re: #55 Pawn of the Oppressor

Oh geez… When I saw the videos I thought it was really great luck that nobody was killed.

The 2nd video of the ash blanketing the hikers was frightening. If I had been there, out for a hike, and I saw that cloud coming, I would certainly have thought “pyroclastic flow”, and that I was about to die.

I think I’d prefer to go in a pyroclastic flow than suffocating under the ash.

I know I’ve seen this described elsewhere on the net as a pyroclastic flow but the sheer number of hikers on the volcano who survived - even after being engulfed - seriously argues against that to me. Certainly no indications of superheated gas, at least, which goes against the standard definition of a pyroclastic flow.

Granted, I am not a volcanologist, so. This is my vaguely informed opinion and nothing more.