Park notes
SCIENTIFIC EXPEDITIONS AND RESEARCH
EARLY SCIENTIFIC EXPEDITIONS and researchers were drawn to the Katmai region to study the effects of the 1912 volcanic eruption. From 1915 to 1919, Robert Fiske Griggs led the National Geographic Society's expeditions to Katmai. Their observations and documentation of the area, especially of the fumaroles, led to the creation of the Monument. For the most part, the expedition members set up temporary campsites. They did, however, build two storage cabins at their base camps, one located near Savonoski and the other on the west side of Katmai Bay. Some of the Society members also built rock cairns for surveying purposes. One other building related to scientific research is the Baked Mountain cabin that the University of Alaska's Geophysical Institute built in 1965.
Prior to Russia's sale of its American colonies to the U.S. Government, the scientific world had little interest in the Katmai area. The 1867 purchase of Alaska sparked an interest in knowing more about Alaska's resources, which spurred several investigations led by the Coast Survey and the Smithsonian Institution. The 1895 Becker-Dall expedition is considered to be the first attempt at a systematic investigation of the Alaska Peninsula's mineral resources. This was one of the first U.S. Geological Survey studies in Alaska. [1]
In 1898, the USGS expedition led by geologist Josiah Edward Spurr covered over a thousand miles, which included traveling from the Nushagak to Naknek Lake and on to Katmai. Spurr's report provided the only known geological observations of the Upper Ukak River valley prior to the 1912 eruption. [2]
National Geographic Society Expeditions
In July 1912, the first of several National Geographic Society (NGS) investigations of Alaskan volcanoes began. George C. Martin, a USGS geologist, visited the Katmai coast by stopping at Douglas; he did not, however, venture inland. [3] The following year, NGS botanist Robert F. Griggs traveled to Kodiak to study revegetation of the ash deposits. [4] An independent exploration by William A. Hesse, of Cordova, and Mel A. Horner, of Seward, also occurred in 1913. That summer the two men made a reconnaissance of the Katmai area and were close enough to the edge of the volcanic district to convince Griggs upon their return that they had gotten a glimpse of thousands of small fumaroles. [5]
Between 1915 and 1919, the National Geographic Society sponsored five scientific expeditions to the Katmai area. Robert Fiske Griggs led four of these trips. Griggs, a Ph.D. from Harvard University, spent a great portion of thirty years devoted to exploring, promoting and protecting Katmai National Monument. As NPS historian John A. Hussey has summarized, "It is safe to say that during that period. no other man so greatly influenced the course of events in that vast scenic and scientific wonderland." [6]
The goal of the 1915 National Geographic Society expedition was to make a reconnaissance of the country west of Shelikof Strait. Griggs and two companions sailed from Kodiak to Katmai Bay. They visited Katmai village and noted the effects of the ash, pumice and the Katmai River flood on the buildings and structures. Their explorations took them to the lower slope of the Aleutian Range, from which they viewed the line of volcanoes including Martin, Mageik, Trident, and Katmai.
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| "The party of 1915 at Katmai Village." From left to right: Robert F. Griggs; L.G. Folsom, Kodiak teacher; and B.B. Fulton, entomologist. Photo courtesy of University of Alaska Anchorage, Archives and Manuscripts Department, National Geographic Society Katmai Expeditions Collection, Box 1, 3785. |
The following year, Griggs led an expedition of four men back to the Katmai mainland. One of the group members was Walter Metrokin, a one-handed bear hunter from Kodiak. They set up a base camp near Katmai Village. This expedition was significant for the discovery and documentation of fumaroles in the valley west of Katmai Pass. As Griggs recalled,
Even from this hasty examination we were able to make on the day of discovery, we could see that the vents must be counted by the tens of thousands. And from this first impression came the name, The Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. [7]
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| Photograph of fumarole at north angle of Baked Mountain, 1917. Photo courtesy of University of Alaska Anchorage, Archives and Manuscripts Department, National Geographic Society Katmai Expeditions Collection, Box 2, 1172. |
Griggs summarized his belief about the area. "I recognized at once, that the Katmai district must be made a great national park accessible to all the people, like the Yellowstone. To make it known, to have it set aside as a National Park, and to secure the means necessary for its development would, I foresaw, require a tremendous amount of effort." [8] This expedition provided the first purely scientific writings from observations made at Katmai.
