The KA-RACK! that never echoed

I was on the last day of a white water kayak trip down the Rogue River that Sunday.

I crawled out of my tent and was stumbling across the wet sand barefoot when I heard a very sharp and loud “ka-rack” that filled the canyon with noise.

It was as if some one was shooting a high-powered rifle or setting off explosives for mining, but there was no echo!!

I couldn’t explain that phenomenon until later in the day when I heard over the radio that St. Helens had erupted violently and that the surrounding area to the north had been obliterated.

I remember looking at my watch at the time of the odd noise and it was about 8:40 am.

I realized later that what I heard on the Rogue River which shook the canyon without an echo was probably the blast from that disaster.