Thursday, February 2, 2017

Volcano

Kilauea, the Big Island of Hawaii's active volcano (familiarly known as "Volcano" by the locals), has been very busy for quite a few years now.  When my parents first bought property there, maybe 25-30 years ago, it was labeled an active volcano, but its actions were small.  The first time I ever visited Volcano we walked in the caldera (just a short step inside).  Other than some active steam vents (one even burned my ankle) and some orange lava visible underneath the already hardened lava rock on our walk towards the ocean, there wasn't much going on that was visible.  The one thing that was interesting to my on that first visit was the size of it.  I'd never seen a volcano before, so what I had imagined was that upside-down triangle shape that spewed a plume of smoke with lava spilling down the sides.  This volcano is enormous.  Because it's so massive you can't even tell it's a mountain unless you are viewing it from far away to actually see the slope of it.  The drive around it and "up" to it is summit takes quite awhile.
After that first trip, Volcano started to get more active.  Since my mom has lived there full time (about 12 years now) it has been very active.  She has taken several photography trips by car, boat, and helicopter to see it.  And pretty much every time I go visit her, we make a day trip to see it.  Usually, "it's been very busy" with the promise of a lot to see.  And every time I have gone it's not doing a darn thing.  I can't tell you how many miles we've hiked out in the intense heat, over uneven and jagged lava rock, in the dark (at least on the way out) to see a whole lot of NOTHING.  The things I have seen haven't been all that exciting, but they are quite interesting.  The crater that we walked in on our first trip has since fallen and is pretty much full of lava most of the time.  Visitors can no longer get anywhere near it, and it is now a viewing attraction at the visitor's center.  Also, because of the slow, but fairly constant flow of lava the road we drove in on has gotten remarkably shorter while the hike in has gotten longer.  The lava has taken out roads, street signs, structures and now those areas are covered in igneous rock.  Even though all those trips have been a bit disappointing to not see what we can see in videos or pictures, it is still incredible that we've witnessed the earth literally changing in a matter of years

While I have vowed to never go back to that volcano AGAIN to see nothing, this past week has brought about some significant activity.  After a collapse inside over the New Year, the lava is now coming out like a faucet - just pouring out.  They call it a "fire hose".  If that isn't fascinating enough, it is also creating little explosions when it hits the ocean.
Now, that would be something to see!  


16 comments:

  1. Too bad you can't just hop over there when you hear there is activity! Very interesting -- have always thought volcanoes are fascinating. And I think each one of my children made one in some form or fashion during their school years!

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    1. For sure! My mom lives on the other side of the island so to visit is an all day affair. So even if we hear of something while I'm there, it doesn't mean it'll still be going on by the time we get there. But don't get me wrong, the day trip is a nice one as the drive is beautiful. It's a fun way to spend the day, it just always has ended in a bit of disappointment leaving without views/photos of anything amazing. :)
      My students are studying basic geology/earth science so these recent videos have been fun to share. Kids love volcanoes!

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  2. You have walked inside an active volcano crater and got burned by steam and I'm the risk taker for riding a boat down a river! LOL

    That has always been on my bucket list to go there but I've never been to Hawaii until last week and I was on the other side of the island chain.

    Thanks for the video!

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    1. Ha! No, still less dangerous! :)
      Is Hawaii where you were?!?! That's fun. I look forward to hearing about the trip. I've been going for quite a few years, it's lost a bit of its excitement. But I know first time visitors have a blast.

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    2. I was on Kauai. It was pretty and all and I can say I've been there but it was too commercialized for me to say I "loved" the trip. I have some to say about it but I want to let the Grand Canyon series wrap up first before I post anything.

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  3. I think volcanos are fascinating, too!! The only one I've ever gotten up close and personal with was Mt. Etna, many years ago. (and there wasn't any lava flow going on)

    Thanks for that great clip. Kinda funny (or not really) that they have to warn people not to get close to the water entry. I guess there are always idiots out there.

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    1. I've flown over Mount St. Helens on my way to Washington, which was pretty neat. But, the lava definitely brings on a whole new level of coolness. As of about 6 hours ago it WAS still pouring out (which is just incredible to me) but then as of 5 hours ago the sea cliff collapsed and the flow there has stopped.
      And yes, idiots are everywhere!

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  4. It's like as if the mountain has one very wicked bladder&UT infection.
    Oddly enough I've been picking up a bit of that on the Landscape Photographers forums since the turn of the year. There was thousands of them bitchin that the NPS pulled the ropes back and that meant the angles were all wrong. Still if you ever do get there bring a camera and tripod and a remote release. But not in daylight but on the cusp of darkness. And zoom tight for some. Hell just ask your Mom.:-)


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    1. Oh ya, I'm sure they weren't a fan of the ropes at all. I think the best view for that flow (and probably anywhere really) is from a boat or helicopter. It's been about 3 years now since I've last been to HI and to the volcano. I would bet money that the road in has been covered further. The hike in has to be longer. The last time we did the walk we carried tripods and that might have been the reason I moaned, "I'm not doing this again." when we got back to the car. They were a bit pain in the ass for not even needing.

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  5. That is an amazing video, It would be great to see it as up close as it is possible, without blowing up. I guess there are boat tours to see it. I wonder how long the fire hose will continue?

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    1. I read that it continued up until mid-day today. When the sea cliff collapsed, it stopped. I can hardly believe how long it ran for though.
      There are boats, I guess they get pretty rough as it gets close. The last couple of weeks were probably seasick territory with all those little explosions.

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  6. It's not letting me nest the comment today.

    From what I understand it's always been hard enough to get good views. And even with that spout flowing it would've been less than 1% of the scene so in any non 'good' camera pretty much a waste of time photographing it. But the trick with the 3pod is to set up before sunset and take a long exposure in the minutes before full darkness. Dark enough to show the lava, but bright enough to see the shapes of the landscape.
    In truth though Hollywood has us ruined for a good volcano. But National Geographic -when it did such things- with Mt's St Helen's and Pinatubo hasn't helped much either. There are images of Pinatubo, see, The Cataclysmic 1991 Eruption of Mount Pinatubo, Philippines. USGS.

    I have seen video on YT where tourist launch's are nudging up to the spout, and below it. That just has to be nuts. Even if they are on the water, what happens if a air bubble erupts from below. Nevermind the very real prospect of the whole darn face detaching from the island.
    PS, just seen that the flow has staunched because of such a fall.

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    1. The boat is supposedly pretty rocky. My mom got thrown around quite a bit when she did her trip.
      Yes, it did fall. The video is kind of funny. It happens at the very very top of the screen. https://www.nps.gov/media/video/view.htm?id=36E6FC9D-1DD8-B71B-0BFB2CCCB6004C7A
      I wish they had something that showed it from the ocean. I guess there was a boat out there when it happened but it was pretty surprising and dangerous - so far there haven't been any videos (that I can find anyway).

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    2. Wow, they kinda broke their heart putting that camera in didn't they. At a time when Amazon is thinking about using Drones to deliver crap, why you'd think a series of them would've been over the spout.
      Still, it's really amazong we can see this at all. Not long ago we'd have to await a edition of the NG in a year or so's time.

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    3. Ha! I know! It made me laugh at how "out-dated" it felt. Especially since they knew something would happen with it soon. It almost seemed like a high school play's set design...didn't even look real. :)

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  7. interesting. never been anywhere near a volcano but I agree with some of the above comments Hollywood has ruined it for us. It makes us expect far too much, unfortunately the world isn't cgi-ed

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