Eruption - 12. Erupt Ch 12

“I will have to look at getting one of these for when we do other camping trips,” I commented, “Good luck with that, this is a one-off Jonas special, something that I designed and built myself. But I may consider lending it out to good friends on an occasion if I’m allowed to join them on future camping trips,” Jonas replied smiling.

I chucked at this comment, “We will see how it goes for this trip shall we,” I replied, and Jonas appeared to be happy with that response. A few hours later, as the afternoon started to fade, I had Jonas check all of the data on the sensors again, while I was doing a power and transmission check on each sensor, to make sure they were all operating properly, and we discovered that there were two sensors at one location that was no longer working.

“Are we going on a road trip to check to see why they are not working? Jonas asked me, after I told him about the issue, “Not sure yet mate, let’s wait and see if it is a minor glitch or not,” I replied. Jonas ended up staying for two days and three nights before he had to return to work at the restaurant, but he had left his tent set up along with most of his other gear, as he said he would return in a day or two, or when he can get away from work.

Two days later, we heard a motorised bike or scooter approaching, and we saw that it was Jonas on a scooter, which had a large box attached to the back. “Hey guys, I took the liberty of doing some shopping for us, for basic supplies that you may be running low on, and I can only stay for two nights this time,” Jonas said.

“Ok, thanks we were planning to do some food shopping late this afternoon, let’s see what you brought,” Emmanuel replied as he walked up to the scooter, and Jonas pulled out several bags, from the box. “UHT milk, bread, eggs, bacon, diced steak, potatoes, carrots, onions, excellent, I can make a casserole for dinner tonight,” Emmanuel said.

“How are things going with the monitoring?” Jonas asked as he helped take the food over to the two cooler boxes, “we have had a few small tremors on Fort Selkirk, but nothing else, and we still can’t get those faulty sensors back online,” I replied, just as my mobile phone rang, and the caller ID said it was Dr Judith Archer calling.

“Mr Newton, our equipment is saying that someone is remotely monitoring the volcanic Sensors near the west coast, that wouldn’t be you by any chance, would it?” Dr Archer asked me when I answered the call, “Yes Dr Archer, it is me, I have Emmanuel here with me, along with Mr Jonas Harrington, as Terrace BC is his hometown, and we bumped into him the other day,” I replied.

“I see, so you have been watching the small tremors up at Fort Selkirk then?” Dr Archer asked, “Yes Ma’am, we have also discovered that we have a few faulty sensors at another site,” I replied. “Yes, I can see that, I was doing some checks here at this end when I noticed that someone else was online and much closer to the sites.

I am thinking of sending a team to join you, and see if we can rectify that problem, what are your thoughts on that Carson?” my lecturer asked me, “Well, I was only planning to just monitor them while enjoying a quiet camping trip with my good friend Emmanuel, we are camping just out of town at Terrace, and have been enjoying the peace of the area, with a bit of fishing and just doing generally nothing but relaxing,” I replied.

“I see. Well, you do have one other student with you, so I guess I could leave it up to you and Jonas to sort out, but I would like to have daily reports if there is any stronger activity in the area,” Dr Archer said to me. “I can’t promise you anything Dr Archer, as I said, I am just monitoring, while on a camping holiday,” I answered. “Ok, I won’t be informing the Dean that you are there, but keep in touch if anything significant happens please,” Dr Archer asked before ending the call.

“How did she know you were here?” Jonas asked, when I pocketed my mobile, “She was doing some checks at the University and saw there was a remote connection to the system, and took a good guess that it was me,” I replied, “Is she sending a team over to join us?” Emmanuel asked me.

“No, I asked her not to, as I was on holiday, but she has asked me to keep her in the loop if anything major happens,” I replied. “Does this mean we are packing up camp and relocating?” Emmanuel asked me, “That may be a good idea since I told Dr Archer that we are in Terrace,” I replied.

“If I can convince my Dad to give me some time off from work, can I join you guys please, I was really disappointed that I missed the last trip,” Jonas asked me, and I glanced over at Emmanuel who smiled, “Yes, sure thing, but we will be leaving tomorrow morning,” I replied.

