May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted, hurling a lateral blast of rock, steam, and gas over the ridge five miles to the north. David Johnson, the volcanologist tending the station on that ridge perished in that blast. Today, the ridge is named after him.
Tour de Blast is an 84 mile ride, climbing along Route 504 from Toutle to the Johnson Ridge Observatory. Clear skies on Saturday provided breathtaking views of the crater and surrounding mountains for cyclists riding along the ridge.
I love long climbs like this one. Strava reports we climbed 9600 feet.
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Karl
Born in Harrisburg, PA. Undergrad at Drexel University. Learned to ride a bike when six years old, riding ever since. Started cooking when I was in college, stopped when I got married, started again in 2006 when my wife was out of town for a few months. Jobs: worked at post office while in college to earn money to buy a stereo. After grad school, worked at a small software company in Redmond, WA for twelve years. Afterwards, went back to school to get a certificate, then started teaching high school. Still doing that off and on, part time as the need arises.
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I love long climbs like this one. Strava reports we climbed 9600 feet.