Check out these stories about what's happening at Mount St. Helens this season!
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Mount St. Helens Institute eNews
Autumn is coming in the Pacific Northwest! As leaves turn brilliant colors and mushroom foragers head into the forest, it's time to gather support for MSHI. Join our fall fundraising harvest through Give More 24 and Boots and Bow Ties—help us reap the benefits of community generosity.
News you'll find in today's edition of Rumblings:
MSHI Receives Award for Volunteer Work 📣
Support Science Education: Give More 24 is Back!
🎟 Get Your Tickets to the Boots & Bow Ties Gala Before Its Too Late!
Upcoming Programs: All New Views and Brews, Mushrooms 🍄, and Fall Color Photography
Celebrating Public Lands With a Weed Rodeo 🤠 on September 27
🎨 Highlights from 2025's Artists in Residence
Meet Chris: Your New Communications Coordinator
Trail Spotlight: Fall Hikingat Mount St. Helens 🍁
Share Your Thoughts: Public Comment on Spirit Lake Project
2025 Guided Adventure Dates 🗓
MSHI Receives USFS Award for Volunteer Program
At our summer volunteer social, Dusty Vaughn, the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument District Ranger, presented MSHI with a Certificate of Achievement in Citizen Stewardship and Partnership, signed by the Forest Service's Regional Forester. This honor recognizes the contribution of MSHI volunteers as they provide essential services, maintain trails, and engage visitors at Mount St. Helens.
Thank you to all volunteers who were able to attend our summer social, hosted by Heathen Brewing! This summer, MSHI volunteers spent over three hundred days engaging with fellow hikers on trails, assisting visitors at the Science and Learning Center and Seaquest State Park, and maintaining over 20 miles of trail! If you are interested in joining MSHI's Volunteer Program, click the link below for more information.
Early giving for Give More 24! is officially open, leading up to the big 24-hour celebration of impact on Thursday, September 25! This is Southwest Washington’s annual day of giving, where every gift—big or small—fuels community spirit and helps local nonprofits thrive.
Your support during Give More 24 directly powers the Mount St. Helens Institute’s mission to connect people of all ages to the wonder and science of the mountain—through education, stewardship, and opportunities to explore. Together, we’re caring for this treasured landscape and inspiring the next generation of earth stewards.
Dust off your hiking boots and straighten up your bow ties—Boots & Bow Ties is coming up on Saturday, October 11 at the beautiful Heathman Lodge in Vancouver, WA! This one-of-a-kind night blends outdoor spirit with formal flair: think formal meets outdoor chic, Bigfoot photo ops, delicious food, wines donated from Abbey Road Farm and Elk Cove Vineyards, a gallery of volcano-inspired art, and exciting live and silent auctions. It’s a celebration that’s as fun as it is impactful—every ticket supports the Mount St. Helens Institute’s mission to connect people with the mountain through science, education, and stewardship.
We’re especially grateful to our presenting sponsor, Welch Cabinin Kalama, WA. Their mission to promote and protect—through access, education, and stewardship—aligns beautifully with our own work, and we're proud to celebrate their shared commitment. And here’s some exciting news: thanks to Welch Cabin’s generosity, one lucky donor at Boots & Bow Ties will win a 3-night stay at this incredible retreat. Visit out their website in advance to learn more and to see photos of this special place.
And a big thank you to our additional sponsors for making this night possible:
A Full Fall Lineup of Views & Brews - And a Variety of Venues!
We’re thrilled to share our fall season of Views & Brews—an opportunity to learn, connect, and enjoy delicious food and drink while supporting local pubs. This lineup brings something for everyone, from mushrooms to trees, poetry to hiking. Plus, we’re mixing up locations: kicking off at Heathen Brewing in Vancouver, hopping over to Portland for the first time in years, and returning to longtime partner Loowit Brewing.
Here’s what’s on tap:
Marvelous Mushrooms of Cascadia with Dr. Michael Beug (1 week from today!) – Thursday, September 18 at Heathen Brewing (Downtown Vancouver) & Online Get ready for fall mushroom season! Learn the basics of mushroom identification, tips for safe and responsible foraging, and new discoveries and species featured in the latest edition of Mushrooms of Cascadia. Hybrid event: in-person + livestream options!
A Walk Amongst Giants: Trees of the Cascades with Casey Clapp – Wednesday, October 15 at Double Mountain Overlook Taproom (North Portland) Discover the forests of the Cascades with arborist and educator Casey Clapp, author of the new book The Trees Around You and co-host of the popular podcast Completely Arbortrary. This is our first Portland event in years!
Book Launch: There is Always a Volcano Before You with Celeste Colasurdo – Wednesday, November 19 at Loowit Brewing (Downtown Vancouver) Celebrate the posthumous release of Christine Colasurdo’s poetry collection with her sister Celeste, reflecting on memory, healing, and the spirit of Mount St. Helens.
Day Hiking Columbia River Gorge with Craig Romano – Thursday, December 4 at Loowit Brewing (Downtown Vancouver) Trail guidebook author Craig Romano shares stories and insights from his newly expanded guide, featuring 115 hikes across Washington and Oregon.