After ten minutes of talking on the phone, Jonas was smiling, he was able to join us, and he just said he needed to go home and get some more clothes and stuff, and that he would be back before dark.

After leaving on his scooter, Emmanuel and I headed to the work tent, where I opened up a map showing all the sites where the University has sensors in place. Why not go and check where the faulty sensors are first, and see if we can fix that issue,” Emmanuel suggested to me.

“Ok, but Dr Archer, will probably guess that is where we are heading, so we may have to set up camp somewhere else and just fly in there and fly back out,” I replied. “Ok, sounds like a plan, so where are the faulty sensors?” Emmanuel asked.

“They are at the Tseax site, the ones we planted along the shoreline of Lava Lake next to the highway, just south of the Lava Lake Picnic grounds, and just 70 kilometres north of here by air,” I replied. “Ok, so not too close to where the eruption happened last time?” Emmanuel asked.

“No mate, that was Edziza, another 300 kilometres to the north,” I replied, as I opened up a map of the sensor sites again, and zoomed in on Lava Lake. There is a smaller lake much closer to Tseax Cone, on the northeast side of the mountain, but then again it is a bit too close to the crater, so let’s see what other options we have…” I said as I continued to look around the area.

“Here, this would be ideal, Meziadin Lake, about halfway between Tseax and Edziza, so well out of the eruption zone, and there is a fuel station on Highway 37 nearby for supplies if we need them, with a camping ground and a boat ramp, but I am thinking of stocking up on plenty of supplies and going even more remote than that,” I announced.

In the end, we decided to just go and check the sensors and fly back out in just one full day, and we would fly further south to a new site where we would camp at some lakes, in the Black Dome Mountain area, another volcano of interest, that may have had some more recent activity, but we never had the chance to check.

We spent an awesome two weeks at Chilko Lake, Taseko Lake and Anahim Lake, flying out to check on some sensors and also to collect more supplies, I felt relaxed and happy for the first time in a long while, and although I had Emmanuel with me the whole time, who is a great mate, I still felt a bit lonely and realised that I do need to try and get a boyfriend to spend more intimate time with, but for now, I just had to get through my final year of studies and work out what to do from there.

The day before we were about to pack up and head back home, at our base at an apartment we had rented on the shores of Lake Anahim, I was doing some final checks on the sensors, before I started to pack up all the equipment, ready for our departure, when a flock of water birds suddenly flew upwards.

“Emmanuel, hang on, we are about to get a tremor,” I warned my friend, just as it started, and Emmanuel staggered onto the balcony and helped me to keep everything in place on the two tables, as we continued to be badly shaken which seemed to go for a very long time.

When the shaking stopped, I looked around to see if there was any volcanic activity happening, and there to the north, was a huge cloud of ash and dust, that must be at least ten kilometres in height. Looking at my computer and doing some very fast typing, I discovered that the eruption was on Anahim Peak, just 32 kilometres to the northwest of where they are, and the seismic reading came up with a 5.4 on the Richter scale, just as my mobile phone began to ring.

“Carlton, would you by any chance be near all the seismic activity at the moment?” came the familiar voice of Dr Judith Wallis, and I chuckled at this comment, “Yes Judith, and I happen to be just 32 kilometres from the eruption, which I am viewing as we speak. It is Anahim Peak, and my reading is a 5.4 on the scale,” I replied.

“You have a knack of been at the right place at the right time, stay put as I am coming there with a team of four others, send me the coordinates of the nearest airport, and can you arrange transport and accommodation for us please,” Dr Judith asked.

“Yes, I will get right on it, Emmanuel and I are at an apartment, and there is a resort very close by, so we will see what we can arrange,” I answered, “Very good, I will see you maybe later tonight, bye for now,” Judith said before ending the call, just as the phone rang again.

“Hello, Carson Newton speaking,” I said, “Please hold for the Prime Minister,” came a response and after being put on hold, I let out a large groan. “What is it?” Emmanuel asked me, sounding a little concerned, “I’m on hold to the PM, can you go to the resort next door and book two twin and one queen room, for the university team that is flying out here tonight, oh and also transport from the airport to here,” I asked Emmanuel who grabbed his jacket, wallet and keys and dashed off.

