Photo Albums

This is one of the largest bridges spanning one of the many gorges you must drive over to get to the observation center. This also was the very edge of the blast area. In direct miles I'm not sure, but I was still nearly an hour away from the observation area.

The beautiful Cascade mountains are covered with several variety of fir trees.

I shot this down away from the heavy flow area from the eruption - mainly to show the beauty of the area. And yes, that's snow.

Finally, after an hour-and-a-half drive from I-5 which runs from Portland to Seattle I made it to the Johnson Observation Ridge. Notice the snow white sky, that's where you normally can look into the heart of the volcano's crater.

The center of the observation building faces the crater - it has something of an other worldly look. But it does sit in an area that has an other worldy feel to it.

This was actually shot standing in the exact same spot as the previous photo. I just put a telephoto lens on the camera and zoomed in on these trees. They were knocked over May 1980 when the explosion occured. In these higher elevations they remain lying on the ground as a testament to the volcanoe's fury.

Through the gorges you see new small creeks flowing downward. But ever present is the grayness of the volcano's pumice and ash.

I shot this with a wide angle lense and it's really an expansive area in the gorge. You see the dead areas still dormant after nearly 30 years.

Trees were knocked over, burnt and obliterated in various fashions by the power of the volcano. You see stumps like these for several miles leading to the observation area.

I think this huge tree trunk speaks for itself. It is in the parking lot of the observation area. Several were left in the immediate area as a reminder of the power of the blast.

One last look at how the side of the mountain, the blast, and pumice flow altered the landscape.