Umnak - Aleutian Islands

[Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] this is a story about the aleutian islands and umnock [Music] about alaska about northern nature about majestic volcanoes and growing glaciers this is a story about walking along untouched and unexplored routes our trip to umnoc island lasted over a month we faced the most unpredictable weather on the planet [Music] we've climbed glaciers [Music] fought with the winds wandered in the mists blazed paths through unknown passes and camped on the sides of active volcanoes during this month we crossed dozens of rivers and discovered new waterfalls found unknown and unnamed geysers and every day we admired the lush greenery and untouched nature around us as majestic and inaccessible as kamchatka as colorful and photogenic as iceland umnoc is a pearl for enjoying primed nature this is a lost paradise [Music] where nature reigns supreme and all inhabitants obey its laws [Music] this journey forever changes one's attitude towards life and nature in this moment you are faced with forces that no one can influence [Music] you just understand that you are a part of this landscape this world and a part of the elements and you begin to live according to their laws make your plans and give thanks for every sunny and lived day in peace with them the aleutian islands are an archipelago of 110 volcanic islands in the north pacific ocean part of the state of alaska presently there are approximately 25 active volcanoes the islands are located between alaska and the komchatka peninsula in russia making up the dividing line between the bering sea and the pacific ocean the islands cover an area of about 7 000 square miles which is similar to the hawaiian islands which are 10 000 miles in length the population is very small about 8 000 live on all the islands combined the islands are divided into several groups commander islands closer to russia near rat island andre yanovsky islands fox islands [Music] the islands are located between two continents and many anthropologists suggest that this was the path of the first humans from eurasia to the americas in 1741 the russians sent the dane vitus barrett and the russian alexi chirikov on an expedition for new discoveries [Music] their ships separated during a storm chirikov discovered several eastern islands and baring discovered several western islands baring himself was shipwrecked and died during the second voyage to the aleutian islands the elutes were at first very wary of the arrival of white men when the first ship came ashore they received the foreigners politely fed them but told them to leave and not to come back the russians disobeyed the elute chief and returned to the island for that they were punished the elutes attacked them and sank the russian ships and killed many the survivors returned to kamchatka with tales of large numbers of fur-bearing animals in later years seafarers and hunters from siberia flocked to the aleutian islands for many years the elutes fought clashes with the russians in protest at the occupation of their lands eventually they realized that it was impossible to stop the white pilgrimage to their islands and trade relations won out the elutes began to cooperate with the russians this was the impetus for the economic development of these places cook who had been to the islands and met the elutes remembers their people as educated kind and the most cheerful people on the planet they dressed very nicely using natural bird feathers and skins and were unusually tactful and polite to both guests and each other [Music] the elutes have always been civilized but the collaboration with the russians gave an even greater push to cultural development the elutes also became interested in the russian orthodox church shamanism used to be practiced on the islands eventually the elutes were baptized into the russian orthodox faith and received christian names which we still encounter today russian priests played an important role in the development of writing there appeared public education preservation of the elute language through transliteration of religious and other texts into elute through adaptation of cyrillic orthodox monks and priests who came to the islands protected the rights of the elutes and helped with education and medicine thanks to vinnie aminov's work churches were built in various villages one of the most beautiful russian orthodox churches is still located in onalaska and nikolski village part of the service here is still conducted in russian language the church of the ascension in onalaska is considered to be the oldest christian church structure in north america [Music] it contains icons and interior details from two previous churches that stood on the site in the early 19th century and the church of saint nicholas the first russian orthodox chapel built in 1806 by father john vinnie aminov preserved the wooden elements a large number of icons and decorations inside after the u.s purchased alaska along with the aleutian islands from russia in 1867 the orthodox heritage remained intact before world war ii the united states had few commercial and military installations in the aleutian islands because the archipelago was in relative proximity to east asia there was a danger of attack on the islands indeed on june 3rd and 4th 1942 aircraft from two japanese carriers attacked dutch harbor on alaska killing 50 people during the same month they occupied several aleutian islands in an attempt to put psychological pressure on the usa and to divert its forces from the theater in the central pacific it is an interesting fact that these military events in the aleutian islands were not reflected in the media and the world was not even aware of the fighting here the japanese landing on the illusion islands was the first foreign invasion of