Forty years ago today, Mount St. Helens erupted, spewing a cloud of ash and smoke for hundreds of square miles and reshaping a Cascade mountain ecosystem. But the May 18, 1980 explosion didn’t come out of nowhere, and it wasn't the only eruption that spring. Julie Tripp, a former reporter for The Oregonian, reflects on the mood of the city during that time, how The Oregonian covered the eruption and tells the story of her close encounter with one of the subsequent eruptions and explains how cans of Fresca and beer helped her escape.

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