'Massive landslide' traps 12 on Mount St. Helens overnight, those rescued speak out

SKAMANIA COUNTY, Wash. - Rescue crews airlifted 12 people and a dog from Mount St. Helens on Monday, after a massive landslide blocked the highway.

According to the Skamania County Sheriff's Office, the landslide occurred near the Johnston Ridge Observatory on SR 504 around 9 p.m. Sunday. Mud, trees and debris clogged the highway, and trapped a dozen people in the area overnight.

The group was picked up Monday morning by a helicopter crew after calling 911 for help Sunday night.  Because it was a nice day, many had gone up to the mountain to take pictures, but they then found themselves trapped.

"Thankfully, I saw it in time," said Cornejo Garcia, a Puyallup resident who came face-to-face with the slide. 

On his route home from Eugene, Oregon, he rounded a curve in the road and nearly ran right into the debris flow.

"As soon as I take a turn on the curve, I see that the road is completely washed out. I almost crashed, I was probably five to six yards away from crashing," said Garcia. "I just stomped on the brakes and the wheels locked up a little bit."

After his near miss, Garcia turned around and drove back towards the observatory to warn others, like Tim Uhler of Port Orchard, who was at the observatory to photograph the new moon and snow on the mountain.

"He came up and was like ‘we aren’t going anywhere,’" said Uhler.

With the debris flow estimated at 200 yards wide and 10 feet deep, rescuers could not hike them out over the active slide. The group, including Ryan Crandell and his dog Nalu, had to hunker down for the night.

 "I had been car camping, so I still had food to offer to other people," said Crandell.

The helicopter team started the rescue at around 9:30 a.m. Monday.

"They brought her up into the helicopter and she got a nice free ride," said Crandell about his dog.  

"I got everything out of the car, took pictures of the odometer just in case, pictures of the car, although my pillows are up there, I’m going to need new pillows," said Uhler.

"They took about 3 helicopter rides to get everybody out from Johnston Ridge Observatory to the Coldwater Science and Learning Center a few miles away," said Gala Miller, the public affairs officer with the U.S. Forest Service/Gifford Pinchot National Forest.

With no timeline for the road to reopen, the vehicles belonging to the group of rescued visitors remain stuck at the observatory indefinitely.

"All seven vehicles up there, including our Subaru with the rooftop tent, and everything, we might not get them back," said Nickolett Uhler, Tim’s wife.

In addition to shutting down the road, the slide also did damage to infrastructure. Miller says there is no power available to any of the US Forest Service facilities in the area due to the slide.

Authorities say no one was injured in the slide itself, but were stuck after the bridge was ‘wiped out.’

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SR 504 is closed near Loowit Viewpoint until further notice.