the united states since the british invasions of 1812. within the next few months of the attack 145 000 american and canadian military personnel were sent to the aleutian archipelago to defend it and retake the islands captured by the japanese [Music] the population of soldiers on the island of umnoc for example was eleven thousand and they built a large number of settlements and infrastructure in just two years which is little preserved now because of the climate [Music] they even built unpaved roads into some parts of the island the remains of which we have seen and used in several places hundreds of buildings were built for coastal defense so that they could withstand earthquakes and hurricane winds by august 1943 the japanese were finally expelled from the aleutian islands and the fighting that took place there was gradually forgotten [Music] following the japanese attacks u.s military commanders ordered the evacuation of all locals from the archipelago out of concern for their safety and to prepare the islands for the arrival of armed forces the islanders were given less than a day to pack being allowed to take only one suitcase of belongings each without being told where they were being sent or when they would return about 900 elutes were removed from nine villages from across the archipelago and relocated for three years to abandon canneries among the forests of southeast alaska most elutes had never left their island before many seeing trees for the first time about 10 of the evacuees died due to unsanitary conditions horrible living conditions and lack of medical care those who returned to onalaska in 1945 found their homes looted or burned down [Music] the main settlement of the archipelago of islands is dutch harbor located on the island of onalaska it is here that most of the fish are caught which is imported not only to the united states but throughout the world the famous snow crab and filleto fish at mcdonald's are from here it is one of the largest fishing centers in the united states providing accommodation for fishermen and boat services here the catches from all the smaller fishing vessels are combined and transported to the mainland by larger ships getting to dutch harbor like anywhere in the aleutian islands is not an easy task your arrival here is just as much a matter of luck as it is fraught with uncertainty and it's all about an unpredictable climate dutch harbor airport is one of the most dangerous airports on the planet aircraft landings are not always successful here the location of the runway due to the peculiarities of the island's landscape is very dangerous and requires good weather conditions for landing and highly skilled pilots after all the weather in these places is unpredictable and the storm winds are among the strongest in the world also there is almost constant rain or low fog that make landing dangerous and sometimes impossible some days it takes a week or more for airplanes to have weather suitable for landing for locals who travel to more remote places of the aleutian islands it is understood that this is common and nobody is surprised about delays which may take several days to go from onalaska to anchorage it also often happens that the weather improves and the plane can leave anchorage but during its flight time the weather can deteriorate dramatically the plane arrives at dutch harbor but cannot land because of the weather and has to fly back a new law was implemented after the crash of the saab 2000 aircraft of penair which operated a flight for alaska airlines from anchorage to onalaska following this incident a law was passed that prohibits landing at dutch harbor airport in hazardous weather conditions that is why the plane can easily fly all the way there only to be unable to land and return again to the point of departure which happened to us twice we were unable to land the first time returned to anchorage and tried the next day when the weather was favorable to us [Music] and the next time we landed successfully at the airport after two refuelings on the way we waited for another plane for several days and we didn't know when it would arrive but a more serious adventure awaited us so jimmy is going to give us a ride to the nikolski the dutch harbour was our starting point on our journey to the aleutian islands a rival hub and entry point for the aleutian islands this is where the main adventure begins namely a series of unlikely meetings brought us to the captain of a ship who was leaving for the village of nikolski and agreed to take us with him [Music] this is how our incredible adventure began in the bering sea and on umnoc island for 40 days but it feels like a little life [Music] so here it is omni island and right now we are going to nikolski we still have about four hours to go we approached the island at night and in the morning over there we've been able to see a little bit of a coastline the aleutian islands are not a place for those in a hurry not a place for those who want to be constantly in touch and not for those who are guided by a clear plan i can't say that we didn't have a plan at all we had a plan and we followed it this is our route around umnoc island where the blue line is indicates a boat crossing we took food with us for a month and delivered it to the middle of the island by boat and the green and yellow lines are our hiking trip on the island one of the topics most closely associated with the aleutian islands is bad weather the average temperature in summer is seven degrees celsius and in winter it is about zero degrees celsius but winds and rains make this climate truly harsh the location of the islands is to blame and strong storms caused by pockets of low atmospheric pressure the aleutian islands are called the cradle of storms and the place where winds are born and these nicknames of the