Studyonaya River Canyon, where you keep you ears to the ground.

Having been duly impressed by the monumentality of the Klyuchevsky volcano group – it was time to head further south. And there’s so much more jaw-dropping awesomeness ahead that you’d better… tie your jaws together now! :)…

Actually, we didn’t have far to walk fly – just around 10km southwest of the Klyuchevsky group (from here, to be precise) is the picturesque canyon of the Studyonaya River, from the mouth of which there’s a contemplative view of Tolbachik:

Down the millennia the river’s cut some interesting chasms/crevasses/canyons out of the lava fields here – with vertical walls some 10-20 meters high. There are a few of these corridors (well – at least two), and though not very long (100-200 meters each), they’re still very striking:

One canyon ends with a wall where the stream flows into a small waterfall at the bottom of the canyon (when the stream isn’t dry) ->

You can tell from the bottom of the canyon that there was water here fairly recently:

Since the stream flows from the slopes of the nearby volcanoes – rather, from the glaciers on the slopes of the volcanoes – it’s obvious that it fills up with water in the afternoon. That’s why it’s only possible to walk here and stay dry in the morning – and only if there’s no rain, which can turn the stream into a stormy mudflow (discussed below).

And here in the middle of the following photo is the entrance to the second, deeper canyon:

The views here are more brutal:

At the end (or is it the beginning?) of the canyon, instead of smooth polished rock there’s a pile of tightly packed rocks:

I reckon it’d be nice to see a waterfall cascading down them; however, that idea’s probably suicidal: the water pressure here can be so strong that you can’t stand, and it’s not pure spring water but a muddy torrent with stones. Ouch. No thank you…

But when the river’s dry, it’s absolutely wonderful:

When water’s flowing along the riverbed, no one in their right mind would even consider going down the canyon (more photos from our 2021 trip are here, but the dry photos there aren’t mine) ->

If you think it’s just a gentle stream, think again. It’s a muddy torrent that carries some pretty heavy boulders:

The view from above:

The view of the waterfall:

I’ll add a little more about the health and safety aspects, because one can’t be too careful in these places. Kamchatka’s streams, which gurgle merrily down the slopes of the Klyuchevsky volcano group, can quickly change their character, depending on the weather and the degree of melting of the glaciers on the summits. Here, for example, is a rather quiet stream called Sukhaya (“dry”) Khapitsa ->

At other times the same stream becomes totally unfriendly and impassable. The following photo is of the same stream – also in July, but in a different year.

Another example. Early in the morning, an obstacle like this can be crossed almost without noticing:

…While in a couple of hours a powerful mudslide will sweep down it carrying huge rocks the size of… a refrigerator!

The first wave of debris was even higher – you can tell by the moist band on the bank:

There’s more on this story here.

While exploring natural attractions around here and walking through the canyons, as the title of this post suggests – keep your ears pricked, perked, to the ground (or whatever it is you do with ears like you do when you keep your eyes peeled). for if you suddenly hear a new sound or a distant rumble, and the ground starts to shake a little – get out of the canyon fast and climb up to some high ground!

This is rather a contemplative spot on the Studyonaya River. The views from here are great! In one direction there’s Tolbachik (see photo 1), and in the other – the volcanic triptych of Klyuchevsky, Kamen and Bezymyanny ->