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Mt St Helen Photo

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CI:
I ran across this photo taken by Dick Lasher, who according to the story told by a co-worker, was running late, trying to get to Mt St Helen to witness the eruption.
Fascinating photo for sure.
If my position is correct, I would say he missed death by seconds.

https://vintagenewsdaily.com/the-story-behind-one-of-the-most-striking-photos-of-the-mount-st-helens-eruption-after-40-years/

I have pondered where exactly he must have been located in order to be this close to the eruption, and yet survive it.
I started looking on various maps, satellite views, etc., and using street-view to travel down the path along the east side of Mt St Helen, to find a spot where the terrain matched the photo.

After looking for months, I was not really coming up with a good match.
There is a very steep hill on the left, and a valley visible through the V-shape in the road ahead.
The mountain appears due west of his car.

Finally I remembered that g-earth had 3D views, and so I started searching roads to the east of the mountain.
I found one someone good fit that was pretty much due east of the moutain, but there was not a view through the V in the road of the valley beyond.

I moved one ridge over towards the west, which seemed to be to be in an unsurvivable area, and got pretty much a perfect match for his photo.
Tall ridge on the left with rock outcrops, and the valley in front visible through the V.
I figured he could not have been this close to the mountain and survived though, because the trees in the valley directly in front of his photo were flattened by the blast, and there were four deaths in the immediate vicinity of where he was, with temperatures estimated to be 680 F.

Then I read the narrative by his coworker, and it mentions that Dick was right at the edge of where the trees were flattened.

The narrative mentions that he turned around after the blast, and so that would have had him heading back towards the east, and downhill into a valley that had intact trees.
The four deaths in that area were on the west side of where he took the photo.

Talk about cheating death, and in a very dangerous exploding Pinto no less.

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CI:
Here is where I think Dick took the photo.
I can't find any other areas that match the terrain in his photo.
Seems like his is in a survivable area, by a razor thin margin.

The lat long coordinates are in one of the screen captures, so this exact spot can be found on an online map that takes lat long, or whatever coordinates those are.

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CI:
This is the death zone map, with the number of deaths in circles.
I suspect the fact that Dick immediately retreated down into the valley to the east is what saved him.

https://www.columbian.com/news/2010/may/18/interactive-map-mount-st-helens-eruption-victims/

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CI:
This news cameraman appeared to be in the same general area as Dick Lasher, and judging from the video, he almost was asphyxiated by the dust and fumes.
I thought I did dangerous stuff with a hot foundry, but these guys won the lottery of life that day, and so narrowly cheated death.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pO7DNs6LBBA

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crueby:
Oh. My.  Bet he invented some new words when he saw what was happening!  Amazing picture!

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