I’m in the middle of a 6-day trip flying between Honolulu and Tokyo. We were flying a typical “great circle” route from San Francisco (SFO) to Tokyo/Narita (NRT) the other day when the ubiquitous undercast cleared. Whenever it does, and it really is rare, yet seems to be happening more often lately, and I don’t want to think too hard on why, I get to see some fascinating sights. Here’s the big picture of where the following photos were taken. You’ll notice a little place marker in the middle of the Aleutian Islands chain, just east of Adak.
Zoomed in a bit.
You can see the clouds in the background (how this region usually looks when I fly over it) with no land at all visible. But soon they retreated enough to reveal great views of Adak and…
Then…look at that–a tiny island with a crater in the center!
Wow! I really had to zoom my iphone6 in to get any detail. Cool!!! What was this place? Was that fresh water in the center? Was it warm from thermal heating? From an ancient volcano? It looked completely scrubbed and desolate, and I wondered why, as wouldn’t it be the perfect seasonal habitat for seabirds and other life? Since I couldn’t rappel down from 37,000 feet to explore I scribbled down the approximate latitude and longitude and when I got to Tokyo I googled it.It was a real place and it even had a name: Kasatochi Island! With a violent and tragic past, I learned. Prior to 2008, it was green and beautiful, considered by many to be the most picturesque of the Aleutian Islands. Before disaster struck…
“Before the 2008 eruption, it was steep, rugged and it’s vegetation was dense, low-growing and dominated by many species of grasses and forbes making it similar to other Aleutian Islands. What set Kasatochi apart was the diversity and abundance of seabirds that nested there each summer. Most notably, Kasatochi supported a colony of about 250,000 least and crested auklets, one of only seven such colonies in the Aleutian chain. The large numbers of seabirds attracted a variety of avian predators such as bald eagles and peregrine falcons. Kasatochi was also notable in that it supported a rookery of the endangered Steller sea lion.” –Alaskan USCS
Wow… And now this… 🙁
After Kasatochi, it was onward to crossing north of Adak and eventually south of Russian airspace to Japan. Those who know me well know I LOVE traditionally made Japanese ramen. This was my dinner in a little noodle shop in Minato District in downtown Tokyo. A creamy, slightly spicy surprisingly good broth for a tiny hole-in-the-wall place with noodles and some vegetables. I added ground sesame seeds and a little more chili. I went early, before it got crowded with “salarymen” after work, because while I love ramen, I hate eating it to the sound of loud slurping, the proper way to eat the noodles, apparently.
Funny, my breakfast looked a lot like my dinner!
Omelette bar? No thanks. Give me the noodle bar. I made Udon noodles (at the hotel breakfast buffet) with an egg and loads of vegetables, hot chili, cilantro, sesame oil, and lemon to flavor, and one meat-ish ball plopped in, because why not? A thing of beauty…and it tasted amazing, too! 
I’ll write a post about Honolulu next. Until then, be good…
That is very interesting, just don’t buy a house there. Lv. Dad
🙂 Probably really bad TV reception anyway, Dad…
You have a wise dad!
Awesome little island and story…I love visiting remote, tragic islands. Montserrat, Easter Island, Deception Island, Skellig Michael (thats still on the list) and maybe know this gem…at least from the sea. Thanks for sharing!
Exciting stuff Dad
I think it would be amazing to scale down and take a dip in that lake…it would be so nurturing to the spirit.