The 1917 NGS Katmai investigation consisted of ten men and included a chemist, a zoologist, a topographer, and two assistant botanists. The men focused their scientific efforts on the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. A base camp was set up at on the west side of Katmai Bay, with supplies being transported across the lagoon. Goods were then carried over the south side of Katmai River and on up to the pass. They set up three subsidiary base camps on the western side of Katmai Pass and established a system of relay camps. The spent a month on the west side of Katmai Pass and traveled as far north as the end of the ash flow (which was almost to Savonoski). [9] The thousands of fumaroles were an awe-inspiring sight; as expedition member James S. Hine, a zoologist, commented,
Having reached the summit of Katmai Pass, the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes spreads out before one with no part of the view obstructed. My first thought was: We have reached the modern inferno. I was horrified, and yet, curiosity to see all at close range captivated me. Although sure that at almost every step I would sink beneath the earth's crust into a chasm intensely hot, I pushed on as soon as I found myself safely over a particularly dangerous-appearing area. I didn't like it, and yet I did. [10]
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| "Chemical laboratory" near Trident Volcano, 1917. Photo courtesy of University of Alaska Anchorage, Archives and Manuscripts Department, National Geographic Society Katmai Expeditions Collection, Box 2, 1172. |
The work of 1917 provided material for the report that led President Woodrow Wilson to proclaim Katmai a National Monument on September 24, 1918.
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| The National Geographic Society Katmai expedition members built rock cairns to use as survey reference points. This photo is titled "Station 24," which is believed to have been at or near the summit of Dumpling Mountain, 1918. Photo courtesy of University of Alaska Anchorage, Archives and Manuscripts Department, National Geographic Society Katmai Expeditions Collection, Box 4, 3614. |
The 1918 summer expedition consisted of only two men, Jasper D. Sayre and Paul R. Hagelbarger. They journeyed from Seward via the steamship Dora to Naknek and then up the river to the eastern end of Naknek Lake. Their goal was to study whether the fumaroles were as active as before and to ascertain the fumaroles' temperatures as well as to survey the area for a topographic map. While in the Naknek Lake area, Sayre and Hagelbarger visited the former Savonoski settlement and also built a rock cairn at or near the summit of Dumpling Mountain for use as a survey reference point. The men explored the foot of the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, the slopes of Mageik and hiked over to Novarupta. They took back the first accurate temperatures of the fumaroles.
The largest NGS Katmai expedition occurred in 1919. That summer, Sayre and three of Griggs' students traveled with the bulk of the supplies to Bristol Bay with the assistance of Naknek Packing Company boats, then ascended Naknek River and crossed to the east end of Naknek Lake. Soon after arriving, they set up a base camp, named "Savonoski." The camp was located on the southern shore of Iliuk Arm, about a mile west of the Ukak River, among a few surviving black spruce. The camp consisted of several 12' x 16' mosquito-proof tents. They also built a rectangular shaped cabin, measuring 14' x 16,' with local hewn spruce logs and covered it with a metal roof. This was used for storing their provisions and supplies. [11]
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| "Savonoski Camp" with motorcycle, tents, and "kitchen", 1919. Photo courtesy of University of Alaska Anchorage, Archives and Manuscripts Department, National Geographic Society Katmai Expeditions Collection, Box 6, 5658. |
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| Building the cabin at Savonoski Camp, 1919. Photo courtesy of University of Alaska Anchorage, Archives and Manuscripts Department, National Geographic Society Katmai Expeditions Collection, Box 6, 5658. |
In the meantime, Griggs led the rest of the party from Kodiak to the Katmai coast. Newcomers to the expedition included two chemists and a petrologist from the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution. [12] They set up the Lagoon base camp located on the western side of Katmai Bay and built a storage cabin using plywood boards. [13] Since they could not live off the devastated land, the group had to bring in all their supplies. [14] They established a series of relay camps across the peninsula by which they transported their supplies by backpacks.
As Griggs explained the process,
We would proceed half a day's march from our base, then establish a new camp at the terminus, returning each night to the starting point, until enough provisions had been accumulated to permit another move forward. In this way the packers drew their sustenance altogether from the rear camp, leaving the advance supplies intact for future use. [15]
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| Above: Party preparing to leave Lagoon Camp, 1919. Photo courtesy of University of Alaska Anchorage, Archives and Manuscripts Department, National Geographic Society Katmai Expeditions Collection, Box 6, 6254X. |
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| Above: Climbing up the moraine on the way to Katmai Pass, 1919. The expedition carried guns as protection against the many bears who Griggs noted were drawn to the area, "...They [the bears] were not satisfied with merely crossing through the steaming areas, but were apparently attracted in some degree by the Smokes. Their tracks were often to be found close around the largest vents, even far up toward the head of the Valley, many miles from any possible source of food." (The Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, 223); Photo courtesy of University of Alaska Anchorage, Archives and Manuscripts Department, National Geographic Society Katmai Expeditions Collection, Box 5, 5061. |
The base camps were, in a relative sense, more elaborate setups that included larger tents and the building of two cabins. For the most part, the other camps consisted of canvas pup tents supported by walking sticks or rifles, although at least a portion of a cabin was built at Ukak Camp. The expedition members also made use of local prospectors' or trappers' cabins around Naknek Lake, and they used a rock cave in Geographic Harbor for shelter as well. [16]
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| Baked Mountain Camp with Mount Martin in the background, 1919. Photo courtesy of University of Alaska Anchorage, Archives and Manuscripts Department, National Geographic Society Katmai Expeditions Collection, Box 5, 5061. |
The Baked Mountain Camp was no doubt one of the expedition's toughest places for a campsite because of ferocious windstorms. The crew was blown out several times, and prior to the final storm they attempted to reinforce the tents. As Griggs noted,
The frame of the grub tent had been strengthened by a multiplicity of poles and braces sunk deep in the ground until it formed a veritable cage, inside of which we had patched together parts of four tents. Fully a thousand feet of cord had been used in lashing the structure together.
