Return to Spirit Lake: Journey Through a Lost Landscape

by Christine Colasurdo

Few natural disasters can match a volcanic eruption for the total destruction of a familiar landscape. Journalist Colasurdo first visited Spirit Lake, which is at the base of Mt. St. Helens, in Washington State, as a child, in 1970. When her parents purchased a cabin there in 1977, Colasurdo planned to make the area her permanent home. The volcanic eruption of Mt. St. Helens on May 18, 1980, not only destroyed a beloved setting but permanently ended Colasurdo's plans for living and working at Spirit Lake. Her work is a graceful blend of personal observations (pre- and posteruption), scientific documentation of volcanic activity, and the earlier-than-expected regeneration of life and landscape. An active environmentalist, Colasurdo addresses the effects of logging and reseeding in the area. Her book is a testament to the resilience of both landscape and human spirit.

Genres: Memoir, Nature

320 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Colasurdo, Christine. 1997. Return to Spirit Lake : journey through a lost landscape. Sasquatch Books,
Seattle. (I purchased somewhere ~ $8.50) ISBN: 1-57061-081-9 pbk.
Christine and her twin, Celeste, visit the area surrounding Mt. St. Helens, 13 years after the Mt. St. Helen's volcanic eruption.
They had spent many childhood summers at their family's cabin on Spirit Lake, so have vivid memories of the area prior to the landscape changes caused by the eruption. Historical information is interjected in the natural history account. I enjoyed descriptions of the wildflower, pearly everlasting and a description of the Cowlitz Indians, who were in the Toutle River region prior to the arrival of the White Man. There are good descriptions of the reestablishment of plants, animals, birds, fish, and insects, which includes fascinating reports on research being done. It is found that insects are the first colonizers of the volcanic ash covered lands. Carnivorous beetles live on dead insects and insect parts that the winds blow up from below. The bodies of the beetles create nutritive soils for plants to colonize in. Christine has included literary quotations. Excellent book!

[Sheila Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first part of the title "Return to Spirit Lake" has a double meaning. In the book, Christine Colasurdo tells about her personal journey back to the lake and the surrounding area. She also tells about the return of the animals and plants to the areas wiped out by the Mt St Helens eruption. She does a wonderful job of portraying the life of both people and nature before and after the event.

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating, beautiful vignettes of Mt St Helens pre and post eruption

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of natural history in this book but that doesn't mean it reads like a textbook. The book is the story of the author's visits to the Mount St. Helens area more than a decade after the eruption. In her effort to reconcile the area she experienced as a 10 year-old with the present, her observations and reflections personalize the text. Anecdotes about a certain hike taken become a perfect seque to information about the post eruption changes to the area. I find that I really enjoy natural history presented in this manner.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this book when it showed up on the new bookshelf at my local Midwestern library. I had lived in Bellingham, WA when Mt. St. Helen erupted; it sounded like fireworks from 350 miles away. Reading a comment on the event recently, I decided to reread the book.
I enjoyed the references to the author's memories of spending time at Spirit Lake; I had hiked on Mt. St. Helen and it was bittersweet to read the evocation of its beauty. The devastation was so complete; it was difficult to imagine how the area would ever recover. Yet even as the author mourned the lost of childhood memories, she marvels at the resiliency of nature. The exploration of new life on the mountain offers a fascinating insight in evolution from the colonization of the toxic waters of what was once Spirit Lake to the beginnings of plant life in the new soil.
This book combines an awe at renewal of life in the scientific meaning and also in the spiritual sense. The destruction of beloved scenes can still offer hope and growth if we can accept that change is the natural order and find a new appreciation of the metamorphosis.

[Dorothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author wrote a beautiful description of the return to life on Mt. Saint Helens. She spent many summers on the mountain as a child. It was interesting to read her comparisons of the mountain pre and post eruption.

[Yume · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part memoir, part history lesson - Return To Spirit Lake is a fascinating, if overly emotional book.