What is happening on the West Coast? I have always had a fear of earthquakes and don't think I would ever live permanently near the coast, anywhere on the Pacific Rim. I figured I would be ok for a few months this year, but this morning I read that a 4.6 quake was recorded in the vicinity of Seattle, and there are fears that Mt. Redoubt near Anchorage is going to erupt again. And to think I will be working this summer at the site of some weird stuff going on - fumaroles, hot springs, steamy bubbling mud pots, some even along the road and some you view from a boardwalk. (The sulphur smell can be overwhelming at times.) It is described as one of only two active volcanos in the continental US. While I knew it had been a volcano, thus the name of the park, I didn't know the active part of it. I will be in sight of Mt. Shasta, the second highest volcano in the US and the 2nd highest peak in the Cascades. Now I'm wondering why I've been so hot to buy an emergency weather radio!
Wikipedia describes Mt. Lassen as the largest plug dome volcano in the world. Something about the word "plug" makes me a bit uneasy. After all, we know what happens when we pull the plug out of a bottle of champagne!
Thankfully I am due at Fort Pulaski (coastal Georgia) after the hurricane season is officially over, but then I will have to dodge tornados as I make my way back across the country next year. No use staying in the Midwest - ice storms & snow in winter, and floods in spring.
Seriously though, I'm not afraid of anything or any place. Mother Nature moves much more slowly than we do - we are just a speck in time - but I'd rather my speck not be around when the "big one" hits.
UPDATE: A couple of hours after I wrote this post I learned that both Chile and Colombia have evacuated people from the imminent eruption of volcanos in those countries, both on the Pacific Rim and the "ring of Fire".
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Guess there are not alot of safe places, are there? We just have to take our chances. Hopefully you will dodge any unforeseen dangers...
ReplyDeleteGypsy, I caught your comment on the new National Parks blog and noted that you are going to be a workcamper at Lassen Volcanic NP this season. May I be the first to welcome you to Lassen! My wife and I have served as camp hosts in 2006 & 2007, with about 3 weeks in 2008, filling in for a camp host that had to leave early. We will be returning this season to again serve as camp hosts at the Lake Manzanita Campground. May I ask in what capacity that you will be working at Lassen? If I can be of any assistance to you, please give me a holler. Until then, safe travels, wherever the road may lead.
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