Mt. Fitzherbert

MOUNT ST. HELENS — Forest or mountaintop, which will return first?

In a colossal race between natural processes, scientists are watching geological and ecological forces race each other in real time. Some are beginning to wonder whether the erupting mountain will rebuild its once-conical top before a forest returns to its surroundings.

"It really could be a kind of competition, so to speak," said John Pallister, a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Vancouver.