Flying photos: Scenery 7 - Mt. Saint Helens

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The first four photos on this page were taken in 2004 and are repeats from a previous page. The next eight photos were taken a year later in 2005. The next four photos were taken two years later in 2007Note the difference in the snow pack and the crater.

Mt.St.Helens,WA,2004Mt.St.Helens,WA,2004Mt.St.Helens WA,2004Mt.St.Helens,WA,2004
Mt.St.Helens,WA,2005Mt.St.Helens,WA,2005Mt.St.Helens WA,2005Mt.St.Helens,WA,2005
Mt.St.Helens,WA,2005Mt.St.Helens,WA,2005Mt.St.Helens WA,2005Mt.St.Helens,WA,2005
Mt.St.Helens,WA,2007Mt.St.Helens,WA,2007Mt.St.Helens WA,2007Mt.St.Helens,WA,2007
Mt.St.Helens,WA,2014Mt.St.Helens,WA,2014Mt.St.Helens WA,2014Mt.St.Helens,WA,2014


2004-02-12. Spirit Lake is left frame. Saint Helens Lake is center foreground. Note the dome in the center of crater.


2004-02-12. A bit closer up on the crater. The ash erosion has stained the snow at forground right. Mount Hood, across the Columbia River is on the left horizon.


2004-02-12. Closer still. It's starting to get interesting. Mt. Hood on the left horizon and Mt. Jefferson, even deeper in Oregon, on the extreme right horizon. Mt. Jefferson is 90 NM south of St. Helens. Erosion is evident on the lower lip of the crater. Note the absence of any steam. The mountain is resting, keeping its own counsel, its own timetable - tick, tick, tick.


2004-02-12. Up close and personal with the originating site of a 10 megaton explosion. One cubic mile of mountain was vaporized at 08:32, Sunday, May 18, 1980. 230 square miles of forest was flattened. If my memory serves 61 people were killed. I heard and felt the explosion in bed, 80 NM north. I thought it was an 18 wheeler passing the house - looked out - no truck. The lava dome is currently 900 feet thick.


2005-03-13. Looking SW from about 10,000'. Note the ash stain on west side of the mountain. This is ashfall from the 2005-03-03 erruptive event. Note too the lack of snow. These photos were taken exactly 13 months after the previous photos.


2005-03-13. This is a close up of the ashfall.


2005-03-13. We are spiraling toward the mountain in a counter-clockwise direction. This is a slightly more southward view. Note the new structure inside the crater along the west wall.


2005-03-13. A more closeup of the crater. The previous dome is in the center of the crater.


2005-03-13. Closer still. Note the oozing mass to the left. The smooth rock is called the whaleback. Note the smoke and steam in various locations. The powdering of new ash is also apparent.


2005-03-13. We have moved to the west of the crater opening and are looking south.


2005-03-13. Here a plume of ash, smoke, and steam can be seen streaming off the whaleback.


2005-03-13. The whaleback seems to be crumbling from the righthand side creating a talus slope. Also note the sharp edge of the crater rim. At this point it felt like I was flying around a bomb, and I pointed the nose west, throttled back a bit, pitched down a bit and exited the area swiftly.


2007-01-30. These series of photos were shot from an altitude of 10,500' at about 2PM in the afternoon. The crater rim is about 8,300' high. This is a long establishing shot looking southwest. Mt. Hood, OR is directly behind the crater and Mt. Jefferson, OR is on the horizon to the right of the crater.


2007-01-30. A closer shot. A very small plume of steam/ash is visible coming from the rubble in the crater. The remnants of the mud flow down the Toutle River is still plainly visible in the foreground.


2007-01-30. A close up of the crater. The whaleback seems to have collapsed into rubble with steam and ash rising from what was once the ridge of the whaleback.


2007-01-30. Extreme closeup of the crater. Note that what was more or less discrete crater features in 2004, has since grown and collapsed into rubble.


2014-05-01. These series of photos were shot on Colleen Diane Flannery's birthday while I sprinkled a portion of her ashes over the mountain.


2014-05-01.


2014-05-01.


2014-05-01.