Category: volcanoes

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flooded – Valley of Geysers, Kamchatka

Just today we posted our first hiking recommendation for Kamchatka, Russia — having missed completely the news story being reported over the past week:

Scientists mourn devastation of Valley of Geysers

Wildlife in the Valley of Geysers may be threatened by the rubble that has caused flooding (below).

Teams of scientists have been sent to the Valley of Geysers, on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the far east of Russia, to report on the condition of the World Heritage site after a massive landslide in the Kronotsky national reserve.

The slide, which lasted only seconds on 3 June, loosed an estimated 4.5 million cubic metres of rock, gravel, snow and ice. A deluge of material into the Geyser River created a dam the size of 30 football fields, officials estimated. This has since been breached by waters building up behind the dam, clearing some of the valley and allowing at least some of the geysers to spout again.

The extent of damage to the region is unclear, including to scientists contacted by Nature who have study sites in the area.

news @ nature.com – Scientists mourn devastation of Valley of Geysers …

See a sobering series of before-and-after photos.

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Igor Shpilenok

No humans were injured.

Volcanic disruptions like this happen over and over, geologically speaking.

It may be attractive for hikers to see how the landscape recovers as they do at Mt. Saint Helens in Washington State.

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Wonderland in August?

UPDATE: Mount Rainier National Park is not issuing permits for the entire length of the Wonderland Trail in 2007. Only sections. Check the website: WTA.org

Wonderland Trail, Mt. Ranier, Washington, is one of the best hikes in the world.

However, it’s taken a lot of storm damage over the past winter. Not all trails will be open for 2008, I believe.

ed_529_rainier_broken_bridge.jpgOn the other hand, this adds interest and challenge to an already unbelievable hike.

I would like to do the wonderland trail 9-12 days. preferably have other married woman like myself. husband doesn’t like to hike.

The responder should be a strong hiker. (lot of ground to cover but would be life altering experience.) I plan to do the hike in august 24-sept 2 if you think you can do this e-mail me

sgiglenda @ yahoo.com

Wonderland Trail – besthike information page

bridge photo – Washington Trails Association

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El Misti volcano, Peru

El Misti (5827m / 19,117 ft), in Peru is perhaps the easiest way to hike HIGH anywhere in the world. We think.

I did it solo myself in 2005.

It looks so tempting from the hotel roof in Arequipa.

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But it’s not always that easy, as Eu-Jin Goh from California found on his adventure.

We signed up for a trip to El Misti with Zarate Expediciones. It cost more than the other agencies but we were quite keen to go on the trip with Carlos Zarate (84 years old at the time) who discovered a number of Inca sacrifices at the top of volcanoes near Arequipa.

… Carlos was full of information about his climbs in the area, he would frequently point at something and tell us that he found x number of mummies and Inca artifacts x number of years ago. In fact, our trip was his 384th summit of El Misti!

For a walkup, El Misti was physically strenuous for several reasons:

1) we were barely acclimitized for those heights after spending two nights at 2000 meters (Arequipa) and one night at 3600 meters (Chivay), and no real physical exertion at those altitudes.

2) This period was the second day of my 12 day bout with food poisoning and a bad cold that plagued me through the trip.

3) The trailhead was at 3415 m (11,204 ft) and the summit was at 5827 m (19,117 ft), translating to an elevation gain of almost 8,000 ft to be covered over two days.

4) There’s no water on the mountain and we had to carry 12 liters for both of us for 2 days.

5) I forgot to pack my energy drinks to Peru, which would have been quite helpful since I couldn’t eat any solid food. On hindsight, I think a better choice for acclimitization is Chachani because, although higher, it is an easier climb since from trailhead to summit is only 1000 meters over 2 days.

When we reached the crater rim, it started to snow, and Serene and I hurried to make the summit before the weather broke completely. We ended up descending at the start of a snowstorm that plastered the upper part of the mountain with snow that was visible from Arequipa the next day.

El Misti (5827m / 19,117 ft), Peru – Eu-Jin Goh photos

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Details on how to organize a trip there for yourself on our Misti information page.

If you opt for Zarate Expeditions and/or climb Chachani instead, know that not everyone is happy.

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VOLCANIC TRAVERSE hike in Alaska

Mark Scanlan recommended the Nabesna area of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, the largest in the USA.

The jumping off point is Anchorage.

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… two rough gravel roads (the McCarthy Road and the Nabesna Road) wind through the park, making much of the interior accessible for backcountry camping and hiking. Chartered aircraft also fly into the park. Wrangell-St. Elias received roughly 57,221 visitors in 2004

Of the Nabesna trail options, the National Park Service website highlights a new adventure they call the Sanford-Dadina Plateau “Volcanic Traverse”.

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DISTANCE: 15 miles one way. 4-8 days depending on route and side trips.