All the guys were anchored to bowlders as big as a man could roll, deeply buried in the ground. On every side except the front there were at least two thicknesses of cloth to protect us from flying pumice. A heavy duck tarpaulin had been thrown over the second tent and buried in the ground on the windward side, to reduce its resistance and prevent the wind from getting in under the eaves.
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| Strong man stunts, 1919. Photo courtesy of University of Alaska Anchorage, Archives and Manuscripts Department, National Geographic Society Katmai Expeditions Collection, Box 7, 6414. |
Despite their efforts, a storm blew through, shredding their tents and snapping poles until the five men were left huddling together in the grub tent with sharp pumice stones raining down. They eventually managed to walk out of the area and down to the Ukak Camp although Griggs, for one, was literally picked up and sent flying through the air before the wind dropped him into a gully. [17]
The NGS party provided some basic geographic knowledge about the area. As a member noted about Lake Grosvenor, "That so large a body of water could have remained entirely unknown is significant testimony of how little is known of the geography of the Alaska Peninsula." [18] The NGS scientific expeditions made contributions in the fields of volcanology, geology, biology, and other subjects as well.
Later Research Efforts
Other scientific related activities have taken place in the park, although there are no historic properties related to them. During the 1920s-1930s, Father Bernard Rosecrans Hubbard, S.J. made several expeditions into the Katmai region. Hubbard, the famed "Glacier Priest," was a geology professor, explorer, filmmaker, lecturer, and author. In 1929, Hubbard, along with a group of university students and a film crew, successfully entered the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes by way of Katmai Bay and over the pass. In 1932 he made the first wintertime ascent of Mount Katmai. [19]
In 1940 the National Park Service, having recognized the lack of information about Katmai's wildlife, sent biologist Victor Cahalane and Mount McKinley Superintendent Frank Been to Katmai. This was the Service's first concerted effort to have an inventory taken of the area's biological diversity. An additional NPS investigation, with a grant from the Office of Naval Research, took place during 1953-1954; it was known as the Katmai Project. The first year, a team of scientists included geologists, volcanologists, geomorphologists, archeologists, and a geographer, biologist, mammalogist, parasitologist, and entomologist. A surprising determination from the season's research was that Novarupta, not Mount Katmai, was the primary vent of the June 1912 eruption. Additional research done the following season included the finding that the thicker ashfall was located around Novarupta instead of Mount Katmai. This research cinched the conclusion made the previous year. [20]
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| In 1917, the NGS expedition noted this "bread-crust bomb on the crater rim of Novarupta." The prevailing belief was that Mount Katmai was the site of the 1912 eruption. 1953 and 1954 NPS field studies, however, determine that the Novarupta vent, located six miles further west, was the real site of the eruption. Photo courtesy of University of Alaska Anchorage, Archives and Manuscripts Department, National Geographic Society Katmai Expeditions Collection, Box 2, 1137. |
Katmai also served as a unique training ground for U.S. astronauts. During the summers of 1965 and 1966, astronauts trained in the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. It was believed that the ashen landscape was similar to the surface of the moon. [21]
One other building in the park associated with scientific research activity is the Baked Mountain cabin. In 1962, the University of Alaska's Geophysical Institute commenced earthquake research, both seismic and volcanic, in Katmai National Monument. A few years later, Institute personnel wanted to expand their research activities to involve four scientists on the site at a time. To accommodate their housing, the Institute gained permission from NPS to build a field base camp just south of Baked Mountain. In 1965, staff built a 8' x 20' prefabricated plywood residence and workroom along with a 7' x 10' generator hut. The staff also installed two seismometers, one located just north of Baked Mountain and the other just south of the confluence of the Savonoski and Grosvenor rivers. At a later date, a storage shed was constructed at Baked Mountain and a third seismometer was installed in the Geographic Harbor area. [22]
In 1981 the University of Alaska Geophysical Institute established a short-period seismic station at Cape Douglas. In 1988, the station was taken over by the Alaska Volcano Observatory. As of 1992, this was the only AVO-operated seismic station in the park. In 1987, the USGS established an additional 12 seismic stations. In 1993, 16 stations were actively being used to collect data. [23]
Katmai National Park and Preserve
6400 square miles in size, Katmai is home to some of the largest brown bear populations in the world. Because of its roadless and pristine wilderness nature, Katmai is a critical habitat for may wildlife and bird species. Katmai encompasses more than four million acres of pristine wilderness, with wild rivers and streams, rugged coastlines, broad green glacial hewn valleys, active glaciers and volcanoes, and Naknek Lake, the largest lake within a National Park.
