We are off heading towards Mount St Helen's National Monument. The day is quite overcast. As we head up in elevation to Mount St Helen's, we are driving up into the overcast fog. The fog gets very dense and suddenly, we rise above it. We see the snow capped peak of Mount St Helen with clear blue skies and clouds below in the valley. Mount St Helen erupted in 1980, 26 years ago and the area is recovering well. Before the eruption, much of the area was owned by Weyerhaeuser and other private parties. Weyerhaeuser still has many of tree farms in the area. The National Monument was formed after the eruption. Scientists have been studying the volcano, the eruption aftermath and recovery of the land since before 1980. Mount St Helen is one of several active volcanoes in the area known as the Ring of Fire. We saw steam coming out of the cinder cone in the center of the depression that was once the mountain peak. Many small earthquakes tell of Mount St Helen's seismic activity, as many as 700 in a day have been recorded, thousands in a week.

Original Photo