Mount Saint Helens by Air

A few weeks ago I was presented with an awesome opportunity I just couldn’t pass up! A friend and co-worker who owns his own plane offered to take me flying around one of our local volcanoes, Mount Saint Helens, in exchange for a print of one of the photos I’d take! What a great experience – I’d flown over the mountain before commercially on approach to Portland, but to do it at lower levels and all angles was really incredible! We looped around several times, getting amazing shots of Helens and its neighboring volcanoes, Rainier, Adams, and Hood along with the 1980 blast zone and Spirit Lake. We could see several steam vents in the caldera and of course the huge log jam still in the lake from the 1980 eruption. The flight up and back held some great views also including PDX airport which I usually only see from the ground and take-off! Special thanks to Clint Hanley and his great piloting skills for this unique photo shoot!