Mt. St. Helens

Photo taken by my brother early Friday afternoon, July 1.

Pre-1980, St. Helens was not only a perfect cone-shaped stratovolcano, but also an exceptionally beautiful one. An earthquake and avalanche on the morning of May 18, 1980, deformed the mountain for thousands of years to come. This is the north face of St. Helens, which collapsed, making way for a lateral eruption of hot gases and stones across the now barren plain in front of it.

This image is taken from 5 miles away. Geologist David Johnston was observing from 6 miles away from roughly the same angle, and his body was never found.

The pre-1980 Mt. St. Helens is beneath my brother’s photo from Friday.