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Eastern Oregon | Pacific Coast
Western Columbia River Gorge | Eastern Columbia River Gorge
Eastern Oregon | Pacific Coast
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
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
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 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.
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.
Mt. St. Helens East Blast Zone
Mt. St. Helens South Slopes