Before going to the southern Washington coast, we went to Castle Rock to see Mt. St. Helens. The 50 mile ride takes you to the Johnston Observatory. From there
you have the best view into the crater. The only way to see more is by helicopter.Mt. St. Helens looked like all the other Cascades mountains until 30 years ago. In May of 1980 an earthquake caused a massive eruption, blowing away the top 1300 feet of the mountain. The blast zone encompassed 150 square miles, killing 57 and destoying vegetation and wildlife. The bottom picture shows a house, one week from completion, that was filled with mud. It is 25 miles from the mountain.
The top picture shows Mt. St. Helens as it is today with river of ash still there. Little grows in the thick ash but elsewhere flowers and trees have returned, naturally or planted. The whole ride was very green with new growth on healthy trees.
The second picture shows Spirit Lake-middle right. It was created by dams made of debris from the volcano, as was Coldwater Lake.
The third picture shows the crater from Johnston Observatory. You can see that even the mountain is rebuilding itself. There are two domes inside the crater that are forming from lava coming to the surface and hardening.
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