THE VALLEY OF TEN THOUSAND SMOKES 



59 



I chose a path over the lava plateau 

 from near the base of the mud-flow. 

 From the valley the ground did not seem 

 especially favorable, and we were by no 

 means sure of reaching the rim when we 

 started ; but I was anxious to examine 

 the Trident at close range, and especially 

 to see what might be behind the isthmus 

 connecting it with Katmai, because of our 

 suspicions of activity in that direction. 



We got a fine view of Trident, whose 

 crater proved to be a simple fissure, out 

 of which steam was continually issuing 

 in a comparatively small volume (see 

 page 65). But we were disappointed in 

 our hopes of seeing anything over the 

 divide between Trident and Katmai. 



Although we traversed the whole 

 length of the nearly level neve at an alti- 

 tude of about 4,200 feet, we could see no 

 indications of volcanic activity beyond. 

 There were several jagged minor sum- 

 mits, but no large mountain and no 

 clouds ; so that we quite dismissed the 

 idea of a volcano in that quarter. 



How greatly in error I was in this con- 

 clusion I w T as to find only the next day. 



For a good share of the way beyond 

 2,coo feet our path this time lay across 

 the lines of drainage, which had gashed 

 the level surface of the ash with innumer- 

 able gullies anywhere from two to ten 

 feet deep. On our first ascent we had 

 followed straight up a single ridge, and so 

 avoided the necessity of crossing the gul- 

 lies. This time w r e soon found that con- 

 tinued jumping across or scrambling up 

 and down the sides of these ravines is 

 very fatiguing and were thoroughly tired 

 of the job long before we got through 

 them. 



For the last 1,500 feet our way led 

 across much - crevassed snowfields and 

 glaciers, which, while easier going for 

 the most part, kept us in constant fear 

 of cave-ins on account of the uncertain 

 conditions introduced by the ash-fall. In 

 places we traversed as nasty a series of 

 seracs as one would care to find. 



We found that the glacial seracs ex- 

 tended clear up to the very rim of the 

 crater, above whose depths the loose 

 blocks hung with a precarious bold. 



We did not dare to approach the edge 

 over such ground and had to make our 



way around, descending somewhat until 

 we finally reached the rim at the lowest 

 notch, at an altitude of 5,200 feet, beside 

 the rock which breaks the regularity of 

 the arc at that point (see page 56). 



This from the valley appears as a small 

 tooth-like projection. Near at hand it is 

 seen to be a great neck of jointed col- 

 umnar basalt two or three hundred feet 

 high, which evidently owes its preserva- 

 tion to its superior hardness, which en- 

 abled it to resist the force of the explo- 

 sion that blew away the softer rock all 

 around it. Its position and structure in- 

 dicate that it was formerly a vent filled 

 with liquid lava which, cooling in place, 

 formed the massive neck that remains. 



INABILITY TO JUDGE HEIGHT OR DISTANCE 



From our position directly under it, its 

 perpendicular cliffs, though insignificant 

 from the valley, appeared immeasurably 

 high ! Frequently in this land of stu- 

 pendous dimensions we had occasion to 

 realize how little conception we could 

 really form of the true sizes of the fea- 

 tures around us. 



When one stands directly beneath a 

 cliff or at its brink and looks up or down, 

 200 feet appears as an immeasurably 

 great height. Ten times as much appears 

 no greater unless there are trees, houses, 

 or some such familiar objects beyond, by 

 which one can form an independent judg- 

 ment of their distance. In a desert coun- 

 try without such objects, we were fre- 

 quently unable to form any estimate at 

 all of the size of the various features 

 which met our view. 



We had an amusing instance of this 

 when, sending a man to climb the great 

 ash slide to serve as a scale for a picture, 

 I found that he was hardly visible to the 

 naked eye and utterly lost in the picture 

 (see page 42). We nearly always found 

 that our estimates were too small rather 

 than too large, and throughout the pres- 

 ent paper I have endeavored to scale 

 down my statements of size, so that any 

 errors should be in the direction of min- 

 imizing rather than of exaggerating the 

 things we have to report. 



Standing on the edge of the crater, we 

 recognized our total inability to form any 

 judgment of its depth by the ordinary 



