Spirit Lake (Washington)
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Spirit Lake was formerly an attractive lake near Mount St Helens in Washington State. The lake was a popular tourist destination for many years until 1980 when Mount St. Helens erupted. Thousands of trees were torn from the surrounding hillside after the lake was sloshed 800 feet up the hillside.
After the eruption Spirit Lake was a toxic soup bubbling from the volcanic gases seeping up from the lake bed. A month after the eruption the lake was devoid of oxygen. Scientists predicted that the lake would not recover quickly but they were surprised when three years after the Mount St. Helens eruption Spirit Lake had more biological activity than ever before. In 1993 scientists were shocked to see fish in Spirit Lake.
However, the logs that were deposited in the lake during the Mount St. Helens eruption still remain and cover a vast portion of the surface water. The lake is also 10 percent smaller and much shallower. Even though the lake was devastated by Mount St. Helens it has rebounded significantly and is on the way to recovery.
As logs rub against one another, tree bark is rubbed off and deposited in the bottom of the lake. This bark may form into coal over time. Logs with roots that sink to the bottom of the lake among the layers of volcanic ash sediment are often upright, as though they had grown in the sediment where they remain. In conditions such as these, petrification of the logs and stumps occurs much more rapidly than previously thought.
Before the eruption of Mount St. Helens there were four camps on the shore of Spirit Lake: a Boy Scout camp, a Girl Scout camp, a YMCA camp, and another for the general public. There were also a number of lodges catering to visitors, including Spirit Lake Lodge and Mt. St. Helens Lodge; the latter was owned by Harry R. Truman, who became one of the volcano's victims.