Kamchatka’s “home version” volcanoes.

If ever you hear the Russian for “town” (gorod) uttered in Kamchatka, what are normally being referred to are the practically conjoined towns of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and Yelizovo (where around two-thirds of the population of the whole peninsula live – ~200,000 out of ~290,000) – here. It’s what happens when there’s a single… micropolis in a region ).

Behind the town there are three charming volcanoes, fondly referred to as the domashny volcanoes – domashny meaning “homely”, “domesticated” (as in – not wild), or “of the home” – kind of like… a pet, or the comforts of a home (also a “home” instead of, say, a “pro” version of something like a product).

Aaaaaany way, the domashnies are the Koryaksky, Avachinsky and Kozelsky volcanoes, which form the much cherished and appreciated backdrop to the administrative center of Kamchatka. Cherished and appreciated, that is, when they’re visible, which is rarely – including when we were there this year, when we only caught brief glimpses of them between passing clouds from the helicopter:

Not far from the “town” there are other impressive volcanoes to be checked out – like Gorely ->

Alas – we didn’t see much of Gorely due to the clouds…

In one crater lake there’s still a turquoise lake:

In the other – the lake’s dried up completely:

Here’s what the crater-lakes looked like in the past:

And back to present day:

Onward we chopper, to Mutnovsky…

Mutnovsky is a magically mind-blowing collection of volcanisms: colossal crater, glaciers, fumaroles, hot springs, multicolored emissions, streams ending in a waterfall, plus a smoking peak. A true masterpiece of volcanism – given good weather; this year: grrrr…

Previous years’ pics:

Meanwhile, onward we chopper again…

What’s steaming away down there is a hole that was bored through the rock decades ago in the interests of energy provision for the country (see the Mutnovskaya Power Station) ->