Kamchatka

 
 

In August of 2004 I attended a volcanology field camp, hosted by the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF). This page is to be dedicated to show what the members of our field camp saw and learned while in Kamchatka. I would imagine that this site will be under construction for some time, so check back frequently and press the refresh button on your browser, to find out what is new here. If you were a member of the field camp, and wish to add to this site, please E-mail me with images, and text descriptions at ckie611@sulross.edu . I also think it would be great if this site could serve as a reference to the presentations given during field camp. If you could E-mail me your Power Point file or Word Document, Illustrator Poster, etc., and a decryption of your presentation, I will include those here as well. Thanks, Charles.

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This was the first picture that I took in Kamchatka, we were backpacking into our main camp. Click on the Image to view Full Screen (If you do this you will need to scroll to see the whole image)

 

Our first day trip in Kamchatka was extremely spectacular. We climbed from our base camp into the crater of Mutnovsky Volcano. The first image I would like to present is a 360deg view from inside Mutnovsky Crater. Click on the Image to view Full Screen (If you do this you will need to scroll to see the whole image) This is a view from the crator of Mutnovsky Volcano. The frozen lake below was hot one year ago. Fumearoles on the left hand side of the screen have been measured to be up to 600deg C.
Click Here for the Smithsonian Volcanic Web Site Description of Mutnovsky

This waterfall falls into a canyon inscribed into the upper slopes of Mutnovsky. Steam rising from the same vent in the picture above is seen on the right hand side of the picture below. (Click on Picture for Larger Image)

After three days of rain and or fog, we had a day questionably nice day. We went on a relatively short hike to look at a basalt flow. In order to get there we had to cross the dreaded "Sandblast Sea". The sandblast sea is a large flat plain covered with volcanic dust. When the wind picks up visibility rapidly drops, and you get sandblasted as you cross to the other side, which is more than a kilometer. This Image is of the northern end of the "Sandblast Sea" on a nice day. We crossed the "Sandblast Sea" on our hike to and from the Mutnovsky power plant, and we were really blasted. (Click on Picture for Larger Image)

The image below is looking out at Mutnovsky in the background, down into the newest of the 4 Gorely Volcanic Craters. (Click on Picture for Larger Image)

Click Here for the Smithsonian Web Site Description of Gorely

This image is from the other side of Gorely. This is an older Gorely crater lake. (Click on Picture for Larger Image)

This is a picture of the "Iron Man", standing on top of Gorely, with Mutnovsky in the background. (Click on Picture for Larger Image)

This was the start of the "Waterfall Hike", or "Bushwhacking Hike" in the foothills underneath Mutnovsky. This shot looks down into a very steep deep canyon inscribed in the side of Mutnovsky. (Click on Picture for Larger Image)

Later in the day, after pioneering a path by bushwhacking on steep slopes, we reached several waterfalls deep in the valley, beneath Mutnovsky. (Click on Picture for Larger Image)