Ever Been Inside a Volcano?

In the September, 1931, issue of National Geographic Magazine, Bernard R. Hubbard, S.J., writes, "We had thought ourselves sated with years of Alaskan exploration, yet Aniakchak Volcano revealed to us new wonders. . . it encircles with its 3,000-foot walls a variety of scenic features and an abounding bird, animal, fish, and plant life that make it a world in itself - a world inside a mountain" ("A World Inside a Mountain: Aniakchak, the New Volcanic Wonderland of the Alaska Peninsula, is Explored," p. 319).

Mount Aniakchak is situated on the southwestern peninsula of Alaska.  It was discovered in 1922.  At that time three volcanoes to the north were sending up plumes of smoke: Martin, Mageik, and Kukuk.  Aniakchak has a rim 21 miles in circumference - BIG!

Mr. Bernard, chair of the Geology Department at University of Santa Clara, California, U.S.A., ("S.J." after his name means he is a member of the religious Jesuit order) took an exploring party and their supplies up the Aniakchak River in a motorboat, then set out on foot with 100-pound backpacks to reach the volcano.

The hikers followed bear tracks (much larger than the men's bootprints in the snow!) into the Aniakchak volcano's crater.  It was still "smoking" from the fumaroles (vents).  "Tufts of fur about the vents prove that the animals use these natural Turkish baths to help them shed their winter fur" (photo caption, p. 328).

They found "a majestic Vent Mountain, with snow-covered truncated top, rising 2,200 feet from the 30-square-mile floor of the crater - volcano within a volcano!" (p. 329).  They also found the source of a river in a cave in the hardened lava.

Hubbard continues his account, "We had expected to find nothing but sterile wastes inside the volcano, and the amount and variety of life astonished us."  There were many kinds of birds, including eagles and sea gulls. The lake was a spawning bed for salmon.  In addition to bears were foxes.  "The fish, game, and bird life was even surpassed by the variety and profusion of flowers, particularly orchids"  (p. 332).  The Chignik Aleutian natives lived nearby.

The party found a part of the crater with so many smoking vents, they called it "The little Valley of a Hundred Smokes."  This was considered their greatest discovery since Aniakchak was supposed to be a dead volcano. "Our finding of activity not only changed its classification but identifies it as the largest explosive active crater in the world" (p. 340). The colors of the hardened lava were terra cotta red, black, and vivid red, made even brighter by the surrounding snow. At one point they found a tall column of obsidian, black glass tubes, 600 feet tall and one mile long. Many prehistoric fossils were found in the volcano.

The stream bed and rocks are colored a deep orange by the iron-soda-bicarbonate water of the springs, and the near-by shores of the lake look as if strewn with a bargeload of oranges. . . following the example of our bear friends, we drank freely" from the lake. (p. 341).

Mr. Hubbard concludes, "After living two weeks inside its protecting walls, we were loathe to leave our volcanic wonder world" (p. 342).

My mother considered the cruise she and dad made to Alaska as her favorite.  Those of my friends who have traveled to the Alaska mainland agree.  Perhaps someday I, too, will be able to venture to this beautiful State of America!