Toutle, Washington.

The best access to the blast area defined by the eruption of Mount Saint Helens is via State Route 504, also known as the Spirit Lake Highway. Built to replace the original highway destroyed by the eruption, this 52-mile (84 km) highway contains 14 bridges that span the valleys west of the mountain. The tallest bridge on the highway spans a deep valley where some 370 feet (113 m) below, Hoffstadt Creek winds its way west toward the Toutle River.

In the early 1990s, a $200 million USD project created the highway that leads to the mountain from I-5, exit 49 at Castle Rock. To cross the valley, a bridge with a 600-foot (183 m) span opened in 1991. Building the bridge high created a safety zone from flooding of the river now far below. The deck truss bridge cost $12.6 million USD and its height makes it second only to the High Steel Bridge over Vance Creek in the Olympic National Forest. The Hoffstadt Creek Bridge is the third tallest bridge in the northwestern United States.

Just west of the bridge is a turnoff that you can take to a bridge viewpoint. The two images of the bridge featured here were captured at that viewpoint. At the site, there are several placards that provide facts about the bridge and the surrounding forest.  The image above is the placard that describes in text and photos the construction details of the bridge project.

The closeup above provides more detail of the piers and truss system on the bridge. The deck is 32 feet (9.7 m) wide and 2340 feet (713 m) long. To help you gauge that distance in the image, notice the tiny automobile at the far left (east) end of the bridge.

The views are spectacular when traveling across the bridge, but for those who have issues with high places, you may want to avoid looking out the side windows or let someone else drive.

When I looked up the location of the bridge in Google Maps, I discovered that there is a street view image set crossing the bridge. You can “drive” across the bridge in either direction and check out the 360-degree views of the valley. Click on the image above to load Google Maps in your browser and check it out.

John Steiner

Mount Saint Helens National Monument, Washington.

May 18, 2020, marked the 40th anniversary of the eruption of Mount Saint Helens. It would seem that there was plenty of warning that something big was going to happen on that Spring day in 1980. After all, there were a couple of months of earthquakes and small eruptions. According to the USGS, however, advances in technology in the last 40 years might have allowed for reduced risk and earlier notification. But those advances were the result of the catastrophic eruption that “fed a towering plume of ash for more than nine hours, and winds carried the ash hundreds of miles away. Lahars (volcanic mudflows) carried large boulders and logs, which destroyed forests, bridges, roads and buildings.”

Coldwater Lake, pictured above, is but one of several new lakes created when lava and mudflows interrupted the flow of creeks on the mountainside. Water filled the space needed to overcome the blockage and created an outflow back into the creekbed leaving a brand new lake.

This view of Coldwater Lake is taken from a bit downstream along Coldwater Creek which, in turn, drains into the Toutle River. A scenic pull-off with a visitor center is just off Washington State Route 504, the route into the National Volcanic Monument. There is a boat ramp for use by visitors (motorized watercraft excluded.)

While much of our trip through Washington was with clear skies, the closer we got to Oregon, the more we noticed the haze from the wildfires in southern Washington and Oregon. The dehaze tool I use to help provide a little clarity to the image turns the skies and background artificially blue. In reality, the air was gray with smoky haze. As you can see in the image above, there are still plenty of signs of the devastation and loss of vegetation that occurred in the recent (in geologic time) eruption. But after 40 years, there are also many types of new growth. Young evergreens now grow amidst the shattered and broken remnants of the great pine forest that once stood here.

The top of the mountain was literally blown off and lava fields flowed from the wound. The eruption killed 57 people and decreased the height of the state’s fifth highest mountain by 1,313 feet (400 m). To find more information on the geologic history of the mountain including a photo of the mountain taken one day before the eruption, go here. After looking at the photos I captured, I decided that one of them would make an interesting black-and-white. The image above was processed in Lightroom and Luminar AI before exporting it to my favorite black-and-white conversion tool, Silver Efex2 from DxO software.

Here is the color version of the image with the original crop that I used to create the black-and-white version. By cropping more tightly and using tools in Silver Efex2, I was able to bring out much more detail in the lava field and the mountaintop.

Clicking on any of the images above will give you an enlarged view if your browser supports that function. As this post is being written during the pandemic, you should make allowances for facilities with reduced hours or closures.

John Steiner

Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Washington.

Coldwater Lake is located in the shadow of Mount Saint Helens and owes its existence to the cataclysmic eruption of the volcano on May 18, 1980. The valley, known as Coldwater Valley due to the creek of the same name that meanders there, was blocked and the creek dammed by material thrown from the volcano during the eruption.

Eventually, the water level from the creek rose upstream from the blockage and water started flowing over the “dam”. Coldwater Creek then continued on its way to the Toutle River. Coldwater Lake is the result of that change in terrain and is but one of several similar lakes similarly created in 1980.

There is a boat ramp for recreational use, but gasoline motors are prohibited. Kayaking on the lake is very popular, as well as trout fishing. There is even a short interpretive trail for visitors to enjoy several views of the lake.

About the photo: This image was captured with my Samsung S20U cellphone, tweaked in Adobe Lightroom with final edits made in Luminar 4. Click on the image for a closer view, if your browser supports that feature.

John Steiner