Description of the attraction
The Valley of Geysers is the pearl of Kamchatka, one of the wonders of not only Russia, but also the world. The valley is located in the Kronotsky Nature Reserve, in the basin of one of the tributaries of the Shumnaya River, among the mountains of the Eastern Volcanic Belt. In the bowl of an ancient lake that disappeared many centuries ago, fountains and jets of boiling water burst from the hot bowels of the earth to the surface.
The Valley of Geysers is one of the largest geographical discoveries of the 20th century. In 1941, Tatyana Ivanovna Ustinova, a geologist of the Kronotsky nature reserve and guide Anisifor Krupenin, conducted research on why the water in one of the rivers is warmer than in others. During a halt, a stream of boiling water unexpectedly burst out of the ground, accompanied by puffs of steam and an underground rumble, pretty much frightening the travelers. It was a geyser that was later named "Firstborn". Today, on an area of almost 7 square kilometers, there are more than 20 large geysers. Each geyser has a name, character, periods of sleep and wakefulness, each of them is unique, inimitable and each has its own "life", the rhythm of eruptions. Some geysers emit fountains of boiling water and steam every 10-12 minutes, others erupt once every 4-5 hours.
The largest geyser of the Giant Valley erupts 30 tons of water in one minute to the height of a nine-storey building, while the Troinoy geyser lives up to its name - it gushes with streams of steam from three holes. The Pervenets geyser throws a stream of boiling water directly into the river, increasing the temperature in it. The Sugar Geyser sparkles in the sun with an iridescent crown, and the Fountain geyser gushes upward in a thin stream. The jets of the "Khrustalny" geyser sparkle like a precious rock, the "Grotto" is silent for years in order to unexpectedly pour tens of tons of muddy water from the slope into the river, and the "Leshy" geyser, on the contrary, is very "talkative" - it groans and hoots in a semi-submerged state. The fantasticness of this place is complemented by hundreds of gushing springs, hot and warm water lakes and acidic lakes, thermophilic algae, streams, waterfalls, gas-steam jets erupting from the ground, boilers of boiling red clay. This is truly unearthly, frightening, and at the same time mesmerizing with its primitiveness spectacle. In this place, it is better for a tourist to be careful and extremely attentive so as not to get burned by falling under a stream of boiling water, or by falling with his foot into a scalding slurry masked by a clearing of bright green grass. You can only trust wormwood in the Valley. This familiar and unprepossessing-looking plant has chosen absolutely reliable places where a tourist can fearlessly make a halt and rest, admiring the enchanting spectacle around. Tourists are taken to the Valley by helicopter. During the flight, the helicopter will circle over the Karymsky volcano, spitting out ash clouds, and will fly around the Maly Semyachik volcano with a turquoise acid lake in the crater.
Spring comes to the valley a month earlier than usual, and then everything around comes alive and flourishes. Many species of plants, animals, birds, some species of which live only here - all this is the unique ecosystem of the Valley of Geysers. The landscape of the valley in late autumn and early winter is peculiar - snow falling from the sky, and steam and boiling water escaping from the depths of the earth. It is recommended to visit the Valley of Geysers in the summer-autumn period.
