Mt. Fitzherbert

While on most late fall days the clouds obscure new growth, the meters on the mountain don't lie: Mount St. Helens continues to build a new mountaintop at a rapid rate.

According to recent reports from the U.S. Geological Survey, the lava dome had grown to nearly 800 feet high and covers 70 acres in the volcano's mile-wide crater. Geologists say the subsurface magma, the cause of the recent steady stream of earthquakes and steam that began in late September, is pushing the dome skyward with no indication of letting up.