Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes

Strong northwesterly winds in the vicinity of Katmai National Park and Preserve and Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes on Wednesday kicked up the loose volcano ash.

The ash was deposited in what is now known as the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes.

The two largest of the 20th century — Pinatubo in 1991 in the Philippines, and Novarupta in Alaska that formed the spectacular Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes in 1912 — both blew their tops this way.

Dr. David A Johnston posing with a rhyolite dome in the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, Alaska, in June 1978.

A less arduous expedition offered by Wien Air Alaska flies vacationers to Katmai and its Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, an awesome volcanic area where U.S. astronauts trained for moon landings.