- Photograph by R. F. Griggs 

 STUCK IN THE MUD ON THE WAY UP TO THE CRATER 

 The slopes of the volcano are covered with soft, sticky mud and slush (see text, page 51) 



flows, with the river hidden within the 

 lower gorge, this resembled greatly the 

 Grand Canyon of the Colorado, and in- 

 deed, except for its shortness, rivaled the 

 latter in its proportions, for it is about 

 4,000 feet deep, of which about 1,500 

 feet is the inner gorge, cut through beau- 

 tiful delicate green rocks, not to be 

 matched in the Grand Canyon (see pages 

 55 anQ 58). 



STEAM FROM THE CRATER OBSCURES THE 

 SUMMIT 



Long before we reached the brim the 

 hard work had begun to tell on us and 

 we were becoming tired, especially 

 Church and Folsom, who were carrying 

 packs. Mr. Church in particular deserves 

 great credit for lugging the big camera, 

 with its tripod weighing 20 pounds, to the 

 summit. He told me afterward that he 

 could never have done it except for two 

 facts — that he was hitched to a rope and 

 could not get away and the fear that if 

 we turned back today we would have it 

 all to do over again tomorrow. 



As it began to cloud up, we were afraid 

 we would not be able to see anything if 

 we did reach the rim. All the other sum- 

 mits as far as we could see were clear, 



but Katmai became densely covered with 

 black, heavy clouds which permitted only 

 occasional glimpses of the top. Further- 

 more, we were on the lee side of the 

 crater instead of to windward, as we 

 should have been. We knew these clouds 

 must be due, in part at least, to the activ- 

 ity of the volcano, because of the strong 

 sulphurous odor which filled the air, but 

 could not tell how much was to be attrib- 

 uted to this cause and how much was 

 simply due to the greater altitude of the 

 volcano. 



As we came closer we could see that 

 the clouds were in rapid motion, coming 

 straight up out of the crater. What if 

 we should reach the rim only to poke 

 our noses into a steam jet through which 

 we could see nothing ! Nevertheless we 

 were unwilling to give up now without 

 at least a try, and so we pressed on. 



THE CRATER 



Finally, at 5,500 feet, we reached the 

 rim. The inside wall was standing nearly 

 perpendicular and great masses of snow 

 and mud were cracked off from the 

 edges, ready to fall in ; so that I did not 

 dare to look over the edge, even though 

 anchored by the rope, until I could find a 



53 