Katmai was declared a National Monument in 1918 to preserve the famed Valley of the 10,000 Smokes. This spectacular forty square mile, 100 to 700 foot deep, pyroclastic ash flow was deposited during the June 6-9, 1912 eruption of Novarupta, the most explosive and volumnous volcanic event of the Twentieth Century. Concerns for the protection of brown bear habitat, the boundaries were extended, and in 1980 the area received Wilderness designation and became a National Park and Preserve.
Special Park features: Coastal Brown Bear Viewing: Brooks Camp, Hallo Bay Wilderness Camp. Flightseeing tours of the Valley of 10,000 Smokes and of the Katmai Coast are available from commercial tour providers, including Brooks Lodge. Several commercial fishing lodges are in or near Katmai National Park & Preserve.
Where to contact for information: Katmai National Park and Preserve, PO Box 7, #1 King Salmon Mall, King Salmon, Alaska 99613. King Salmon Office: 907-246-3305.
email: hallobay@acsalaska.net
web: www.nps.gov/katm
web: www.hallobay.com
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Pictures cannot bring back the Valley of the Smokes. They have lost the awesomeness that lies in the setting. You may build in memory, but never reproduce the scenes which lie beyond the Katmai Pass. They seem too big to be a part of the rest of the world. They do not connect up with the little things which are built into our lives.
- Donovan B. Church, 1917, in Robert F. Griggs, The Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, p. 217.
Katmai National Monument serves no use and should be abolished.
- Thomas C. Riggs, Annual Report of the Governor of Alaska, 1919, p. 45.
Katmai Monument is a principality in itself. It is substantially unknown even to the federal service which theoretically administers it, but every time an effort is made to do something constructive, the reminder is given that we must keep on thinking of the generations yet unborn and must give no thought to those now living. Of course, any sensible person will agree that if Katmai possesses scenic resources such as we are told it does (although no one knows very much about them), then perhaps a good argument can be made for saving scenic values unspoiled for those who are to come, but I submit this still can be done without applying such a heavy brush in the withdrawal orders.
- Alaska Delegate E. L. Bartlett to Secretary of the Interior Julius A. Krug, May 21, 1947, in Bartlett collection
Katmai National Monument is first of all a wilderness landscape, a place where the imprint of wildlife is greater than that of people, where clear lakes and rivers abound, where nearly two hundred miles of coastline bear little sign of man, and where steaming volcanoes rise above the entire scene. It is a land of uncrowded spaciousness, a place where people can experience wilderness on its own terms without the distraction of hordes of other visitors. It is a place where time and change are measured by the sun, the tides, and the seasons rather than clocks and calendars. Katmai, in short, is an experience set in the wild, and perhaps it is even a frame of mind.
- Supt. Gilbert E. Blinn, in Dave Bohn, Rambles Through an Alaskan Wild: Katmai and the Valley of the Smokes, 1979, p. 19.
Acreage
Gross Area Acres for FY 2004 - 4,725,188
Gross Area Acres for FY 2003 - 4,725,188
Gross Area Acres for FY 2002 - 4,726,673
Visitation
Total Recreation Visits for FY 2004- 56,872
Total Recreation Visits for FY 2003- 23,754
Total Recreation Visits for FY 2002- 59,266
Budget
FY 2004 Annual Budget is $2,464,000
FY 2003 Annual Budget is $2,457,000
FY 2002 Annual Budget is $2,347,000
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The Bruin Bay fault parallels the Alaska Peninsula and divides it into two distinct geologic terrains. East of the fault is a sedimentary province containing Late Jurassic and Cretaceous marine clastic rocks with abundant fossils and few small areas of nonmarine Tertiary clastic rocks. This area also contains all the Quaternary and Recent volcanos. West of the fault there are metamorphic and volcanic rocks of Triassic and Early Jurassic age that are intruded by the Aleutian Range Batholith of Jurassic age and small stocks of Tertiary age. These rocks are locally overlain by nonmarine Tertiary clastic rocks.
In the Bristol Bay lowlands modified moraines extend along parts of the coast and higher lowlands, and slightly modified prominent moraines generally extend over the highest plains and into the upland valleys. Outwash deposits border the older moraines on nearly level slopes. Glacial lake deposits occupy an area west of Naknek Lake. Predominantly nonglacial deposits are associated with the coastlines, rivers, and highlands. Older coastal deposits with some modern beaches, spits, and bars near Bristol Bay extend the coastline. Low terrace deposits occupy sites along the modern flood plains, and higher terrace deposits occupy the valley margins and some areas along the coast. Alluvial fan deposits occupy sites near the base of larger volcanoes.