ACCESS: Fly-in by air taxi from Gulkana Airport to upper Sanford River. Pickup from strip along Dadina River.

DIFFICULTY: Difficult. Requires extensive route finding (no trails), crossing glacial moraine, brush, steep rocky hill-sides with loose material, and negotiating swift but relatively small rivers.

HIGHLIGHTS: A wild and remote area with unsurpassed scenery. Volcanic peaks (Mount Drum 12,010’, Mount Sanford 16,237’, and Mount Wrangell 14,163’), alpine tundra, and splendid isolation. Watch for sign of caribou, Dall sheep, moose, bison, and ptarmigan.

linked via National Park Service Wrangell-St. Elias Hiking Routes

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why The Adventure Blogger went to Kilimanjaro

Having never been there, I was envious reading Kraig Becker’s Kili trip reports on his Adventure Blogger site.

Now he’s been interviewed on The Outdoor Weblog:

Honestly, I’ve been thinking about this trip for four years now. I saw an IMAX film by David Breashears on Kilimanjaro and I was fascinated with the thought of trekking and climbing the mountain. I think I went home and started researching it right after seeing the movie.
The Outdoor Weblog: The Outdoor Enthusiast Next Door: Kraig Becker (Part 2)

Kraig and guides Peter and Zawadi at the Lava Tower:

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photo by Colm Donohoe

My turn is coming. One day. …

I want to try for a double: Mt. Meru followed by Kilimanjaro.

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hiking Mount St. Helens, Washington

One of the best hikes in the world is scrambling Mount St. Helens Monitor Ridge (information page).

But when a hiking buddy Rocco told me he was travelling to Portland, Oregon for a wedding, I insisted he and his partner hike Mount St. Helens.

“It’s only 53mi (85km) NE of Portland. You can’t miss this opportunity!”

Luckily, Rocco’s partner is a keen hiker, as well.

They won’t climb the famous peak, instead dayhiking the devastated volcanic landscape. It’s fascinating.

Check this trip report by Jack Olsen, for a glimpse:

Much to my disappointment, we witnessed no eruptions today. Nonetheless, it was a great nine-mile hike on what is likely the youngest, naturally-formed terrain we’ve ever traversed.

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<blockquote

Today’s challenge was to mantle a seven foot pole with a four inch diameter and then just for sake of a picture, perform the yoga pose known as Vrksasana or Tree-Pose. Please excuse the sloppiness of my pose; I was wearing jeans and have gone at least a year without practice.

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Mount St. Helens « Read What I’ve Got to Say

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Tongariro Northern Circuit in 10.5hrs

Craig Stanton from New Zealand is preparing to start the Pacific Crest Trail in April. He’s got a great website — PCT2007.org — and looks very organized.

Looks like Craig will be ready for the PCT. He blazed through one of our top 10 hikes.

Yesterday I completed the challenge I was unable to finish last week.

Under perfect skies I hiked, and at some points ran, the Tongariro Northern Circuit in one day.

Less than 10.5 hours actually, and I’m pretty pleased with that because usually it is billed as 3-4 days … (read more)

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photo – atop Kilimanjaro

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original, uploaded by Bzzzt.

Machame route from Moshi to Uhuru peak. Check out Ringo Expeditions and talk to Adam there if you want a good guide and crew.

more Kili photos – flickr – posted by Christian LøverÃ¥s, Norway.

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hiking New Zealand – North island

new_zealand3.jpgphoto – Mt. Taranaki

We’ve just subscribed to Outdoor Video Magazine, a classy looking blog with quality posts some of which include short video clips.

Most people that go to New Zealand spend most of their time on the South Island, especially if they are outdoor enthusiasts. This is a mistake in my humble opinion. The North Island is almost equally cool, and it actually beats the South Island in terms of it’s variety of scenery and terrain, although it lacks the big mountain ranges obviously. It has spectacular volcanic scenery, crazy coloured lakes and rocks, a Mt Fuji look-alike to summit, beautiful coast, and tropical forest.

I wouldn’t normally recommend a Lonely Planet book, I don’t think they do the best travel guides. However, in this case I will make an exception and say the Lonely Planet’s Tramping in New Zealand is an excellent purchase. Its well written, really easy to follow and find tramps (that’s Kiwi for hikes by the way), and has a range of difficulty from easy to pretty hard (e.g. the 10 day North West Circuit on Stewart Island).

The ‘have to do’ hikes on the North Island in my opinion are: Tongariro Northern Circuit, Mt Taranaki and then something in the East Coast/Hawke’s Bay; either the Lake Waikaremoana Track or if you want something less busy and a bit wilder the Manuoha to Waikareti Track.

Hiking in New Zealand – North Island · Outdoor Video Magazine

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Outdoor Video Magazine