We made a quick day trip to Mt. St. Helens yesterday afternoon. It's only about 2 hours away, and super easy to get to. The drive gets really pretty as soon as you leave the interstate with several pull-outs along the way.
We had originally planned to head to the coast for a camping trip, but the weather (as you can tell from the clouds) wasn't promising - and I'm glad we didn't go. We made our way to the Johnston Ridge Observatory, which had a little walking path with phenomenal views of Mt. St. Helens which is five miles across that distant plain.
You can see the crater left behind from the 1980 eruption, which devastated Johnston ridge a mere 40 seconds after it blew. More than 30 years later the surrounding mountainsides, which used to be old growth forest, are littered with dead trees all lying in the same direction when they were flattened by the blast. Some areas show some trees struggling to make it back - but it is a very slow process. The immense scale of the devastation was fascinating and humbling.
I have some ideas of places I'd like to go to for some decent photographs, but that will be a trip for another day when I have time to sit and wait for the sunrise/sunset.
Have a wonderful day! Ciao,
Marc
No comments:
Post a Comment