Along The Road

As the road continues into the monument area, it climbs and soon we were above the snow line. There are a couple of places to pull off the road and enjoy the excellent views of the mountain.

Keiran and Natalie beside my car at the viewpoint

Above the snowline, and a cleared visitor area. Well, cleared enough for the volume of traffic - there were two other vechicles here at this time.

Mt. St. Helens from a viewpoint along the way

The mountain, showing the gaping hole left after the 1980 explosion, and looking over the mud flow.

Mt. St. Helens crater (close up) from viewpoint before Coldwater Ridge Visitor Center

Close up of the top of the mountain. From this angle, the lava dome growing in the gash is not visible.

Trees blown down by explosion, as seen from viewpoint before Coldwater Ridge Visitor Center

Some of the trees blown down from the blast. Notice that they are mostly facing the same way, indicating the direction from which the shock wave came.

Another Pull Off

A little further along is another area to pull off. This was just an area at the end of a corner, large enough for a car or two to stop and take some photos.

Mt. St. Helens from further along the road, including a frozen lake (perhaps Castle Lake)

Looking along the road towards Coldwater Ridge Observatory. You can just see a puff of (I'm guessing) steam arising from the right hand side of the crater.

$Just visible steam rising from the crater during this \$

A close up of the mountain, with the steam being a little more visible, and a frozen lake which appears to have escaped the effects of the 1980 explosion.

A little further along the road was a corner with a sheet of ice, at least an inch thick, across the road. A few exciting moments there! But no ice across the road was going to stop us reaching our goal!

Getting There

Coldwater Ridge Visitor Center right arrow