Mt. Fitzherbert

Where were you when the mountain blew? Share your memories of Mount St. Helens' eruption May 18, 1980, and its aftermath.

Twenty-seven years after a massive eruption obliterated its summit, Southwest Washington's celebrity volcano is refashioning itself with a new look.

Visitors returning this week to the Johnston Ridge Observatory will notice a change since Mount St. Helens' main visitor center closed for the season just six months ago: two debris-blackened arms of a glacier set against the snow-covered crater floor.

Mount St. Helens' wraparound glacier has been uplifted, deformed and shoved out of the way by the eruption that began in the fall of 2004. Yet despite the massive intrusion of hot rock, scientists figure the glacier has lost only about a quarter of its pre-2004 volume.

"Vancouver, Vancouver, This is it!"

It was 27 years ago Friday that U.S. Geological Survey volcanologist David Johnston radioed those words to colleagues in Vancouver as Mount St. Helens erupted.

The anniversary is being marked at the Johnston Ridge Observatory near the volcano.

Johnston died shortly after his call. Fifty-seven people were killed from the eruption.