After about 4.5 hours, 4500 ft elevation gain (to ~8400 ft), over about 5 miles, we finally arrived at the crater rim, and what a payoff!! Here's a few shots of us posing and enjoying lunch on the edge of the crater.
Here's a shot along the edge of the crater. Gina (nearest blue jacket) is chatting with some of the scout group we shared the mountain w/ that day. If you squint just right, you can see another big (intact) volcano, Mt Adams, lurking around 25-30 miles in the distance.
Here you can see the smoldering lava dome that is growing upwards (supposedly at a rate of a truck load per hour) from the floor of the crater. The next shot shows the edge of the crater and then a lake and the blast zone to the north. Notice, still no trees, etc, just continuous stumps.
We thought the summit was the "big payoff" until we started heading down. Here's a couple of vids of Gina exiting the summit.
Next, we picked our way back down, taking the time to take a few more pictures than on the way up. Again, in the one we're in the snow, you can see big ole mt Adams in the distance. We could also (barely) make out Rainier to the north from the summit and the silhouette of mt Hood to the south as we were descending. Very clear day overall, not a cloud in the sky. A little hazy form moisture in the air (and a little smoky from the volcano and potentially CA wildfires).
Here's our campsite back at the trailhead where we collapsed after we got back. We were a little suprised to see the amount of snow at this level...
On the way home, we drove out to some observatories on the north side of the mountain (the side that blew off in the eruption. From here you can see into the crater and appreciate the destruction caused by the blast.
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