Description
Valley of the River Lethe, extends NW from Mount Mageik, on Alaska Peninsula, in Katmai National Monument, 10 mi. W of Mount Katmai, Aleutian Range
History
Discovered and named July 31, 1916 by Robert F. Griggs and Lucius G. Folsom, members of the National Geographic Society Katmai Expedition. Griggs wrote, "The whole valley as far as the eye could reach was full of hundreds, no thousands-literally, tens of thousands-of smokes curling up from its fissured floor." By 1950, the number of smokes had dwindled to fewer than 100. Most of the original smokes are now extinct and the valley is becoming a "valley of evolution," as hardy pioneer plants struggle to re-establish a floral mantle over nearly sterile ground.