One of the geological high points...

of the month-long voyage was seen today at Yankicha Island, and all of a sudden I was the most popular naturalist on the expedition. The bubbling hot springs and stinking fumaroles overwhelmed the senses as passengers began exploring this fascinating area:

Sinter mounds contained basins filled with vigorously boiling water, and one needed to exercise some degree of caution when approaching these features:

And sulfur crystals are found lining dozens of actively venting fumaroles:

In addition, arctic foxes are common on the island, and are not the least bit shy. They have no predators and will approach within several feet, and they'll even "mark" your stuff if you leave it unattended on the ground and turn your back:

Yankicha Island appears in the mist...

with slaty-backed gulls flying out to greet our arrival this mid-afternoon:

I managed this shot of a gull in flight as it paced the ship just a few feet off the deck:

Yanchika, like Shimushir, contains a collapsed volcanic caldera at sea level as this marine chart shows, though it's not possible to enter with the ship:

We anchored offshore and had timed our arrival to coincide with high tide in order to enable the Zodiacs to pass over the gravel bar at the entrance to the caldera. Inside are several andesitic lava domes erupted since 1769, and an active geothermal area (note the solitary person for scale):

Brouton Bay on Shimushir Island...

contains a once secretive James Bond-like submarine base used during the Cold War. The Soviets artificially expanded the natural opening of the caldera to the sea (seen in the distance behind the ship) in order to enable nuclear missile submarines to pass into the protected and hidden harbor:

We explored the long abandoned site - since ~ 1994 - and entered some of the decaying buildings filled with, you guessed it, more relics from the past:

Before we left I couldn't resist having my picture taken with Lenin:

Sarychev volcano on Matua Island...

is seen here capped by clouds as we approached this afternoon to make a landing there:

But it had exploded just a year before in a violent eruption on 12 June 2009, and the eruption was serendipitously captured by an astronaut on the ISS:
This island was also struck by a large tsunami in November 2006 that was generated by a local earthquake in the Kuril trench, and the 20 meter run-up reconfigured the shore where we landed, exposing this old pillbox and metal drums:

Elsewhere on the island there were more rusting relics of yet another abandoned Soviet airfield:

Several tiny rocks comprise...

the diminutive island group of Skaly Lovushky, and are home to hundreds of northern fur seals and sea lions:

Rough seas prohibited close approach in Zodiacs, but you could clearly hear the belches of countless seals over the breaking waves:

By the end of the short visit the skies were beginning to clear and very active Ekarma volcano could be seen chugging away in the distance:

The northernmost island...

in the Kuril archipelago is named Shumshu, and it was host to a small Soviet-era military camp, mostly to defend the island from claims of Japanese ownership. Artifacts litter the ground everywhere, but this monument stands tall above the slowing decaying infrastructure:

This armored personnel carrier sits trackless, rusting away in the tundra:

I was particularly amused by this can of Russian spam:

Driving a Zodiac...

and taking photographs is difficult, but I managed these two shots of Steller's sea lions hauled out on a rocky headland:

Russkaya Bay...

was the site of the first landing on Kamchatka after sailing from Petropovlovsk, and Gorelaya volcano looms above the valley:

The andesite porphyry bedrock in the area contained interesting olivine nodules, complete with reaction halos:

Another walk with a group of passengers headed inland for several kilometers through tall grass:

The stream in the valley contained quite a few salmon returning home for the completion of their reproductive cycle, and eventual death:

Life onboard the Clipper Odyssey...

is pretty sweet. Here are a couple of pics of my cabin, and the food is nothing short of excellent.

UPDATE: My only complaint is the lousy Internet service, but hey, it's a wonder it works at all given where we are on this voyage.

Back to Petropavlovsk...

today in order to exchange passengers for the second leg of our expedition cruise along the northern Ring of Fire. Passengers that will continue on the voyage explored the local fish market where smoked salmon was being sold:

Later in the afternoon we traveled north from town, deep into a birch forest, where we were entertained by Alexi, a self-proclaimed herbalist. He shared his knowledge of local native plants and regaled us with song as he smoked fresh salmon to share with us:

I've forgotten how many shots of vodka we tossed back with this cheerful fellow, but our visit ended entirely too soon as we made our way back through the city at the foot of several imposing volcanoes:

A rainbow at dawn...

was a good sign that this was going to be a terrific day:

We dropped anchor at the mouth of the Zhupanova River as the Kronotsky volcano erupted ash in pulses throughout the day to the north:

The best time of day is the morning reconnaissance, when the guide staff go onshore and investigate the landing site and decide which hikes are appropriate. It's precious time alone in a wilderness, and here's a shot of the Clipper Odyssey from my vantage point on a high cape:

Later in the morning, we lead our groups of passengers across the terrain to share the wonderful experience:

Once cleared to enter Russia...

we made our way to a dog mushing compound where we spent the late afternoon on evening nature walks, had a traditional Russian meal (washed down with copious quantities of vodka) and entertained by a young troupe that demonstrated early native dances:

While this was going on I managed a few shots of two massive volcanoes emerging from the clearing clouds:

Yes, that's an actively steaming summit:

Avacha Bay...

is a caldera, with the Pleistocene-age Vilyuchik stratovolcano within view to the south:

The industrial port city of Petropavlovsk lays in the shadow of Avachinsky, one of Kamchatka's most active volcanoes, last erupting in 2001:

Despite the friendly welcome sign at the dock, we are now undergoing a several hour "documents" clearance by government officials for entry into Russia:

Comrade Lenin casts his gaze across the bay while we patiently await permission to go on shore:

Russia looms dead ahead...

with the Koryaksky stratovolcano (11,388 ft high) marking our intended port of call, Kamchatka's largest city, Petropavlovsk.

Heavy seas...

confronted us as we made our way on a westward course from the Aleutians to the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia, made worse by stiff headwinds. Many of the passengers were seasick, but I passed the time on the bridge, watching waves break over the bow and strike the windows on the bridge.

The bloodiest battle in the Aleutians...

was fought on Attu Island in 1943. A U.S. Coast Guard station is located there today, and we explored the area of intense fighting sticking to existing roads framed with coastal paintbrush and wild iris:

Here's an image of Terrible Mountain that sits above Massacre Valley, where you can see the locations of former Japanese gun emplacements:

Here's a shot inside an old Japanese bunker, and that peculiar object seen through the doorway is a memorial to the fallen:

This is why we stuck to the roads, mindful of the cautionary poster seen on Adak about unexploded ordinance:

Sirius Point was created by lava flows...

emanating from Kiska volcano:

The columnar jointed basalt flows were created in 1962:

This area is home to thousands of least auklets who take flight in enormous flocks as they set out to sea to feed: