Lava Flow
My Experiences with Kilauea's Lava FlowsKilauea Volcano has been erupting for 17 years straight on the Big Island of Hawaii. In the last 6 years I have been close enough to a lava flow to touch it (I didn't really touch it) three times. Each time it was extremely different, but each time it was singular, exhilarating experience. Hawaii Volcanoes National park is the most-visited attraction in Hawaii, for just this reason. It is fascinating. First, some background If you've ever been to the Big Island before you probably are familiar with Mauna Kea (white mountain) and Mauna Loa (big mountain) as they both tower in the backdrop of any place on the island. They are both mountains, but they are also volcanoes in their own right. So where is Kilauea (which means spewing, or much spreading) Volcano? Kilauea Volcano is actually a bump on the side of Mauna Loa - it is considered its own separate volcano because it has its own lava network extending into the earth's core. If you've ever been to Hawaii Volcanoes National park you were at Kilauea Volcano, but on Mauna Loa mountain. Kilauea has erupted 34 times since 1952, and has continually erupted since January 1983, 17 years. Kilauea is sometimes called "the most active volcano in the world". Kilauea is currently erupting out of the Pu'u 'O'o vent on the southeastern side of the island. The vent is most of the way down the side of Mauna Loa mountain, and the lava is (knock on wood) currently confining itself to one area, and area that has already been covered by old lava flows. It is flowing from the vent towards the ocean. The 'normal' activity of the lava is to create tubes and travel underground, but even so you can still see glows at the vent, and a steam plume at the ocean, and sometimes, an aboveground flow. "But aren't you scared to live on that island", people ask me. My answer is "no". It can be scary when there is an eruption scare at Mauna Loa or Mauna Kea, but the everyday eruption activity of Kilauea is (knock on wood) somewhat calm and a little predictable. The people who live on this island have been dealing with the lava flows since the beginning of human life on this island and since 1800, only 2 people have died due to the eruption. In 1790, Madame Pele (the Hawaiian volcano goddess) took out a whole army of Hawaiian warriors, but that's a story for another review. My experiences In January of 1985 I ventured to the lava flow area for the first time ever. I went down Chain of Craters road from within the National Park and parked at the end of the road where the old lava had covered the highway. During this time period the new lava was flowing on top of the old lava only a little ways in. I walked only about 25 feet before I started noticing signs of active lava. I heard the crackling, and I could feel heat on certain areas of the path but I didn't see any 'flows'. I didn't really know what I was looking for but then I saw some people gathered around a certain are of the path. I walked over and realized one man had a stick that was on fire - and then I watched him poke the end of the stick into the lava at his feet. What was going on was the lava was travelling above ground so slowly that most of it hardened and turned black on the top of the flow before we even saw it. At that moment the wind shifted and the steam plume started blowing backwards onto us, so we had to get out of there. A steam plume is a byproduct of hot lava entering the ocean. I am not sure what is in it but I remember something about glass particles and sulphuric acid - it's not something you want to be standing around in. Oh, and the rangers say you shouldn't poke sticks in the lava either. The next time I went to an active lava flow was on August 13th, 1997. The second picture of me on my profile page is from that day. In the 2.5 years the lava had moved from the end of the park side of the path to the middle of the 12 mile wide old lava flow. A park ranger friend of mine offered to take my husband and I in while she went out there for work purposes. This time we entered from the Kalapana side of the flow. We drove down the highway, around the barricades, and up onto the old flow. It is a very bumpy ride, sometimes needing 4 wheel drive, and it would have been impossible if it weren't for the bulldozers that had originally made the road over the old lava. The strange part was, we would sometimes come to clearings in the lava, and drive on a 100 feet stretch of intact highway, and then the lava would start again. We drove in about 4 miles, parked and went the rest of the way on foot. I made the mistake of wearing tennis shoes - and first realized the lava was all around us when my soles started melting. I put my hand close to the rock to see how hot it was, and saw a red glow down deep in the crack of the lava I was standing on. Well that scared me - I jumped sideways about 4 feet and looked up at my friend. She was just walking normal so I tried to follow her without stepping on any more hot rocks. We encountered many surface lava flows, (I learned to tell the difference between new and old) and they were fascinating to watch. They would bulge and ooze like big red bubbles. The color was a bright orange-red turning quickly to black as the lava hardened. We walked around for about three hours, watching flows and the steam plume. My third time I went to the lava flow was on January 14th 1998 - when it got dark we could see a huge red glow in the sky in the general direction of the volcano. Normally we can't see any signs of the lava flow from our house due to the vent being on the other side of a mountain slope - so we knew the lava was really acting up if we could see it. We got in the truck around 11:00 and drove down there - as soon as we started getting close we could see the lava overflowing out of the top of the vent at the top of the pali and flowing downhill - but from about a mile away. I have some pictures of that incident here . Well, that's it - the flow is still going strong, it's not easy to get to - but I hope to go again soon and see what's new these days. If you decide to try it make sure you check in at the National Park visitors center first because there are many dangers associated with the lava flow and they can help you be as safe as possible. |
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