The town of Morton, Washington.
Along the trail to Layser Cave, the yellows glowed alongside the other trees.
Clouds and fog make for an interesting view.
A tree with an interesting bark.
Close-up of the tree.
The entrance to Layser Cave.
A picture of the end of the cave.
Another view from the trail.
The parking area for Layser Cave.
Another gravel road!
This is the road leading into the east side of Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. After some clearing of clouds from this angle, the scarred landscape can be seen.
As the fog rolls in, the road shows as a silver ribbon into the clouds.
My first look at Spirit Lake.
Another view of the lake. Objects in the water are tree trunks.
A view of Mount St. Helens, eastern slope.
Mark and Heather, as we waited to see if the fog would clear.
There was a stairway with a couple of hundred steps up to a viewpoint that provided some great sights (and a bit of a good workout.) This picture is looking down into Spirit Lake at an interesting trunk sticking out of the lake.
Another look at Spirit Lake. The peninsula in the upper right portion of the picture was covered and wiped clear of all vegetation by a wave generated by the landslide during the eruption. Water traveled eight hundred feet up the slopes of some of the ridges. Also, note all the trunks on the water!
The viewing area after a short trail beyond the top of the stairs.
It was interesting to see the new growth occurring in this landscape.
From the viewing area, looking down at the parking lot. My car is at the right.
On my return trip, I stopped at a pullout and noticed this "slight" crack in the rock below the road!
Another view of Spirit Lake. Since this particular area is further from Mount St. Helens, the vegetation is quickly recovering.
Looking at another barren landscape with remnants of trees.
This helicopter had just lifted off the road to the left of the picture, then headed almost straight down into the canyon.
Along another trail, I noticed this fallen tree with twisted trunk.
Being further away from the eruption, the recovery is faster here.
In May 1980, this car was parked on the other side of the road, and the owners were in a nearby cabin by a mine. The blast pushed and rolled the car across the road to this position. The owners in the cabin did not survive the blast.
Looking at the rear of the car.
I was amazed that this tire looked unscathed.
One last look at the road through the wounded forest.
South of the park, I found this pretty lake providing great reflections.
This picture is actually upside-down!
One last view of the lake.
