Mt. Redoubt is erupting again. But let me start at the beginning. The lodge we were caretaking this winter (where Taylor got sick) is 9 miles north of Redoubt, and one of the closest inhabited cabins to the mountain. A month or more ago we got a frantic call from our former boss saying that a 7.8 earthquake had hit under Redoubt, shattering the thick lake ice and causing all communications to be lost with the new caretakers of the lodge (he was calling because with the lake ice shattered there was no way into the lodge to evacuate the employees other than this great Alaskan who flies a Super Cub and can land on rough snow, and we had his phone number). That is the last we heard about it until this morning, where I read that Redoubt erupted four times last night, with all the ash blowing north.
I'm sure the lodge is fine, and the caretakers alive and well, but they have already been evacuated, or they are about to be, for most likely the remainder of the winter.
Which brings me to my point- Taylor getting poisoned was half a blessing. We were able to come back to Bend and get jobs, rather then being evacuated in the middle of winter with no prospect of a place to stay or solid income. And although it would've been so cool to hear the lake's ice crack (think of a million gunshots at once), it would've been pretty awful to have died out there.
After we evacuated from the lodge, we were sure our winter was going to be another failure, but in retrospect it has been really terrific. We've gotten to ski a lot, we rented the coolest house ever and got to finally unpack our wedding gifts (whoot!), and we've spent lots of time with our friends, something we've been really missing in our nomadic lifestyle.
So the next time you get carbon monoxide poisoning, just think, "Hey, this might be saving me from a volcanic eruption!"
I'm sure the lodge is fine, and the caretakers alive and well, but they have already been evacuated, or they are about to be, for most likely the remainder of the winter.
Which brings me to my point- Taylor getting poisoned was half a blessing. We were able to come back to Bend and get jobs, rather then being evacuated in the middle of winter with no prospect of a place to stay or solid income. And although it would've been so cool to hear the lake's ice crack (think of a million gunshots at once), it would've been pretty awful to have died out there.
After we evacuated from the lodge, we were sure our winter was going to be another failure, but in retrospect it has been really terrific. We've gotten to ski a lot, we rented the coolest house ever and got to finally unpack our wedding gifts (whoot!), and we've spent lots of time with our friends, something we've been really missing in our nomadic lifestyle.
So the next time you get carbon monoxide poisoning, just think, "Hey, this might be saving me from a volcanic eruption!"
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