The spirits, telling a story of life and death, formed out of the mists into various shapes of trees and animals, foretelling impending doom but good fortune in the afterlife.

[7] Early mining around the lake began at the turn of the 20th century and necessitated the first road to the area in 1901, replacing a treacherous trail considered unfit for wagons.

[8][9] Prior to 1980, Spirit Lake consisted of two arms that occupied what had been the valleys of the North Fork Toutle River and a tributary.

About 4,000 years ago, these valleys were blocked by lahars and pyroclastic flow deposits from Mount St. Helens to form the pre-1980 Spirit Lake.

A stable outlet channel flowed from the lake to the North Fork Toutle River across a natural dam composed of volcanic material.

[1][14] Had the lake level not been stabilized, the dam, which was composed of volcanic avalanche debris created by the 1980 eruption, would have been breached and caused catastrophic flooding within the Toutle River Valley.

The project restarted in 2024 and a temporary road, following the prior access path to the lake, will be rebuilt with future work to involve the installation of gates to the tunnel and dredging to prevent the buildup of logs.