Volcanism is one of the principal geologic processes at Katmai. The high peaks of the unit were formed by volcanic activity, and many are still active enough to occasionally emit steam, smoke, ash, or lava. For example, Mount Trident discharged steam, ash, or lava in each of the years 1957 through 1965 and in 1968. Mounts martin and Mageik produce steam constantly, and the plumes may often be seen from King Salmon, 60 miles distant. Other peaks in the area have also had periods of volcanic activity. A major eruption may occur at any time.
The Katmai area was largely unknown until 1912, when a geologic event directed worldwide attention to this area. In June 1912, Mount Katmai and Novarupta Volcano erupted with tremendous force and ejected enormous amounts of ash and pumice. Then followed an explosion of hot, glowing ash and pumice from Novarupta and associated fissures. Some of this ash and pumice moved through an adjacent vegetated valley, destroying most living things in its path. Within minutes, more than 40 square miles of this valley were buried by volcanic deposits as much as 300 feet thick. As the ejecta was expelled through Novarupta, the top of Katmai collapsed, forming a large caldera.
Part of the ash was carried by the wind, especially to the east and southeast. This ash fell over a large area downwind from Katmai and Novarupta, accumulating on level ground to depths of 3 to 4 feet at Katmai Bay, 3 feet at Kaflia Bay and 6 to 12 inches at Kodiak on Kodiak Island. Quakes and sounds and the accompanying ashfall caused a complete evacuation of the Native groups at Savonoski, Katmai, Kaflia, and Douglas and a temporary evacuation of Kodiak.
Novarupta quickly became quiescent. Many thousands of fumaroles (steam and gas producing vents) developed as the volcanic materials that inundated the valley settled, cooled and hardened. The vista in 1916 of the coalescing plumes of steam produced by these vents gave the valley its name--Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. Since its formation, cooling has resulted in diminishing fumarolic activity so that today there are only a few active vents remaining. The semi-consolidated volcanic ejecta is now vegetated, but most of the valley floor consists of multihued rock cut by numerous deep and narrow canyons, some of which are more than 100 feet deep while only 5 to 10 feet wide.
Mount Katmai has additional scientific significance. After the volcanic activity ceased, a glacier formed on the inside wall of the caldera. This glacier, which now extends down to the edge of the caldera lake, is perhaps the only glacier in the world having a known date of origin. Glacial features within Katmai preserve a complete sequence of Wisconsin and Recent (Alaskan) glaciation.
Soils in Katmai vary in composition between the Aleutian Range and the Nushagak-Bristol Bay Lowland physiographic provinces. At high elevations within the Aleutian Range province, the unconsolidated materials are coarse rubble deposits or bare rock. In the mid-to-lower elevations and hilly areas, soils are silty and sandy volcanic ash over gravelly material, stony loam, cinders, or bedrock. Deep depressions in the foothill slopes contain fibrous peat soils with lenses of volcanic ash. Soils in valley bottoms and in depressions in moraine hills along the coast are deep fibrous or partially decomposed peat. There is no permafrost in this province.
Deep, poorly-drained loamy soils with thick overlying peat mat and permafrost occupy lowlands in the Naknek drainage in the Nushagak-Bristol Bay Lowlands province. Poorly-drained, sandy-to-gravelly soils occupy outwash plains and foot slopes from the Naknek Lake area to the Ugashik Lakes. Well-drained, dark, loamy soils from fine ash occupy sites on rolling hills and outwash plains in the Bristol Bay lowlands and the western slopes of the Aleutian Range. Organic peat soils occupy depressions throughout the lowlands of the King Salmon-Naknek areas.
Mineral, petroleum, and geothermal resources within the Katmai area have not been investigated other than through reconnaissance type studies and local explorations. Only a small part Katmai has been subject to detailed geologic study, and most information has been obtained from a few widely spaced traverses of reconnaissance nature. The park includes part of a geologic province that has been involved in at least two episodes of igneous activity.
There are no active mining operations and no records of mineral patents within Katmai National Park and Preserve.
Weather
Weather conditions at Brooks Camp, the most visited spot within
Winter weather at Brooks Lake from October through April is variable, average maximum daily temperatures from 18.5º to 47.5º F., and minimum temperatures between -2.8º and 39.2º F. All months usually have individual daily highs exceeding 40º F. and less than one-third of the days had maximum temperatures below freezing. Total annual precipitation varies from year to year but can average from 20 to 40 inches. Snowfall can average 1 to 14 inches per month from October to March.
Spring, summer, and fall temperatures at King Salmon are similar to those at Brooks Camp. The average winter temperature at King Salmon ranges from a high of 21º F to a low of 6º F. Annual precipitation is about 60 inches along the
Cool temperatures, frequent rains, and occasional strong winds comprise a controlling factor in visitor use of Katmai, making reliable equipment and clothing a necessity for any recreational activity.