aleutian islands are absolutely deserved along with constant rains and fogs winds rule here the speed of which can reach 160 kilometers per hour neighboring seas each create their own meteorological conditions and the collision of these two systems constantly gives rise to cyclones storms hurricane winds torrential rains and thick fog rainfall is about 50 inches per year all of this has a serious impact on the weather in canada and the continental united states in ancient times talking about the weather in the aleutian islands was considered a bad omen [Music] since the weather is almost always unpredictable and stormy here it was impossible to discuss it and a taboo topic sometimes the locals waited so long for good weather that they would have a ceremony in the ceremony the people would gather in their dwellings and scream as loud as they could they believe if the spirits will hear them the weather will improve in general the weather was very friendly to us but we had times when we wanted to try this ceremony for ourselves [Music] foreign why is it the worst climate on the planet almost all the water in the bering sea comes from the pacific ocean the structure of the bering sea waters is characterized by the presence of a cold intermediate layer in summer with warmer waters above and below in summer the water heats up but a significant layer of water cooled in winter remains cold [Music] part of the water in the bering sea passes through the bearing straight to the arctic ocean but most of it returns to the pacific ocean thus the constant circulation of cold and warm currents combined with constant changes in atmospheric pressure create unpredictable weather to these places and the currents of the pacific ocean do not allow the temperature to drop like in the rest of the northern parts of alaska due to its volcanic origin the coastline on umnoc island is incredibly beautiful [Music] there are majestic cliffs and extraordinary rock formations against the backdrop of black volcanic sand at almost every step [Music] hmm crossing the bering sea on the way to umnoc island there was a huge concentration of marine life waiting for us here it is the most significant in the world killer whales corpuses sea otters seals and whales live here the aleutian coast is home to many seabirds more than the rest of the united states the region of the north bering sea and the bering strait in alaska is one of the most significant historical ecological and cultural places on our planet it is home to one of the largest marine mammal migrations in the world [Music] millions of marine animals including belugas and bowhead whales cross the bering strait every year millions of seabirds from different continents travel to the arctic through these places every spring [Music] hello guys how are you it's a wonderful day [Music] [Music] [Music] there are volcanoes on the island of umnoc which are active to this day there are a lot of hot springs here geysers and funerals most of which have not yet been investigated and have no name why does hot water come to the surface of the earth usually hot springs can be found in many places you don't have to look for them at the foot of volcanoes after all geothermal heat often gives the water a warm temperature the deeper to the core of the planet the higher the temperature the water is deep enough so it can be heated by the hot rock of the earth in volcanic places water is heated by molten rock that is magma as in the situation on the island of umnoc temperatures here are so high that the water sometimes boils all hot springs in the volcanic rock area are very hot in such places you can get severe burns if water is thrown out to the surface of the earth in the form of a fountain then this fountain is called a geyser we saw several geyser sites on the island and even whole fields of geysers the place where there is a geyser is not difficult to notice there is no vegetation around it and the grass is yellow and burnt in color we also saw fumaroles on the island the release of hot volcanic gas in the form of jets and calmly floating masses from cracks or channels in the walls of the volcano's crater we also saw mud springs when water mixes with clay and mud in preparation we found only a few papers by geologists who mention one location of geysers which can be seen even from the sea thanks to the constantly smoking cracks these geysers have very modest names lower middle and upper geysers in addition to these geysers mentioned and known in narrow scientific circles we found many others during the passage through one of the passes we discovered our geyser valley there is a unique phenomenon on the island a steaming beach at low tide the black volcanic sand on this beach heats up and begins to steam creating an incredible sight that is hard to believe this place is not popular with people but the locals the cows long ago made it a spa resort therefore on a sunny day and at low tide here on the beach you can meet cows that warm their bones and sunbathe foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] the aleutian islands are a volcanic origin their surface is a chain of peaks of an underwater ridge that rises from the bottom of the aleutian trench of the pacific ocean for more than ten thousand meters this ridge is dotted with volcanic formations the islands are constantly prone to earthquakes and tsunamis when we were in the islands there was an earthquake of magnitude eight however we were too tired after the hike and did not even wake up the aleutian islands have 57 volcanoes of which 27 are active and 13 are over 5 000 feet above sea level [Music] active volcanoes continue to shape many of the islands creating new habitat umnoc island has both active and extinct volcanoes among the famous ones are riches noi 1984 meters tulik and vasevidov volcano 2149 