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Part way up the mountain, there was a “turn-around”, a loop, where there was a viewpoint and it was quite a veiwpoint, being high up the mountain-side. And I had been up there several times. It was a beautiful sight.

At that turn-around, it was reported that someone saw a motor home parked there, the evening before the eruption.

Now, this was the “red zone” and no one was allowed in there, but somehow a motor home was up there. Well, it was never seen again after that...

Here's a guy that had a front row seat and made his last call on the radio, that morning at 8:32, telling Vancouver (just north of Portland, in the State of Washington) that it was blowing up. That's the last he was ever heard from.

David A. Johnston

David A. Johnston, 13 hours before his death
at the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens

David Alexander Johnston (December 18, 1949 – May 18, 1980) was a volcanologist with the United States Geological Survey (USGS); he was killed by the 1980 eruption of the Mount St. Helens volcano in Washington. He was killed while manning an observation post about 6 miles (10 km) from the volcano on the morning of May 18, 1980. He was the first to report the eruption, transmitting the famous message "Vancouver! Vancouver! This is it!" before being swept away by the lateral blast created by the collapse of the mountain's north flank. Ham radio operator Jerry Martin observed the lateral blast overtaking Johnston's camp. Though Johnston's remains have never been found, remnants of his USGS trailer were found by state highway workers in 1993.