Originally Posted by
abshipp
Maybe someday I can wrap my head around the actual scale of the event. It's mind-boggling that the entire side of the mountain just...slid off.
The blast zone and flow zones are pretty damn big. It's been interesting to see the changes over the years, even though my first visit was 12 years after it blew.
My first hikes around the mountain were super ashy/dusty, being well into the blast zone seemed like being on the moon. Nowadays there is quite a bit of ground cover established and baby trees popping up all the time. Some of the first trees to emerge from the ash are getting pretty tall by now. I should see if I have more pics from my 2015 hike, here's the two I could find...
