Probably many still remember the shocking news of 1980 on the eruption of this Mount, situated in the State of Washington, USA. Because of its symmetry it had the nickname of "Fugi-san of America", then on 18 May that year a catastrophic earthquake and eruption caused a stunning avalanche of melted water, mud and rotten trees, which killed dozens of people and distructed properties, bridges, roads and railways till far down. The mountain's summit collapsed around 400 meters and the circular crater turned into a horseshoe-shapped one; all vegetation, mainly pine forests, was instantly blown down and/or buried.
The area was later converted into a national Volcanic Monument and has observations points for tourists. Some vegetal life has slowly begun to reappear kilometers from the crater and further afield pines have been re-planted.
You can see two images of my visit there in 2008: one shows St. Helens from the nearest observation point (visitors can not go beyond), the other shows the base remains of a huge blown tree which still stands were it was devastated 28 years earlier
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