Novarupta

The Novarupta plug and Falling Mountain

After we climbed to the caldera, hiking to Novarupta was our "rest" day. I don't think I can accurately describe in words how freaking cool it was to stand in the site of the largest eruption of the 20th century. All of that pumice in the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes and all of the ash that fell on Kodiak came from this volcano (Novarupta siphoned material from below Mount Katmai, and as a result Katmai collapsed creating a crater/caldera, but Katmai itself did not erupt). Ryan read that the Novarupta volcano is actually quite a bit wider than the plug that you see today - that plug is just the evidence of the last little event of the eruption.

We were able to climb up onto and around the plug. This is the only area in the valley that is still steaming (at least that we saw). Even around the base of the plug there were tons of steam vents. We saw some really nice flat spots at the base of the Novarupta plug on the north side that would be great for camping if anyone is looking for a good spot. There were still water sources from snow melt in this area when we were there, but with a low snow year like this, they won't last all summer.

pumice

This crack in the rock is a steam vent

On top of the Novarupta plug