Tag Archives: Kilauea

Inside Volcano National Park

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Volcano National Park is currently Closed

Our Visit to Volcano National Park was one of the last before Kilauea blew her top.  Who would have guessed that we were witnessing the start of something so big? The eruptions we witnessed were small compared to what was to come but we had no idea. At the time we thought our visit was pretty special. Kilauea has been erupting continuously since January 3, 1983. It’s considered a relatively safe volcano. Lava flows are easily out paced  just by walking quickly. For quite a few years the lava has been flowing into the sea and I was on the Big Island to see that. But Kilauea wasn’t in a cooperative mood. A week before my trip the lava flow into the ocean stopped. I had to settle for a National Park Tour.

The Chain of Craters Road

After leaving Rainbow Falls we headed to Volcano National Park. On the drive I entertained myself looking for Nenes. A nene is a rare Hawaiian goose that is also the Hawaiian National Bird. The Nene is only found in the Hawaiian Islands. I’ve looked for the Nene on every trip without success but one of these days I’ll see one.  As we entered the park and started down the Chain of Craters Road the rain began to let up. We made a couple of stops to look at some of the craters from previous eruptions. Finally about 1/2 way down to the plain we pulled over to check out the frozen lava flows. These ropy flows that are now frozen in place are Pahoehoe.  The lava we saw on the Kona side of the island was thick, blocky lava,called a’a. 

Cooled Lava

King of the Hill

Watching my tour companions scramble up the face of the lava made me think of the King of the hill games. I would never have considered climbing it! I was more interested in the new green shoots that were pushing their way through the hardened lava. Life will not be denied.

 

Jaggar Museum

The afternoon was passing quickly so we loaded back into the van and turned around. The last stop before dinner was the Jaggar Museum. The plan was to see the rim of the crater and spend some time in the museum. In the crater is a lake of lava. When I was here last the lake was quiet and crusted over. That was kind of what I expected now but we arrived just as the eruption was beginning. The rain was starting again but  no one was in the museum. Everyone was lined up at the rail watching the lava lake. The rangers were reporting the lake was rising and even as we stood there tops of lava fountains began to crest the rim.

 

Touring The Big Island

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A Big Island Tour

After the tremendous rain storm on Monday I decided to look into a Volcano tour. I was feeling lazy and didn’t want to do all the driving again. I had a choice of a Deluxe Volcano Experience or the Grand Volcano Experience.

The Deluxe Experience was:

  • Views of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa
  • Visit Rainbow Falls
  • See the King Kamehameha Statue in Hilo
  • Explore Volcanoes National Park
  • Dine at Kilauea Lodge
  • Experience the Night Glow at Kilauea Caldera

The Grand Volcano Experience consisted of:

  • Kona Coffee Tasting and Tour
  • Visit Punalu’u Bake Shop
  • Look for turtles at the Black Sand Beach
  • Explore Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
  • Dine at Kilauea
  • Experience the Night Glow at Kilauea Caldera

 

My Choice

My choice was the Deluxe Tour. I don’t drink coffee and when we stayed at Sea Mountain Resort we had the chance to visit Punalu’u and see the black sand beach. As for sea turtles, it would have been nice to see them but I was pretty sure I could find some at Pu’uhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park. The concierge raved about the gourmet meal at the Kilauea Lodge I selected a steak dinner. Other choices were fish and a vegetarian choice of Eggplant Parmesan. 

Wednesday Morning Pick Up

Wednesday morning our Mercedes-Benz mini coach arrived right on time.  Our tour guide’s name was Zane like Zane Grey, the author. He said his father was a big western fan. Zane was a geologist by trade and had lived on the Big Island for 10 years so he was very familiar with Kilauea and her “moods”.  Even so I don’t think he anticipated the temper tantrum that started right after I left the island. But more on that in another post.

We had a full tour. We had 2 young men from Australia, a couple from India, a family of 5 from the mainland, a handicapped lady and her friend and me. As the only single I got to sit up front in the “shotgun” seat. Our group was spread out over a number of resorts so we had a series of stops before we were on our way.

 

What a Crazy World!

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What a Crazy World We Live in!

It’s crazy out there! I mean it. Life just takes over and runs away with you. You have no control. Or maybe it’s just me. I go to work each day expecting to put in my 8 hours and come home. They hired 10 more people so I should be able to finish on time but it just isn’t working out that way. No matter how hard I try I can’t get out by 5 pm. I promised my boss on Friday that I would leave on time. OOPS Didn’t happen.  I have 7 commission  statements to send out that are a week overdue So I went in to the office today. I figured it would be quiet on a Sunday but one of my key applications was down so I couldn’t send anything out. 

Rocky my catPosts are coming

I have posts drafted but by the time I get home my brain has turned to mush. I feed Rocky (my cat), fix dinner and fall asleep. Not much of a life to talk about. But I was planning to share highlights from my Volcano National Park tour while I was on the Big Island. Looks like Kilauea is making my visit pale by comparison. When I was there the lava lake had just started to rise and we could see the tops of the lava fountains. From the lake surface to the rim of the crater it was 120 ft. so you can imagine how high the fountains were going if we could see the tops. Now that more than a dozen fissures have opened up in the rift zone the level from the lava lake is sinking.

A Big Explosion

Just to prove how crazy I am the scientists that monitor Kilauea are predicting a big explosion. Maybe a 1 in a century blow up. Guess who wants to be there? Yup me. If I could get away from work I’d be on the next plane. Its sad for the property owners but so exciting to see such an amazing natural phenomenon. The lava doesn’t flow very fast but beware of the air. The sulfur dioxide fumes can become sulfuric acid when breathed in. 

Lava Lake Glow

Posting Schedule

I’ll try to post more often but until work slows down I think I’ll be lucky to get a post out once per week. I don’t want to post “junk” just to have a post. Quality  not quantity is the goal.  I will do my best.

 

 

I have a Volcano On My Mind

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Old Faithful Erupts

Old Faithful

I want to see a Volcano

After all, I just visited a super volcano! Yellowstone is an amazing place to visit. Surround yourself with geysers, steam vents, boiling mud and steaming rivers. What you won’t see is lava or magma. In Yellowstone that’s still deep underground. We hope it stays there for a long time. An explosion of a super volcano would be devastating!

But I still want to see a volcano

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Back in 2007 I visited the Big Island of Hawaii. As part of my trip I spent a day in Volcano National Park. We drove through lava fields. We even saw the “VOG” in the distance. Vog is volcanic fog and its loaded with sulfuric acid. Needless to say we didn’t get close. We considered hiking over the lava field to see the glowing lava but the solid lava is like glass. Any little fall causes lots of cuts and bleeding. Right at the start one of our party tripped and fell. Lots of band aids later we all helped her limp off the lava and back to the car.

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Let’s Look from the air

After our mishap on the ground we thought we might be able to see the lava from the air. Our group didn’t want to try a helicopter but they were willing to take a small plane ride. We signed up for the tour of the island. As part of the tour the plane circled the vent with the boiling lava. It didn’t look like much from the air. We only had glimpses of the bright red. A cooler skin of black floated over the glowing lava.

Maybe another chance

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During the intervening years I heard about a boat trip along the shore. They go out at dawn and dusk when the lava flow glowed as it poured into the sea. That was way on top of my to do list. Then last week I checked the eruptions for Kilauea. It’s not flowing into the sea anymore! “Lava flow is still active on the pali and coastal plain, however the ocean entry is currently halted”. I may find my plans “foiled” again. Can’t wait to get there and find out!