SKAMANIA COUNTY, Wash. — Two months after being trapped by a landslide and rescued by helicopter, Tim Uhler got to drive his personal car again on Friday morning.
Uhler was one of 12 people stranded by a landslide over state Route 504 near the Johnston Ridge Observatory at Mount St. Helens.
Seven vehicles could not be driven past the slide and were left behind.
Friday morning, Washington State Department of Transportation crews escorted four of the vehicle owners, and a representative from Avis, up to the parking lot via a temporary one-lane detour constructed around the slide area. Two of the vehicles had been rented by visitors from out of the state.
Uhler was originally told he might not get his Subaru Legacy back until next year, so he was pleased to get the call he’d get it sooner.
“Isn’t that the joke, it’ll happen at the speed of government? Well in this case, it got done real fast,” said an appreciative Uhler.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Uhler added.
More than 300 cubic tons of ash, mud and trees slid over and took out a 200-foot section of state Route 504 on the evening of May 14.
The road has been cleared and a detour installed, but the Washington State Department of Transportation said the section of highway to the Johnston Ridge Observatory will remain closed until - likely - next spring, when the observatory is scheduled to reopen for the season.
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