After a ten-minute conversation with the Prime Minister, I went back to check all the data that I was getting, as I had a portable sensor with us, that was picking up all of the activity that was happening at Anahim Peak. I realised that I needed to try and get a bit closer to the eruption, so as soon as Emmanuel returned and I gave him instructions to go and cover the plane with the tarpaulins, I headed to the resort where I hired a vehicle and set off towards the peak, firstly on the highway, then on a gravel road till I was just east of the peak, which was a little over 30 kilometres distance away.

I placed two sensors along the side of the road, about five kilometres apart, before turning back to the apartment, where I found Emmanuel watching the news broadcast, with the PM making a statement, once again ordering an evacuation of an area of 30 kilometres from Anahim Peak, which meant we could stay put, as we were just outside that range.

The turnoff to Rainbow Range Trail on Highway 20 was the stopping point for all traffic heading east, while the turnoff to the Red Cariboo Resort was the stopping point for all traffic heading West, as roadblocks were put into place very quickly. Thankfully it is quite a remote region, so there was a very minimal number of people affected by the evacuation order, as we continued to monitor smaller tremors that followed the big earthquake that we had experienced earlier.

Emmanuel had managed to book a suite and a four single-bed log cabin, for those who would be travelling with Judith, and I received an update that they would be arriving at approximately 9 am tomorrow. I had to use the Internet made available at the apartment to send all the data that I was collecting to the University, which took some time as the internet provider was a little slow.

When my phone rang and it was an unknown number, I reluctantly answered the call. “Carson, this is Jonas, I am in Williams Lake at the moment, visiting relatives, are you anywhere near this eruption, that I just saw on the television?” came the voice of one of my classmates, and I laughed.

“Yes Jonas, we are actually very close to it. Just outside of the evacuation zone, near the town of Anahim, it is Anahim Peak that has erupted,” I replied, “Wow, hey I have cleared it with my folks, I am going to head down your way, and it will take me about four and a half hours to get there from here, can you arrange accommodation space for me please, I have my swag with me, so I can bed down anywhere,” Jonah said.

“Yeah, sure mate, Emanuel and I have a place, and Dr Judith and four others are on their way and will be here in the morning,” I replied. “Ok, cool, can you let her know that I am on my way too please, as I want to be part of the team this time,” Jonas said to me, and I agreed to pass on the information and the call ended.

I sent a message to Dr Judith, to inform her that Jonas would be joining the team, as he was in the area, and I received a message back saying that it was fine, as she only had three university students that could join her for this unexpected trip, and that Jonas would be a welcome addition to the team.

About three hours later, as it was getting dark, I received a call back from Jonas, “Hey buddy, how far away are you from us now?” I asked. “I am in Tatla Lake about one and a half hours out, but I have come to a halt due to a roadblock and the RCMP won’t let me through, and I don’t have my University ID with me,” Jonas replied, and I asked him to pass the phone to the officer.

Five minutes later Jonas was on his way again, after I convinced the officer that Jonas was an important part of the team, and after the phone call, Emmanuel and I headed over to the Resort to have some dinner. We had enjoyed a very nice main course and were having desserts when the whole restaurant began to shake violently, and a number of the other patrons started screaming.

“Stay calm everyone, get under the table and wait for the tremor to stop,” I called out as I stood up to get everyone’s attention. “What would you know, you are just a young visitor, you have no idea what is happening,” one man said in reply angrily.

“This is Mr Carson Newton, the famous Volcanologist, so yes he does know what he is talking about,” Emmanuel said in reply, and I just smiled and nodded my head, “You are? Please what do we do?” another woman asked from under her table.

“Just stay calm, and remain under the table, it will be over very shortly,” I said calmly, before I headed outside to see where this newest quake was coming from, much to my surprise, there was a big cloud of dust and ash coming from the east, as I dashed back to the apartment. Emmanuel arrived a few minutes later, announcing that he had paid the dinner bill. “Oh good, thanks for that mate,” I replied.