The Kamchatka Valley of Geysers
June 9th, 2009 Posted in Geysers
Kamchatka is a region in the far northeast section of Russia. It is a rather isolated region rich in natural resources and home to the second largest collection of geysers in the world. In addition to the over ninety geysers in the valley, the area is filled with hot springs and volcanoes.
The Valley of Geysers was discovered in 1941 by a scientist, Tatiana Ustinova, and her guide who had stumbled upon the valley and were nearly scared to death when one geyser erupted near them. Ustinova named the geyser “Pervenets,” which means “the first-born.”
The Kamchatka Valley of Geysers has been damaged more than once by natural disasters. In 1981, the Typhoon Elsa caused so much flooding and damage from debris that one geyser (Bolshaya Pechka) was completely destroyed. Nor was that the only disaster. In June of 2007, a landslide in the valley caused severe damage, covering two-thirds of the valley and coming very close to destroying the valley’s only hotel. Many geysers, including Pervenets and Maly, were buried. Some geysers were destroyed and many scientists and wildlife conservations were afraid that the geyser field would be almost completely obliterated.
A group of Russian scientists went to the area in June of 2007 in order to assess the damage and try to preserve as much of the valley as they could. They found at least one new geyser when they got there which erupted with a height of five meters (just over 16 feet).The Director of the Kronotsky Preserve visited the Kamchatka Valley of Geysers and said that most of the damage was not permanent, even predicting that it would be soon cleaned up in order for tourism to continue.
The valley has lush foliage and brilliant colors from various mineral deposits, which provides a beautiful backdrop for the steaming geysers. Many of the geysers—over twenty—have been named. While the green groundcover is beautiful, it can be dangerous to walk on because it may conceal geysers. Even with boots, it is dangerous because the ground can be a boiling marsh, which unsuspecting tourists sink into. The only spots that you can be sure are safe is where the plant wormwood grows. For some reason, this plant will only grow where there is no danger of geysers or any other thermal spots.
While Kamchatka’s Valley of Geysers is a tourist spot of incredible beauty, it is very hard to access. In fact, it is almost impossible to get there without helicopter. In order to protect the beauty of the valley, unplanned tourist excursions were prohibited in 1977. Now, only planned groups of tourists are brought in by helicopter.
Because of its setup and location, the Kamchatka Valley of Geysers cannot handle the massive crowds of tourists that Yellowstone National Park gets each year. Still, the valley does get thousands of tourists each year. If unplanned tourism had not been outlawed several decades ago, the Valley of Geysers would have most likely suffered irreparable damage and one of the natural wonders in that part of the world would have been lost forever.