Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument is a U.S. National Monument that includes the area around Mount St. Helens in Cowlitz, Lewis, and Skamania Counties, Washington. It was established by Congr
Mount St. Helens from the Johnston Ridge Observatory (July 2018)
Johnston Ridge Observatory
Science and Learning Center at Coldwater, 2024
The "Meatball", a lava ball wedged in a ceiling channel. Lava balls form around smaller rocks that roll along in lava flows.
David A. Johnston
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David Alexander Johnston was an American United States Geological Survey volcanologist who was killed by the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens in the U.S. state of Washington. A principal scientist on
Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument
…pumice plain, and landslide deposit, with access to hiking trails in the restricted area. The observatory is located near the site of volcanologist David A. Johnston's camp on the morning of May 18, 1980, and was opened in 1997. On May 14, 2023, access to the observatory was barred due to the 2023 South Coldwater…
The last picture taken of Johnston on May 17, 1980, 13 hours before his death at the eruption site
Mount St. Helens as seen on May 17, 1980 one day before the eruption, photographed by Harry Glicken from the ridge where the Coldwater II observation post occupied by Johnston was located
Mount St. Helens in September 1980 four months after the eruption, photographed by Harry Glicken from approximately the same location as the previous photo. In the intervening period, the volcano had erupted, killing Johnston and approximately 60 others, devastating the landscape.
Johnston Ridge from the Johnston Ridge Observatory in July 2005, showing new plant growth among dead trees from the eruption 25 years earlier