Mount Saint Helens Caldera
by Rick Bures
Title
Mount Saint Helens Caldera
Artist
Rick Bures
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
Mount Saint Helens Caldera. In this horizontal composition, the imposing and threatening form of the volcano looms ominously over a ruined landscape, as the maw of the caldera gapes open, seemingly hungry for more destruction. Contrastingly, in the foreground, a few pink/purple flowers bloom, defiantly struggling for life in the volcanic ash of the blast zone. The deep blue of the sky, wispy with cirrus clouds, adds additional color, fighting with the overall gray of the volcanic ash. Mt. St. Helens is a volcano in the northern Cascade Range in Washington state which erupted explosively on May 18, 1980, flattening 230 square miles of forest and killing 57 people. Its last eruption, at the time of this writing, was on June 10, 2008. The 2008 eruption was unexpected, and forced the evacuation of the Johnston Observatory on Johnston Ridge, named for David A. Johnston, a USGS geologist who died in the 1980 eruption. The Johnston Observatory was then closed for many years. This shot is from near the Johnston Observatory on Johnston Ridge, prior to its closing. I experienced the 1980 eruption of Mt. Saint Helens first hand, while traveling by car from Tacoma to Portland along I5, a trip that took many times longer than normal as we struggled through the volcanic ash clogging the highway. Portland, Oregon, our destination, is only 50 miles south of the volcano. The site is now dubbed the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, and resides within the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. See also my other shots of Mt. St. Helens, and my many scenics of Oregon.
Uploaded
July 14th, 2017
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