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The eruption of 6-9 June 1912 was the most voluminous of the twentieth century, |
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Katmai’s Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, August 2004 |
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After our Mount Griggs summit climb, we strode forth up the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes for more adventure Here, Jobe Wymore and Rick Trujillo head deeper into the valley while Mount Griggs passes in review |
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Clouds boiled over the peaks at the head of the valley as we approached in wonderment, and with a little bit of trepidation | |
BLA-LOOM! Like hell! It is the mountain. The mountain is doing something. |
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Our goal for the day was to cross back to the south side of Knife Creek and find clear water for a second camp After several miles, we decided to head down this dry side canyon and inspect the unseen but dreaded obstacle Broken Mountain rises beyond Knife Creek, and of course we named the false summit on the left, “Ka-Boosted” |
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Unseen from a distance, the barrier to cross-valley travel that Knife Creek presents is indeed formidable Here, high in the valley, the roaring creek has spent most of the last century cutting a gorge into the welded tuff |
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We nervously inspected this 12-foot gap as a possible crossing place Perhaps an Olympic broad jumper could make the leap safely, but with our heavy packs we rejected this dubious opportunity and continued our search upstream for a safe crossing |
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Once again on the dry side, we thirstily eyed this clear water creek on the far side of the gorge | |
With the weather improving and Griggs watching we went upstream until Knife Creek
split into three forks and tackled them one-by-one The north fork was the first and easiest crossing, providing a narrow step across that we could do with our packs on |
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Farther upstream, we looked down on the middle and south forks The south fork (top) looked easy to wade, but the middle fork carried most of the water, and was still too deep for a safe crossing Note the sand waves in the south fork |
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Just before reaching the glacier, we found what we were looking for - an open, braided portion of Knife Creek | |
Picking our route through the braids carefully and probing ahead for hidden gorges, we waded across | |
We pitched Camp 2 near the clear water creek that we had admired earlier, and enjoyed a stunning view of Mount Griggs | |
And then one old man from Katmai started hollering and telling people about their water. “Put away as much water as you can and store it, reserve it. Wherever ashes come down, there will be no water to drink anywhere. Turn your boats upside down. They will be filled up with ash.” He knows everything, that old fellow. |
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Like kids playing in the world’s largest sandbox, the next morning saw us charging up the slopes of Broken Mountain | |
Pausing on top of “Ka-Boosted,” Chad Alber examines the remaining hike to the top of Broken Mountain | |
Some erosion gullies between Broken and Baked Mountains While interesting to look at, these gullies require hubris to walk across |
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And then afternoon - sometime in the afternoon - it was just like this, bright sunshine, hot, no wind, that’s when the volcano started. Started snowing like that fine pumice coming down. Make a lot of noise, the size of rice, some of it, some of it smaller, and some of it bigger, and some of it was as big as a kettle or pot. Kaflia Bay started to get white gradually. That water used to be blue, flat calm, no wind; and started to get white, white, white, and pretty soon all white and dark, dark came. Dark didn’t come all of a sudden, it comes gradually. Getting darker and darker and darker, and pretty soon, pitch black. So black even if you put your hand two or three inches from your face outside you can’t see it ‘cause it was so dark. And then the people started to gather up. |
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Donning our extra clothes against the rising wind, we left Broken Mountain behind, and headed for Baked Mountain We had been warned about the wind out here, and today got to suffer it firsthand |
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Rick Trujillo striding across the Baked-Broken saddle As our views started to open toward the western part of the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, the extent of the destruction that took place here expanded in our minds We walked in a wonderful wasteland that excited us in strange new ways |
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Our battle for Baked begins in the rising wind | |
The loneliness of the Katmai climber Chad Alber fights up the slopes of Baked Mountain in a now ferocious wind |
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The battle for Baked continues Baked’s lower slopes are covered by tuff from the 1912 eruption, but the black summit rock is the original mountain |
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From the false summit “Half Baked,” the summit of Baked juts above the dust storm below | |
Brad balances up Baked’s wind-blasted summit ridge while Broken broods behind | |
Gerry Roach braces against the blast on top of Baked while Mount Mageik matches the mood | |
The Katmai mountain blew up with lots of fire and fire came down trail from Katmai with lots of smoke. We go fast Savonoski. Everybody get bidarka (skin boat). Helluva job. We come Naknek one day, dark, no could see. Hot ash fall. Work like hell. |
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The next day we set out under calmer skies to explore Novarupta while Mount Trident watched | |
Bear tracks near Novarupta, which prove that bears do visit this desolate place | |
From the top of the Turtle, we had our first good view of Novarupta with Falling Mountain and Mount Mageik behind Novarupta was the center of the 1912 eruption, which truncated Falling Mountain - the burp of lava that is Novarupta today was just the volcano’s afterthought |
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Brad Alber contemplating Novarupta and the enormous forces that shaped this unique landscape | |
It get hot in those barabaras. We pull off all our clothes. We soak them in water and put them over our face. Those peoples who have mosses in their barabara pour water over those mosses and put them over their nose and mouth so they can breathe. After a while we open the door and try to see out. All black, everywhere. A little bird fly into barabara. He can’t see where he go. We childrens wash his eyes with water and he stay in barabara with us. |
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Jobe Wymore heading for Falling Mountain |
A summit ride to remember Jobe Wymore floating toward the summit of Falling Mountain |
Cerberus from the top of Falling In Greek and Roman mythology, Cerberus is a multi-headed monster in the shape of a dog who guards the entrance into Hades - the home of the dead |
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Mighty Mount Mageik from the top of Falling | |
Light is coming. Oh boy, just like snow. Can’t see nothing. No kind of tree. All white to mountain. No kind of beach. No bluff. Nothing. All white, the big river. Filled up. No running, the water. Just like cement. That time get hard, boy. Lots of animals that time killed. Lots killed - the bear, ducks and everything. |
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Light is coming Oh boy |
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Gerry took the above photos in August, 2004 | |
Continue to the Flight |
Copyright © 2001-2023 by Gerry Roach. All Rights Reserved. |