Mount St. Helens

Jul 26th. I head south from Seattle and drive down the Interstate till I get to the turn off for the active Volcano called Mt St Helens. This volcano is actually in the process of erupting at the moment but not in a dangerous way. It is the site of a massive eruption in 1980 though which blew off the top and side of the mountain. Click here for more info and pictures of the eruption and what it looked like before. The weather isn't looking good as it is really cloudy so I wasn't expecting much but as I ascended up to the Johnson Ridge observatory I suddenly get above the clouds and the first glimpse of the volcano is fantastic. The thing that strikes me is the devastation that still abounds here and also the regeneration as well. It is a fantastic landscape and the power of the eruption was enormous. I watch the very informative film at the observatory and head out on a trail to get a better view of the Swift Lake. The lake is much changed now and is still full of logs from the landslide (The biggest landslide in human history) when the mountain blew itself up.
Pictures (Left) - The Volcano - note the steam at the top is from the current eruption, (Right) Look closely at the trees that were blown down like matchsticks on a ridge higher and about 6 miles from the blast, (Bottom) Swift Lake as it stands today - the logs are scattered in it