Boodah and the Volcano

The old Okmok volcano is erupting, as of 11:45 AM this morning. We can't see it, but reportedly some ash has been falling occasionally nearby. It's pretty fun listening to the radio, because just by chance the DJ (Tech Talk with Vic) happens to be a geologist and is filling us all in with all the details.

Here's a nice aerial shot of Okmok from the Alaska Volcano Observatory:


The volcano is about 75 miles west of here. Fort Glenn is being evacuated. The cows of course will have to fend for themselves, but the cowboys are going to get a free ride on the Coast Guard Cutter. (Fort Glenn, a former army air force base is now a giant cattle ranch located about 7 miles from the volcano. It has cowboys and everything. Even a cow-helicopter.)

Winds are blowing SW at the moment, but if they shift to W, which they are predicted to, we should really get some ash. We aren't supposed to drive or exert ourselves outdoors, so we're instead blogging and listened to the radio.

Flights to our island have been canceled for today. We'll see what happens tomorrow! Maybe we'll be stranded! We aren't supposed to drive or go outside, so there's a real sense of adventure. All we are actually observing is the standard foggy day, with maybe a slightly more brownish hue than usual.

Earlier today it was quite nice, and we had a lovely hike up and around Bunker Hill on Little South America. We even did some extreme exploring of a new shortcut through head high foliage. We reenacted 10,000 BC, that awesome thrilling highly realistic movie. (See below.) Finally, a movie even better than POTC 3! Evelet! D'Lay! Baku! Watch out for the Manaks and the Speartooths!

From the mountain highlands down to the lush jungle, where birdlike dinosaurs tried to eat us. We managed to avoid them all. Barely.

We did see green blueberries and green salmonberries. Looks like they'll be ripe much earlier this year. Hopefully they won't be buried in volcanic ash!

In any event, here are some of the photos of the epic journey and our little Baku Boodah. Our new Fuji is really taking great pictures so far. We're quite happy with the camera and Abe's of Maine.