Mt. St. Helens seen from Coldwater Ridge by junge1

Photography • Landscape • posted on Jun 20, 2009

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Description

Coldwater Ridge is 5 miles northwest of the crater of Mount St. Helens. Prior to the eruption, volcanic activity increased on the mountain and a dome of upwelling lava began to form on the north inside of the crater. The dome grew by 6-ft. daily. On 18 May 1980 at 08:32, a Sunday, an earthquake of a 5.1 magnitude on the Richter scale below the crater triggered a catastrophic explosion. At the time a U.S.Geologic Survey volcanologist, David Johnston, was monitoring the activity. The catastrophic explosion blew laterally to the northwest toward Coldwater Rigde. The superheated ash, rock, melted ice and trees were blown at a speed of over 500mph toward the ridge. David Johnston had enough time to report the event. His remains were never found, but the film, recording this event survived. The crater visible in this picture is 1 mile across. The explosion reduced the mountain from 9,677-ft (2950m) in height to 8,365-ft (2550m). The debris avalanche of 0.7 cubic miles (2.9 cubic kilometers) devastated an area of 229 square miles (596 square kilometers). The Mount St. Helens eruption has been the most destructive in U.S. history. This picture was taken from Coldwater Ridge (now Johnston Ridge) on 20 May 2009. Thank you for viewing, commenting and favs, Sig....

Comments (43)

kgb224

6:41PM | Sat, 20 June 2009

Stunning view and capture my friend.

danob

6:52PM | Sat, 20 June 2009

Great image Sig I recall these events well.. Amazing also how nature has restored the beauty of the place

lyron

6:55PM | Sat, 20 June 2009

Wonderful image!!

SheriffOrr

7:22PM | Sat, 20 June 2009

I sure do enjoy your on the spot photos

billcody

7:22PM | Sat, 20 June 2009

Wonderful pic, Siegfried, as your panorama some days ago! And thanks for the information, it was very helpful. Greetings from Berlin

busi2ness

7:26PM | Sat, 20 June 2009

It is hard to imagine the sheer ferocity of the blast when one looks at the tranquility prevailing today. Very well captured and cropped Sig.

bmac62

7:38PM | Sat, 20 June 2009

Great report beautifully illustrated Sig. This is a favorite place of mine.

flavia49

7:42PM | Sat, 20 June 2009

extraordinary capture!!! I saw Mount St. Helen three years after the explosion and the landscape was still scorced.

NoelCan

7:44PM | Sat, 20 June 2009

Very well captured in both image and story..

shadownet

7:44PM | Sat, 20 June 2009

Great capture

tizjezzme

8:14PM | Sat, 20 June 2009

Hi Sig! I haven't talked to you in AGES! I hope you are well!? :) this is a gorgeous photo!! I thought maybe it was done in Vue, but it says photography here... great shot!