meters the northeast flank of rochester has one of the hottest and most extensive thermal zones in alaska it is here that geyser bay is located and contains the only known geysers in the state other thermal areas are found in hot springs bay and parto bay cevidov volcano is majestic and one of the most active volcanoes in the aleutian islands its summit is the highest point on umnoc in good weather when the clouds part which is not often you can see its symmetrical cone that towers beautifully over the surrounding area [Music] there is one volcano that requires special attention on the northeastern part of umnoc island is the snow-capped caldera of akmac volcano that measures six miles in diameter the volcano is just over one thousand meters high although it is not as tall as its brethren it occupies nearly half the island formed by eruptions many years ago the volcano is divided into two calderas a crater lake once filled most of the caldera the prehistoric lake reached a depth of 150 meters it would still be there if it were not for the speed of erosion and the eruption in 2008 that changed the caldera [Music] it created five large lakes and many smaller ones [Music] through a groove of erosion at the northeastern edge of the volcano the remnants of the large lake began to merge and this process is still going on today to see it we had to walk halfway around the island skirting the volcano from the other side [Music] we walked all the way along the incredible beauty of canyons [Music] [Music] rivers and waterfalls most of which were formed thanks to this process [Music] volcano akmac is not only an incredibly beautiful and dangerous phenomenon but perhaps is very important politically and historically volcanoes should not be underestimated as they do have a huge impact on climate change it is hard to believe but it is said that the eruption of volcano ocmoc led to the fall of ancient egypt and the roman empire and the emergence of the roman empire in the opposite hemisphere after all all natural and historical processes are linked by analyzing ice samples from greenland and russia's northern earth scientists found that they contain an unexpected amount of ash this indicated that the volcanic eruption must have lowered the temperature in the mediterranean by 7 degrees celsius in addition archaeologists and geologists have found which volcano created this ash to do this they compared the ratio of co2 and alkali metal compounds in the ash particles for all known eruptions this parameter is unique and scientists easily found the culprit all this as scholars note perfectly explains the unusually cold and rainy winters and springs in the roman republic the lack of nile floods the strange omens in the heavens and the heavy rains in the autumn all of this superimposed on pre-existing political tensions after caesar's death and gave rise to one of rome's longest running internal conflicts the last eruptions of akhmak occurred in 1997 and 2008 but one would like to believe that their consequences were less devastating in global political terms but no less destructive for the locals these eruptions uncovered deep pits within the crater and completely altered the landscape both in and around the five and a half mile 8.9 kilometer diameter caldera [Music] numerous fumaroles are located on the slopes of the volcano millions of fissures and ravines radiate from the crater like threads there are millions of cracks and fissures scattered in all directions from one to eruptions caused by a change of landscape possible the formation of glaciers the discovery of which was an unexpected and rather dangerous discovery for us when descending from the volcano from the other side [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] a [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] in general the entire landscape around the volcano is virtually unexplored and a mystery most places cannot be seen from satellite or have changed drastically due to erosion in recent years there are no detailed geodetic maps either after all what we see now is in constant motion and who knows maybe in a couple of years the whole landscape will look completely different virtually all the land you see around you is ash and ash from not so long ago eruptions which is eroding much faster than ordinary soil moreover the climate of the aleutian islands and the tremendous amount of rainfall only accelerates and intensifies this process [Music] [Music] [Music] boomnock island has a huge number of rivers waterfalls and swamps [Music] because of the windy and cold climate no trees grow here all year round umnoc island has an average of 250 rainy days per year the days without rain are only a third of the year in addition there are even fewer sunny days due to the amount of rainfall there are many valleys on umnoc decorated with dozens of waterfalls [Music] the average annual rainfall is about 2 000 millimeters per year rushing and swift rivers flow down from the mountains the valleys have majestic bends of waterways moss covered estuaries deep canyons [Music] and marshes adorned with downy flowers [Music] [Music] and in order to walk on the island you need to be prepared to wade across a large number of rivers because even over the widest and deepest river we'll never be built bridges [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] most people think the aleutian islands are virtually untouched by civilization however they are not for a long time various species of animals have been introduced to the islands which has greatly affected their flora and fauna when vitus baring first arrived on these islands he found local red foxes and named them fox islands then mass breeding of other fox species started on the islands as well which caused great damage to the bird population the foxes have not gone anywhere since