crater

got to go up to the crater today. so cool. the plume obscured the lava lake much of the time, but every once in a while i could see the red glow. and although this has been a mellow season with no bombs being shot out (so far), it did make some impressive noises while i was up there. kinda sorta like the sound when a big wave comes and drags the rocks along the beach as it rolls back in to the ocean. kinda. but not exactly.

caving

so many caves on this mountain created by the thermal vents. can usually find entrance by the huge ice towers. inside some of these are the most amazing ice crystals. almost unreal or otherworldly. like if someone in movie biz requested a winterwonderland ice cave set and described what i got to see today, folks back in hollywood would just laugh, not believing anything really existed.

volcano

first, spent two days at fang camp acclimating (about 8000' elevation)

and now, i'm here on the actual volcano. wow. staying at the hut about 1000' from the top. i will be here for a week helping out with camp chores. but i should get to go on a very fun trips too. i think we're about 11,400' elevation here. altitude makes me tired. but i'm also so excited to be posting this from an active volcano.

more rigging

at lake joyce again (taking out the camp this time).
this was a bigger helo--a 212 vs the A-star. rotorwash much stronger, and i was standing on ice instead of gravel. almost blew me over. (but didn't)