Hey Folks,
On Sunday July 13th. I was hiking out in the Columbia River Gorge. I do this so I can be in shape to climb Saint Helen's and Adams. I had initially planned to climb and ski Mt Adams on this weekend, but could not get anyone to join me. So I'm coming home from my hike and look to the east for a second and I see this huge cloud. I thought, "Adams Erupted". So instead of heading home I headed to the Mountain to have a look. This is a panoramic image (about 7 shots stitched together) of the Cold Springs Fire at the base of Mt Adams, (I took the shot from the high school in Trout Lake). I would have parked my car where the fire is burning had I climbed. The Mountain is 12,000 feet high, so I would put the clouds at about 30k. I will be climbing this weekend the 18th, but I'm going up the North Side. It is open and about 50 miles from the fires. The rangers said it is still open and there is no danger of being in the way of the fire. I hope to take a shot of the fire from the top;)
-Marc