1993 and 2004 Comparison of Mt. St. Helens

January 29, 2005

Mtsthelensinandout copy

Provided and copyright by: Steve Kluge
Summary author: Steve Kluge

These photographs present views of the Mt. St. Helens area, in Washington State, not seen by many visitors. The left-hand view is north over Spirit Lake towards Mt. Rainier, taken from a helicopter hovering inside the crater of Mt. St. Helens. Johnson Ridge is off to the left of the image -- the visitor center there was not yet built when this image was made in October of 1993. Windy Ridge rises to the right of Spirit Lake. At the time, Windy Ridge offered the most accessible views of the 13-year-old crater. Notice the silvery gray logjams in the lake, blown on this day by a strong southwesterly wind toward the northeast corner of the lake. The right-hand image is the view south, into the crater, from the same location. The lava dome dominates the floor of the crater, and steam can be seen rising in several places from the dome. As we watched, chunks of the newly cooled lava would break off and roll down the sides of the dome, forming the talus slopes visible in the foreground of the photo.

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