Hydrologic
Katmai National Park is drained by several large rivers and creeks. These include the American Creek, Savonoski River, Ukak River, Rainbow River, Margot Falls, Headwaters Creek and Brooks River, which drain through the Naknek Lake and river system into Bristol Bay; King Salmon and Big creeks, which drain into Naknek River; Katmai and Big Rivers, which drain into Shelikof Strait; Douglas and Kamishak rivers, which drain into Kamishak Bay; the Alagnak and Nonvianuk, which drain to the north into the Kvichak River and then into Bristol Bay; and the Egegik and King Salmon rivers, which drain from the southwest into Bristol Bay.
Major lakes associated with the park include Naknek, Grosvenor, Coville, Brooks, Idavain, Kulik, Nonvianuk, Hammersly, Murray, Dakavak, Katmai, Kaguyak, as well as a small part of the drainage feeding Becharof Lake, which is not itself within the park, there are also several unnamed lakes. Water quality in all of these lakes and rivers remains essentially unaltered by man. Some bodies of water are heavily silted with glacial outwash sediments or volcanic ash. Others contain clear, unsilted water. Water levels in the larger lakes may vary seasonally by as many as seven feet.
American Creek, Big River, Brooks River, Funnel Creek, Hallo Creek, Headwaters Creek, Ikagluik Creek, Katmai River, Knife Creek (including Juhle Creek), and Kulik River have all been designated as potential rivers to be added to the National Wild and Scenic River System. This potential designation requires the National Park Service to manage/protect them as if they were Wild and Scenic until congress brings them into the system or takes them off the potential designation list.
Katmai is representative of the northern portion of the Alaska Peninsula and contains portions of two physiographic provinces: the Aleutian Range and the Nushagak-Bristol Bay Lowlands. The Bruin Bay Fault, one of the major faults of Alaska, separates the two geologically different portions.
The Aleutian Range province is characterized by three landforms: the Shelikof Strait Seacoast, the Aleutian Range and the lake region centered around Naknek Lake. The Shelikof Strait seacoast is a rugged, diversified area of narrow-to-wide bays, long and narrow-to-wide beaches, and intricate covers. Steep cliffs rising from the bays are common along the coastline. Rivers cascade down steep canyons, and waterfalls plunge onto ocean beaches. Deep blue water, pale bluff pumice and the green of alder patches and grasslands are typical of the coast.
The Aleutian Range is the backbone of the Alaska Peninsula. The higher peaks of this range within the Katmai National Park were formed predominately by volcanic action and rise steeply from the Shelikof Strait coastline to altitudes greater than 7,000 feet. Mount Dennison, 7,606 feet, is the highest elevation in Katmai. The slopes and upper valleys surrounding these peaks contain glaciers on both sides of the Aleutian divide. A few of these glaciers descend on the east almost to sea level. The largest glaciers in the park are three to four miles wide and 10 to 12 miles long. The only travel routes of low relief across this portion of the Aleutian Range are at Becharof Lake, at Katmai Pass, at Kaguyak Pass, and through the lake country in the northern part of the park.
The north-central and northwestern portion of the Katmai are commonly termed "the lake region". Naknek Lake is the principal part of a hydrologic system of lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, and marshes formed in valleys dammed by glacial deposits. Lakes in the eastern portion of this region are bordered by mountains that rise to 3,000 feet above the water. The western part of this area is open terrain and grades into the Bristol Bay coastal plain.
The southwestern portion of the unit is part of the Bristol Bay coastal plain, the only portion of the Nushagak-Bristol Bay Lowlands physiographic province represented in the unit. The terrain is relatively flat, with many poorly drained lakes. A number of low ridges, sand dunes, and streams break the uniformity of this lowland expanse. At least part of the coastal plain and scattered parts of the lake region are underlain by permafrost, which is ground that has a temperature continuously below 32 degrees Fahrenheit for more than two years.
Coasts
There are 497 miles of oceanic coast in Katmai National Park. There are several lakes within Katmai National Preserve but it does not border any salt water. The northern section of Katmai National Park borders on Kamishak Bay and Cook Inlet. The central and southern sections of Katmai National Park border on Cook Inlet and Shelikof Strait. Bays in Katmai include; Swikshak, Hallo, Kukak, Kaflia, Kinak, Amalik, Dakavak, Katmai, and Kashvik. Bear viewing is quite predominant at most of these bays.
The Katmai coast is an area of the Park that is currently experiencing a rapid increase in use and visitation (100% increase in the last 12 years).
Geologic Formations
Mineral and petroleum resources within the Katmai area have not been investigated other than through reconnaissance studies and local explorations. Only a small part of the park has been subject to detailed geologic study, and most information has been obtained from a few widely spaced reconnaissance-type traverses.
