The four field crews also did some basic upkeep on instruments and communications gear.

A time for repairs, maintenance

"We got a lot of stuff repaired. We have some fixed cameras that have been iced up, and they needed to be cleaned," Willie Scott, a USGS geologist, said. Crews also did some maintenance at a major radio repeater station about 5 miles west of the volcano.

The weather didn't totally let down its guard. Scientists were hoping to lower a new global-positioning package on the dome, but the instrument platform -- dubbed a "spider" -- has to be hooked to a cable and lifted in by helicopter. The wind was blowing too hard Wednesday, and, "It would have been swinging around like a pendulum," Scott said.

High winds also scuttled plans to collect new rock samples, which are gathered by dragging a scoop from the end of a cable.

It was the first time personnel from the Cascades Volcano Observatory have been able to get on the mountain since Jan. 11, and the first chance for really meaningful work in a month, Scott said.

"Information is always coming in, but the visual record is important, too," and that's why this week's clear skies above St. Helens were so welcome, Scott said. "You get antsy if you don't see it for a week or two."

Did you know?

* Winter weather doesn't stop the flow of data from Mount St. Helens, because scientists built redundancies into the monitoring and communication network around the volcano. What is lost, however, is the chance to actually look inside the crater and follow the day-to-day changes on the dome.