then now on umnoc island we met a large number of foxes they walked along the beaches and rivers were curious not afraid and came up to get acquainted [Music] [Music] oh there are whole herds of deer and large numbers of cattle and even bison on the island people bring all these animals to the island wild reindeer roam peacefully in the mountains and mountain passes [Music] [Applause] [Music] in addition the cows feel at home here too they walk everywhere [Music] many cows have never seen humans so they are not afraid and do not respect humans we encountered hundreds if not thousands of wild cows on the island constantly crossing with them near rivers trying to disperse in valleys meeting on beaches and in gorges [Music] the only places where we could rest were the volcanoes and the highlands once upon a time people brought cows here for the purpose of production the complexity and high cost of logistics did not pay off the effort due to bad and unpredictable weather conditions it became impossible to conduct business the ranch was closed the cows were abandoned and never came back for them thus began the population of wild cows on the island the last data on the number was in 2016. at that time there were eight thousand cows after that nobody counted cows they independently increased their population on umnoc island from year to year and create a real road system encounters with wild cows brought many stressful moments [Music] [Music] foreign mmm [Music] [Music] what do you mean not [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] there are also not very pleasant consequences of such a number of cattle on the island serious soil erosion collapsed hills and torn parts of mountains have been noticed in all places of active living and activity of cows some water sources are foul deep pits and ditches dug by cows cannot be repaired nor can the meadows and plants seriously damaged by the interference of thousands of wild cows this is a huge problem for the beauty and virgin nature of the island foreign [Music] [Music] as there is practically no information and photos about these places everything was used in preparation from scientific works of geologists and small military reports to advertising brochures about ports and boats of these places you will not find any new maps of course when constructing the route we had to use rare maps of the second world war overlaying them on the online satellite maps of various services and a great hope that the landscape has not changed much from the date of photos from space you cannot prepare as you would for a normal camping trip here you are going to places where no one has it is hard to say how passable the passes and rivers are how the slope of the volcano has changed since the last eruption what condition the glaciers are in and how many of them there will be along the way today foreign [Music] in terms of gear we chose the most waterproof fabrics and water protection technology available on the market also very important is a tent with high wind resistance [Applause] um [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] a few months before the trip we started stocking up on freeze-dried foods light and calorie dense at the same time since there are no shops there of course we had to take all the provisions with us it was quite a long hike so in order not to carry all the food on ourselves it was decided to take a boatload of provisions to the middle of the island we set up a food drop hit [Music] [Music] and returned to it hungry after two weeks we rested ate and continued the route with full backpacks when preparing for such expeditions you need to be prepared for everything from clothing for all types of weather fully stocked autonomous power supply [Music] yum yum to a good first aid kit and solar panels [Music] having a rescue device would come in handy although given the weather and the remoteness of these places the likelihood of rescue could take weeks [Music] [Music] the village of nikolski is one of the oldest settlements in the aleutian islands and our final destination today it is home to less than 30 inhabitants but it has been continuously inhabited for thousands of years and is considered to be the oldest inhabited place on earth [Music] located in a very beautiful place the plains interrupted by rocky cliffs reveal the blue of the north pacific and the bering sea with a constant view of the snow-capped volcanoes cevidov and recheshnoy the locals still live a simple life [Music] in harmony with nature and each other the atmosphere that reigns here is incomparable to any other place on the planet the harshness and difficulty of life of these places on the one hand [Music] warm attitude and kind smiles of nikolski inhabitants on the other side [Music] this generates incredible harmony and warmth around despite all the weather foreign [Music] system [Music] it was an incredible adventure to spend a short northern summer on umnoc island we are grateful to the weather the animals akhmak volcano and the people we met along the way for an unforgettable experience [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] ready hawaii [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] so [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] ratio [Music] [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Viktor Posnov

Views: 1,107,075

Keywords: viktor, posnov, Aleuts, Unangan, Umnak, Aleutian Islands, Alaska, Unalaska, Dutch Harbor, Vsevidof, Okmok, Nikolski, Bering Sea, Ravn air, Pacific, USA, geyser, hot spring, Recheshnoi, whale, Fur seal, puffin, backpacking, tracking, camping, hiking, Russian orthodox, Kamchatka, volcano, cattle, reindeer, storm, documentary, Mariana, ianovska, Chernofski, russian

Id: uF3Ofr_rj28

Length: 71min 1sec (4261 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 31 2021