The Alaska Peninsula petroleum province extends through the eastern part of the park area, and the Nushagak-Bristol Bay province underlies the western part. The Alaska Peninsula province produces oil and gas in the Cook Inlet area north of the park. A 1959 study of the park area by the U.S. geological Survey states that: the entire region has been subjected to intense volcanic activity, and it is unlikely that favorable petroleum strata can be reached at practical drilling depths on most of the structures that would be drilled.
Glacial
After the volcanic activity ceased on Mount Katmai, a glacier formed on the inside wall of the caldera. This glacier, which now extends down to the edge of the caldera lake, is perhaps the only glacier in the world having a known date of origin. Glacial features within Katmai preserve a complete sequence of Wisconsin and Recent (Alaskan) glaciation
Lakes & Ponds
Major lakes associated with Katmai National Park include Naknek, Grosvenor, Coville, Brooks, Idavain, Kulik, Nonvianuk, Hammersly, Murray, Dakavak, Katmai, Kaguyak, and several unnamed lakes. Water quality in all of these lakes and rivers remains essentially unaltered by man. Some bodies of water are heavily silted with glacial outwash sediments or volcanic ash. Others contain clear, unsilted water. Water levels in the larger lakes may vary seasonally by as many as seven feet.
Lakes in Katmai National Preserve include Spectacle, Kukaklek, Mirror, and Nonvianuk.
Rivers & Streams
Katmai National Park is drained by several large rivers and creeks. These include the American Creek, Savonoski River, Ukak River, Rainbow River, Margot Falls, Headwaters Creek and Brooks River, which drain through the Naknek Lake and river system into Bristol Bay; King Salmon and Big creeks, which drain into Naknek River; Katmai and Big Rivers, which drain into Shelikof Strait; Douglas and Kamishak rivers, which drain into Kamishak Bay; the Alagnak and Nonvianuk, which drain to the north into the Kvichak River and then into Bristol Bay; and the Egegik and King Salmon rivers, which drain from the southwest into Bristol Bay.
Major lakes associated with the park include Naknek, Grosvenor, Coville, Brooks, Idavain, Kulik, Nonvianuk, Hammersly, Murray, Dakavak, Katmai, Kaguyak, as well as a small part of the drainage feeding Becharof Lake, which is not itself within the park, there are also several unnamed lakes. Water quality in all of these lakes and rivers remains essentially unaltered by man. Some bodies of water are heavily silted with glacial outwash sediments or volcanic ash. Others contain clear, unsilted water. Water levels in the larger lakes may vary seasonally by as many as seven feet.
American Creek, Big River, Brooks River, Funnel Creek, Hallo Creek, Headwaters Creek, Ikagluik Creek, Katmai River, Knife Creek (including Juhle Creek), and Kulik River have all been designated as potential rivers to be added to the National Wild and Scenic River System. This potential designation requires the National Park Service to manage/protect them as if they were Wild and Scenic until congress brings them into the system or takes them off the potential designation list.
The Alagnak Wild River originates out of Katmai National Preserve. Please visit www.nps.gov/alag for more information.
Volcanoes & Lava Flows
The 15 active volcanoes that line the Shelikof Strait here make Katmai National Park and Preserve one of the world's most active volcanic centers today. These Aleutian Range volcanoes are pipelines into the fiery cauldron that underlies Alaska's southern coast and extends down both Pacific Ocean shores--the so called Pacific Ring of Fire. This Ring of Fire boasts more than four times more volcanic eruptions above sea level than any other region in historic times.
Nearly 10 percent of these more than 400 eruptions have occurred in Alaska; less than two percent in the rest of North America. The current theory of plate tectonics attributes this phenomenon to the collision of the series of plates than makes up the Earth's crust. The Ring of Fire marks edges where crustal plates bump against each other. Superimposing a map of earthquake activity over a map of active volcanoes creates a massed record of violent earth changes ringing the Pacific Ocean from southern South America around through the Indonesian archipelago.
Major volcanic eruptions have deposited ash throughout the Katmai area at least 10 times during the past 7,000 years. Under the now quiet floor of the expansive Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, and deep beneath the mountains that rise around it, there is still molten rock present. Most visible as clues to this are the steam plumes that occasionally rise from Mageik, Martin, and Trident Mountains. These steam plumes show that there is real potential for new eruptions to occur. In fact, Mt. Trident has erupted four times in recent decades, its last eruptive episode taking place in 1968.
A volcanic eruption capable of bringing major change could occur at any time in this truly dynamic landscape. Since the great 1912 eruption, the massive deposits of volcanic ash and sand that resulted have consolidated into tuff, which is a type of rock. In the valley these ash deposits have been rapidly cut through by streams to form steep-walled gorges. The thousands of fantastic smoking fumaroles that greeted the scientists who discovered the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes after that powerful eruption have now cooled and ceased their ominous smoking. But the fiery cauldron, whose intense heat and pressure can be forcefully released to alter the landscape in mere hours, still looms close to the surface in the park's portion of the volcanic Aleutian Range.
