| Summary: | Fifteen Thrill-Filled Days Of Exploration In The Katmai Volcanic Region Of The Alaska Peninsula Were Nearly Thwarted At The Start. SEWARD, Alaska, Sept. 14. (/P) -- Fifteen thrill-filled days of exploration in the Katmai volcanic region of the Alaska peninsula were nearly thwarted at the start, Father Bernard Hubbard, the "glacier priest," related today, by a landing "mishap." On his party's arrival on the expedition ship, the Amelie, near the end of a long summer of scientific work, Father Hubbard described the time spent in the Katmai region as among the most important. Volcano Is Ascended. A complete survey was made of the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, he said. The harbor in the Katmai national monument was also sounded and charted, and the third successful ascent of Katmai volcano was made. The landing adventure, termed a "mishap," might well have ended disastrously for himself and his party, Father Hubbard admitted. An attempt was made on a late afternoon to land the equipment and men on Katmai beach. Mistaking a bar of the harbor for a beach, they were soon trapped by a rising tide. For eight hours, through the night, they remained on the bar, fighting the waves and surf which rose waist and shoulder-high on them before the equipment was finally saved. Winds Carry Seeds. A few days later, with all recovered, the party was able to leave for the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. "I believe we set some kind of a record for Alaska exploration," Father Hubbard said. "In those 15 days, we accomplished what ordinarily takes months. "The trip into the valley took nine hours, and we spent five days there. The ascent of the volcano, and a descent down into the crater at the top, was made in a day, including a return to the camp at the base." Father Hubbard reported that the valley, denuded for years of all vegetation, is now beginning to show some slight vegetation. "We found two fresh water pools there," he explained, "and the winds, of course, have been carrying seeds into the valley."
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