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Mount St Helens

Mount St Helens is a unique geological area made famous by an eruption in 1980. Mount St Helens is an excellent location for photography.

I remember vividly the day on May 18th, 1980 when the catastrophic eruption occurred. There had been such extensive media coverage leading up to the day of the eruption that it was no surprise that it had happened. But the catastrophe that ensued was beyond anyone’s imagination.

The number of lives that were lost and the extensive property damage made the event tragic. But to have such a massive geological event occur in a lifetime was remarkable.

8 years after the event I visited the area for the first time. The Forest Service had just opened the public lands around Mount St Helens for visitors to see the landscape of the area and what the eruption had done.

It was incredibly fascinating. The “blast zone” had knocked trees over like toothpicks for miles from the mountain. Over 150 square miles of forest had been blown over or left dead standing. On the Toutle River there were still signs and evidence of the massive flooding of water that roared down after glaciers and snow melted instantly.

Years later I made a second trip to the area. At this time the western approach to the Mount St Helens area was now opened via highway 504. This road provides tremendous views of Mount St. Helens, the crater, the lava dome and the blast zone.

What was unique on the second visit was to see the re-growth of life that had occurred in the blast zone and the area around Mount St. Helens. The area around Mount St Helens that was devastated was returning to life.

One group of plants that thrived and could be seen were lupines. These purple and blue flowered legumes could be seen everywhere, and they gradually add nutrients to the soil to make more suitable land for other species of plants to survive.

Mount St Helens is a fascinating place to visit and photograph. I hope to photograph it soon again to see how the area has continued to evolve.