Active volcanoes within Katmai National Park and Preserve are; Katmai, Novarupta, Trident, Mageik, and Martin. Holocene volcanoes that have not erupted in the last 250 years are; Cerberus, Falling Mountain, Griggs, Snowy, Dennison, Kukak, Devils Desk, Kaguyak, Fourpeaked, Douglas, and Kejulik.
The Alaska Volcano Observatory operates 19 monitoring stations within Katmai. For more information please visit: http://www.avo.alaska.edu/
Animals
Katmai was originally designated a National Monument in 1918 to preserve the features associated with one of the most powerful volcanic eruptions ever recorded. Later expansions and the change in status to Park and Preserve were not focused around geologic activity but rather on the importance of protecting Katmai's remarkable wildlife.
One of the primary purposes of Katmai National Park and Preserve, based on legislation, is to: protect habitats for and populations of fish and wildlife, including, but not limited to, high concentrations of brown bears and their denning areas, and maintain unimpaired the watersheds and water habitat vital to red salmon spawning.
Besides brown bear, Katmai provides a protected home to moose, caribou, red fox, wolf, lynx, wolverine, river otter, mink, marten, weasel, porcupine, snowshoe hare, red squirrel, and beaver. Marine mammals include; sea lions, sea otters, and hair seals. Beluga, killer, and gray whales can also be seen along the coast of the park.
Birds
Katmai's lake edges and marshes serve as nesting sites for tundra swans, ducks, loons, grebes, and that 20,000-mile annual commuter, the arctic tern. Sea birds abound along the coast, grouse and ptarmigan inhabit the uplands, and some 40 songbird species summer here. Seacoast rock pinnacles and treetops along lakeshores provide nesting sites for bald eagles, hawks, falcons, and owls.
Katmai National Park and Preserve is on the Alaska Peninsula. A link to a complete list of birds present on the Alaska Peninsula compiled by the United States Geographical Survey (USGS) is below. Please visit:
http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/othrdata/chekbird/r7/akpenin.htm
Fish
A predictable eruption occurs at Katmai National Park and Preserve annually as salmon burst from the northern Pacific Ocean and into park waters. Sockeye (also known as red) salmon return from the ocean, where they have spent two or three years. Navigating first across the open ocean, and then up rivers, lakes, and streams, they return to the headwater gravel beds of their birth to deposit their own young before dying. Their size, averaging 5 to 7 pounds, varies proportionally to how long they spend feeding at sea.
The salmon run begins here in late June. By July's end a million fish may have moved from Bristol Bay into the Naknek system of lakes and rivers. Salmon stop feeding upon entering freshwater, and physiological changes lead to the distinctive red color, humped back, and elongated jaw they develop during spawning. The salmon spawn during August, September, and October. Stream bottoms must have the correct texture of loose gravel for the eggs to develop. The stream must flow freely through winter to aerate the eggs. By spring the young fish that have just hatched, called 'fry' or 'juveniles', emerge from the gravels and migrate into the larger lakes, living there two years. The salmon then migrate to sea, returning in two or three years to spawn and begin the cycle once again. Salmon provide food for the bears, bald eagles, rainbow trout, and directly or indirectly for the other creatures that forage along these streams. They also have been important to Katmai people for several thousand years, and commercial fishing -outside the park- remains the mainstay of today's local economy.
Mammals
Brown bears and moose live throughout the coastal and lake regions of Katmai National Park and Preserve. The moose feed on willows, water plants, and grasses. Other mammals include the caribou, red fox, wolf, lynx, wolverine, river otter, mink, marten, weasel, porcupine, snowshoe hare, red squirrel, and beaver. Along the coast are sea lions, sea otters, and hair seals, porpoise, with beluga, killer, and gray whales sometimes using the Shelikof Strait.
Plants
Katmai is a meeting ground of coastal rain forest, boreal forest, alpine tundra, northern coastal tundra and Aleutian tundra floras. Two principal vegetation formations can be recognized from the mixtures of these floras: tundra and boreal forest.
Katmai's great diversity of habitats--forests, grasslands, fresh and salt water swamps, marshes, lagoons, estuaries, thickets, islands, beaches, rocky slopes, cliffs, volcanic ash, lakes and ponds--supports an abundance of animal life.
Trees & Shrubs
The boreal forest formation that occupies most of the lower elevations of Katmai have soils that are deeper and richer, summer temperatures are higher, there are no permanent snowfields, and winds have a lower intensity. Habitats are more diversified and include white spruce, birch and/or balsam poplar forests, alder and willow thickets and grasslands dominated by blue joint grass and blue grass.
The appearance of the coastal forest is similar to the boreal forest, except that the dominant coniferous tree is Sitka spruce.
posted by Tony | 1:01 PM
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