How we loved this Northwest playground – boating, fishing, camping, swimming, hiking, climbing, scouting.  This playful image, from around 1960, is from your State Archives.

And, of course, Tuesday will be the 30th anniversary of the mighty eruption that transformed this serene and gentle landscape forever.

The eruption touched off the greatest landslide ever, ripping off a large part of that enormous dome, blowing out 3.7 billion cubic yards of mountaintop and spewing ash that girdled the globe a number of times. The blast zone was 230 square miles; 57 people, including the crochety Harry Truman, lost their lives.   It’s still hard to take in.