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WA_MtStHelens - 87

At Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. This is Spirit Lake, at the base of Mt. St. Helens, and those are thousands of dead *trees* (some 3-4' in diameter) floating on the lake's surface. As a result of the devastating 5/18/1980 eruption of the volcano, trees within roughly 6 *miles* of the volcano were either blown down or snapped like matchsticks. The National Park Service decided to leave most of the area "as-is" to have the rare opportunity to study the natural recovery of a region after such an event. (09/23/2004)