Hi All,

I got a short update from Melanie about a half hour ago. She's decided to hang in instead of coming home today. She has made good friends with a retired geologist who is also a glaciologist (wrong title, you know) and he's been explaining what happened in 1980 and what's going on now.

If you've looked at the Johnston Ridge cam of late you would have noticed the larger than normal steam plume coming from the crater. The reason for that is because two vents have now joined, which is a repeat of the 1980 series of events. She said last night for the first time lava was seen glowing at the top of the mountain and temperatures are between 900 and 1100 degrees fairenheit.

She did tell me they have a lot of concern about the melting glacial ice and on TV just a moment ago they did a little promo to a news conference which is coming up saying "scientists new concern for MSH is flooding."

Mel has found new quarters again as she didn't particularly care for the shared bathroom experience at the motel closest to the mountain. She's moved over to Silver Lake to a place which at long last offers TV, a kitchenette, a deck with a view of the lake and MSH when not foggy.

The Discovery Channel filmed a new show yesterday and it turns out Harry Truman did not own the lodge at Spirit Lake, but was leasing it. The story about the true owner will be featured in this upcoming program.

As of the time of our conversation she said they were still awaiting approval by the FAA to fly the Silver Fox over MSH.

Petra