The Heart of Katmai: From Bears to Blast Craters

In this webinar series, Annie Van Dinther interviews Expedition Leaders from around the world to discover the heart of the places they love and call home. Her quest is to take you on a journey with our guides, via stories and photographs, that leaves you feeling like you’ve been there. In this episode, join Sean Eggleston on a trip to southwest Alaska’s remote Katmai Peninsula, home of the highest concentration of brown bears in the world. But this region, so famous for its spectacular, close-up bear viewing, has more to offer, too! After the dramatic Novarupta Volcano cataclysm in 1912, the largest eruption in the 20th century, the area around it became known as the “Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes,” with countless steam tendrils curling up from fissures in the crater floor. On this exciting visual adventure, learn how the eruption changed the face of the landscape that sustains the world’s most vital bear population, and how both the bears and the blast make for a riveting nature travel experience.


Originally presented August 27, 2020