Tickets are just $10 ($5 for livestream access to the Sept. 18 event). Join us this fall to raise a glass and explore new perspectives together.
Mushroom Foraging: weekends September 28 - October 19
Mushroom season is almost here—and these programs are just a few weeks away! With expert guidance, learn how to identify common characteristics of wild edible and inedible mushrooms. Then learn how to harvest many different types of edible mushrooms and cook them into delicious dishes. Plan to get your shoes and hands dirty as you discover the forest's most striking and sometimes delectable offerings. The season is short, register today!
Join professional Photographer Patrick Aalto and MSHI Guides on a photography hike amongst the massive hummocks deposited by the 1980 eruption. You will explore this marvelous ecosystem, teaming with life, before leaving the trees to join the Boundary Trail in view of the vast open expanse of the Pumice Plain and the breach of the volcanic crater itself. You will ascend to the groups' comfort up Johnston Ridge where you will train your cameras on the amazing vistas and brilliant colors of Fall foliage below.
Volunteer for Public Lands at a Noxious Weed Rodeo!
Saddle up for a Noxious Weeds Roundup at Mount St. Helens!
Ready to help wrangle some invasive weeds? The Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument has some unwanted guests—invasive weeds like Scotch broom are spreading and crowding out our native plants.
Join us for this one day volunteer event! Team up with fellow volunteers, the Forest Service, and the Mount St. Helens Institute for this rewarding volunteer roundup on September 27, National Public Lands Day. This volunteer event is open to all, age 10 or older.
Think you can help us round up these invasive weeds? Let's see how many pounds our team can remove and clear out. Time to show your support for our public lands!
Ready to join the roundup?
This is a free event, but registration is required.
This summer a variety of artists came to Mount St. Helens to create works of art through film, music, dance, teaching, drawing, photography, painting, and journaling.
Artist Arin Greenwood was transformed by the experience:
My nine days as an Artist in Residence at the Mount St Helens Institute paved the way for me to walk a path that I had not given myself permission to walk. As a self-taught artist with a deeply academic science background, I was unsure of my place or purpose and - despite teaching the contrary in workshops for all audiences - I felt uncomfortable calling myself an artist or a scientist because I walked the undefined line between the two.
Five years after finishing my PhD (in Molecular Engineering, basically computational physics), I was still feeling jaded and uninspired by science. I had followed long, hard roads in both academia and industry, neither of which had quite suited my passions or learning and work styles. I longed for the days I remembered feeling as an undergrad student in chemistry, excited to learn just for the sake of learning, and I hoped spending a week as an artist alongside volunteer geologists and two dozen enthusiastic middle school kids during GeoGirls 2025 would reignite that spark for me while also providing an inspiring environment to grow as an artist.
But I wasn’t prepared for the transformation that could happen in such a short time. I felt at home at the volcano (though as a city girl, irrationally afraid of getting attacked by a bear). Every inch of the landscape was inspiring and healing: the historical transformation and post-eruption regrowth of the St. Helens ecosystem was an optimistic reflection of my own internal challenges as an artist, a scientist and a human.
Welcome Chris Chou, MSHI's Incoming Marketing and Communications Coordinator!
We're thrilled to announce that Chris Chou will be joining the Mount St. Helens team as our new Marketing and Communications Coordinator beginning September 12! You may know Chris from his role as an assistant guide, and we are excited to have him in his new role.
Chris is a certified Wilderness First Responder and a career outdoors industry professional raised by ski patrollers and his life path has been shaped around the mountains. Rain, snow, or sunshine, you can find him exploring the volcano and he is proud to call Mount St. Helens his backyard mountain.
This month, avid hiker and backpacker, outdoor educator, and homeschooling mom Jessica Becker offers a handful of south side hikes perfect for enjoying the gifts of autumn.
From mushrooms to vibrant fall colors, Mount St. Helens does not disappoint! Jessica's insider tips inspire curious minds of all ages to get out and explore the wonders of the season.
Public Comments on the Spirit Lake Outflow Project
The 1980 eruption deposited millions of tons of debris in front of Spirit Lake, pushing the lake north and creating a risky situation for downstream communities as the lake filled the basin: if Spirit Lake were to overtop the debris, the flowing water could quickly erode the loose debris, causing a catastrophic flood to rage downstream.
Unwilling to risk this event, a tunnel was drilled through 1.6 miles of bedrock in 1985, creating an engineered outlet that keeps Spirit Lake at a safe level. More than forty years later, the tunnel, built on a fault line, has been compromised. An alternative safety measure is necessary to continue to protect downstream communities.
Federal agencies have been working with engineers to come up with long-term solutions. A variety of options have been determined, and after years of work, the Draft Environment Impact Statement (DEIS) is available for public comment.
Click here for more information about the history of Spirit Lake and the tunnel.
To share your thoughts, visit the comment page anytime or attend the October 7 open house at the Cowlitz County Event Center,1900 7th Avenue, Longview, Washington, from 4 to 7 pm.
Mount St. Helens Institute operates under a special use permit from the US Forest Service and is honored to work on the Traditional Cultural Property, ancestral and present-day lands of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe and the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation.
Mount St. Helens Institute is an equal opportunity provider.
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