Photograph by L,. G. Folsom 

 PHOTOGRAPHING THE CRATER, SECOND ASCENT 



The two sides of the canyon show very- 

 different rock structure. The east wall 

 is a 1,500-foot cliff, of delicate green sed- 

 imentaries, but little metamorphosed, al- 

 though shot through by numerous dikes 

 of igneous rock, also pale green. But on 

 the west the river is hemmed in by great 

 mahogany - colored lava flows, whose 

 massive cliffs rise 2.000 to 2,500 feet be- 

 fore giving way to the gentler slopes of 

 the plateau. At least three successive 

 flows may be made out lying superposed 

 one on the other. All appear to have 

 come from Katmai itself, but none of 

 them is recent. 



In the more exposed situations the 

 wind has often cut through the different 

 layers of ash, leaving the hillsides marked 

 with many bands and circles, where de- 

 posits of different colors have been alter- 

 nately uncovered. 



EXPERIENCES IN A TERRIFIC GALE 



Where the unprotected positions were 

 occupied by birches, their dead trunks 

 often bear evidence of the power of wind 

 erosion ; for on the northwest side their 

 bark has been all cut away, and in many 

 cases the wood deeply abraded by pieces 

 of ash and pumice flying before the wind 

 (see page 66). 



But even such evidences of the power 

 of the wind could not have given us any 

 conception of the terrific violence of the 



gales if we had not had the misfortune 

 to experience one. For 48 hours it blew 

 with such fury that we were in constant 

 fear lest our tent should be torn to shreds. 

 I would never have supposed that any 

 tent could have stood up under the strain. 

 We had it double-guyed at each end with 

 our Alpine rope, but were not able to 

 keep the pegs from pulling out at the 

 bottom. We could not have held it down 

 without the floor. Several times we held 

 it in place by lying on the floor until the 

 pegs could be driven in again around the 

 bottom (see also pages 17 and 26). 



Only less noisy was the bombardment 

 of the sand-blast, which drove against the 

 tent like showers of hail. The power of 

 the wind was such that pieces of pumice 

 even an inch in diameter were picked up 

 and carried away, while others twice as 

 big went rolling along the slopes. 



The wind was so fierce that we could 

 not keep a fire, nor could we have cooked 

 anything if we had, for we no sooner put 

 on a kettle of water than it began to fill 

 with sand, so that it could not be used. 



THE SECOND ASCENT 



On July 30, for the first time since our 

 arrival in the valley, the steam from 

 Mageik rose straight up into a cloudless 

 sky (see page 30). We therefore decided 

 the conditions auspicious to try for a 

 second view into the crater. This time 



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