Mt. St. Helens Crater
MSH Crater
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This is a view from the crater rim crest in July 2008, a few months since the most recent eruptive phase gradually dwindled to an end after an explosive start in the fall of 2004. The new lava dome complex, emitting numerous steam plumes, occupies most of the crater foreground within a collar of glacier ice. On the west (shaded) side of the crater, a tongue of rock debris from a recent large rockfall extends across the glacier to the foot of the new dome. The unstable inner crater walls almost constantly shed small rockfalls, which in turn stir up clouds of ash and small rocks. On windy days, such as this one, these rockfalls feed blizzards of grit gusting up out of the crater that can make it difficult to approach much closer to the inner rim.

Four other volcanic peaks in the Cascades are visible: Rainier to the north beyond the crater mouth, Adams to the east, and Hood and Jefferson to the south

Mt. St. Helens West Blast Zone
Elk Rock Overlook
Elk Rock Viewpoint
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Elk Rock
Elk Rock
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Elk Rock Sunset
Elk Rock Sunset
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Castle Lake Viewpoint
Castle Lake Viewpoint
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Coldwater Lake Overlook (2008)
Coldwater Ridge
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The snowy Coldwater Lake overlook is on old logging roads — mostly on Weyerhaeuser land outside the monument. The eastern shore of Coldwater Lake shows a well-developed lateral moraine left by the glacier that once occupied this rugged valley. Coldwater Peak stands out prominently above the eastern skyline above the lake.
Coldwater Lake Overlook (2009)
Coldwater Lake Overlook
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Ghost Forest
Coldwater Lake Ghost Forest
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Frozen Hanaford Lakes
Hanaford Lakes
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Coldwater Lake Boardwalk
Coldwater Lake Boardwalk
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Coldwater Lake North Shore
Coldwater Lake North Shore
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Coldwater Canyon Bridge
Coldwater Canyon Bridge
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Coldwater Lake Landslide
Coldwater Lake Landslide Fan
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South Coldwater Ridge
Coldwater South Ridge
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Coldwater Dozer Wreck
Coldwater Dozer
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Coldwater Ridge Yarder Wreck
Coldwater Yarder
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South Coldwater Trail
Coldwater South Trail
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Coldwater Canyon
Coldwater Canyon
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Coldwater Pass Alpenglow
Coldwater Glow
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Snowy Hummocks
Snowy Hummocks
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Hummocks
Hummocks
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Johnston Ridge Hummocks
Johnston Ridge Hummocks
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Hummocks Dike
JR Dike
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Loowit Viewpoint Spur
Loowit Spur
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Johnston Ridge Observatory
JRO Plaza
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Johnston Ridge Observatory Windows
JRO Windows
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Spillover Point
Spillover
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Arch Peak
Arch Peak
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Boundary Trail Arch
Arch
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St. Helens Lake Pass
Lake Pass
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Coldwater Peak
Coldwater Peak
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Coldwater Peak provides some of the best views into the crater. The partial panorama below, taken in July 2008 after the latest eruptive phase ended, gives a detailed view into the crater and the new lava domes as well as of the Spirit Lake basin over to Mt. Adams.

Coldwater Peak was once the site of an old fire lookout and now hosts instrumentation to monitor the volcano. An EarthScope GPS station [image] is located in front of the electronics shack.
Detailed Crater View from Coldwater Peak
Crater Zoom from Coldwater Peak
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Mt. St. Helens East Blast Zone
The Dome
The Dome
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Dome Camp
Dome Camp
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Dome Camp Butte
USGS Shack
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Mt. Margaret
Mt. Margaret
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Snow Basin
Basin
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Margaret Dome
Margaret Dome
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Whittier Knife Edge
Knife Edge
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Whittier Spires
Spires
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Mt. Whittier
Mt. Whittier
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Bear Camp
Bear Camp
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Grizzly Pass
Saddle
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Independence Ridge
Independence Ridge
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Norway Pass
Norway Pass
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Independence Ridge South
Independence Ridge S
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Harmony Point
Harmony Point
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Windy Ridge
Windy Ridge
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Pumice Plains
Pumice Plains
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Alpine Butte
Alpine Butte
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Plains of Abraham
Abraham
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North Butte
North Butte
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Mt. St. Helens South Slopes
Ape Canyon
Ape Canyon
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Lahar
Lahar
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Ape Canyon Notch
Ape Canyon
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Pumice Butte
Pumice Butte
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Muddy River
Muddy River
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Lahar Meadows
Lahar Ridge
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Shoestring Creek
Shoestring Creek
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Shoestring Falls
Shoestring Falls
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Worm Flows Buttress
Worm Trail
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Pine Creek
Pine Creek
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June Lake
June Lake
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Worm Flows
Worm Flows
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Upper Swift Creek
Swift Creek
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Upper Worm Flows
Worm Flows
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Butte Camp Sunset
Butte Camp
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Butte Camp Dome
Butte Camp
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Trail Washout
Washout
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Sheep Creek Basin
Sheep Basin
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Crescent Ridge
Crescent Ridge
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