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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Photograph by D. B. Chi 



TH£ TRAIL UP TO KATMAI PASS 



The way led over permanent snow-drifts, for the snow had been covered with ash during 

 the eruption of Mt. Katmai, and this coating protects the drifts from the sun's rays. All the 

 supplies for the camp had to be carried laboriously on the backs of the men through this pass 

 into the valley. 



bay, taking the shortest route to the vol- 

 cano. But in 191 7 we landed on the south 

 side, near Kashvik Bay. Here we found 

 a beach which, while apparently exposed 

 to the storms, was in reality so protected 

 by an offshore reef as to be much safer 

 than Katmai beach, affording the best 

 landing for many miles along the coast. 

 Even as it was, however, one of the 

 dories carrying our stuff to the ship on 

 the return was nearly swamped, so that 

 our outfit was considerably damaged by 

 salt water. 



FIRST SIGHT OF MT. KATMAI 



' By landing to the south of Katmai Bay, 

 we had the added advantage of being able 

 to place our base camp in a district unaf- 

 fected by the eruption, for this area lay 

 to one side of the great ash cloud which 

 was carried to Kodiak on the west wind. 

 This fact enabled us to carry on impor- 

 tant biological studies in the comparison 



of devastated with undevastated country, 

 which our situation had precluded on the 

 previous expeditions. 



Our first sight of Mt. Katmai came the 

 day after we landed. Familiar as I was 

 with the volcano from the work of the 

 two previous seasons, its enormous size 

 struck me as a new surprise. Here from 

 a distance of over 20 miles the mountain 

 loomed up so much bigger than the nearer 

 mountains as to dwarf them. The great 

 jagged edges impressed us all with a new 

 conception of the immensity of the crater 

 within. 



Some of the new members of the expe- 

 dition, seeing the volcano for the first 

 time, accused me of not having given a 

 correct impression of it in the article of 

 19 1 7. They had not expected anything 

 nearly so big. As I looked at it, stand- 

 ing three or four times higher than the 

 clouds which drifted up the valley, I 

 could not restrain a feeling of pride that 



