THE TEN THOUSAND SMOKES MONUMENT 



363 



Hagelbarger, volunteered to undertake 

 the journey and to extend the scientific 

 studies begun on the previous expedi- 

 tions. 



This party entered the valley not by 

 the route heretofore used from the Pa- 

 cific, but from the Bering Sea and Nak- 

 nek Lake. As they came in they were 

 able to explore much country hitherto 

 but little known, discovering three good- 

 sized lakes not previously shown on any 

 map, Lake Tom and the two Savonoski 

 lakes. They found the Naknek route by 

 far the best way to get supplies into the 

 country, and opened a trail up to the Val- 

 ley of Ten Thousand Smokes from the 

 head of the lake. 



The country is so smooth and open in 

 this direction that they consider it possi- 

 ble to use a motorcycle with a side-car 

 attachment as a substitute for man-back 

 packing. If this proves practicable, the 

 expedition of 1919 will be able to work 

 with a degree of comfort undreamed of 

 in former years. 



the; ten thousand smokes unchanged 



When they came up into sight of the 

 Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes they 

 saw at once that its volcanoes had not 

 changed appreciably in the year's inter- 

 val. In almost every detail the Smokes 

 were exactly the same as in 191 7. The 

 only change observed was in the dis- 

 covery of two areas of mud pots, which, 

 if present, were overlooked the year be- 

 fore (see page 366). The Cookstove, 

 Novarupta, and all the big vents were in 

 exactly the same condition as when last 

 seen. 



Falling Mountain continued its remark- 

 able activity, shooting off hundreds of 

 tons of rock daily. Never, during the 

 three seasons since it was discovered, has 

 there elapsed a five-minute interval dur- 

 ing periods of observation when its 

 slopes were quiet. Throughout all three 

 years great falls of rock have followed 

 each other in such rapid succession from 

 its lofty precipices that one avalanche of 

 galloping boulders hardly reaches the 

 bottom before another breaks loose from 

 the summit. 



Thus, although a series of rock-falls 

 would seem necessarily much more 

 ephemeral even than a volcano, the cause 



responsible for these avalanches on Fall- 

 ing Mountain, whatever it may be, has 

 been continuously operative over a long 

 period. It is very much hoped that the 

 work of the coming season may yield 

 some explanation of this remarkable 

 Falling Mountain top. 



SMOKE HOT ENOUGH TO MEET ZINC 



The party of 1918 made the first meas- 

 urements of the temperatures of the 

 vents. They were so much hotter than 

 had been expected that in 191 7 we had 

 been entirely unprepared to measure the 

 temperatures we encountered, and had to 

 resort to general descriptive terms in- 

 stead of the precise statements which we 

 would have desired. But in 1918 the ex- 

 pedition was supplied with suitable py- 

 rometers by the Geophysical Laboratory 

 of the Carnegie Institution and made 

 many records of temperature throughout 

 the valley. 



As was anticipated, most of the larger 

 vents were found to be far above the boil- 

 ing point of water. The valley is so hot 

 that hot springs, or geysers, are quite im- 

 possible in most places because all water 

 is instantly vaporized. Many of the 

 vents were found to be above 300 C. 

 (572 F.), while a number exceeded 400 

 C. The hottest, 432 C. (8io° F.), shown 

 on page 364, was hot enough to melt zinc 

 with ease. 



It is clear that the studies made thus 

 far give no indication of any diminution 

 in the Smokes, much less do they suggest 

 a probable date for their extinction. It 

 may be considered established, therefore, 

 that the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes 

 is a relatively permanent phenomenon. 



The pictures that have been brought 

 back have been sufficient to convince the 

 world that it is indeed one of the greatest 

 wonders of nature. But only those few 

 human beings who have been privileged 

 to enter the awesome confines of this 

 great nest of volcanoes can realize how 

 inadequate the pictures really are and how 

 poor the impressions they convey of the 

 real character of this wonder of wonders. 



Far better than still pictures would be 

 "movies," by which it would be possible 

 to give some idea of the size of the place 

 and of the ever-changing character of its 

 smokes ; how they surge up around the 



