Mount Baker in the sunshine

Photo by Lee Lageschulte

These recent sunny days have afforded some great views, like this one of Mount Baker from the Edmonds waterfront.

I did a little Googling to see if I could find a simple explanation of why it always looks like the top is flat. All I really figured out is that it's a volcano and our view is from a previous eruption that took off part of the peak.

I was surprised to find that Baker is a lahar, just like Rainier. These volcanoes don't erupt, they heat up and melt the massive depth of snow cover, which mixes with the earth and creates a enormous mudslide.

Rainier's last lahar ended up in Puget Sound. Baker's changed the course of a river.

No one expects either to erupt any time soon and both are heavily monitored, just to be sure.

--Diane Hettrick