Hawai'i

With the new computer on-line it is time to start putting together a few video projects I have had sitting around. The first out of the que is Flowing Rock, a compilation of recent video taken at the front of the active flows at Kalapana.

The flowing lava is endlessly fascinating to watch. While is was impressive standing there, it is almost more so in the video. Often some of the motion was hard to notice when seen first hand, but in the sped-up video all sorts of movement becomes visible. This is particularly true of the inflation of the pillows seen behind the moving front. Putting together this piece I watched parts of the video over and over, It is still fascinating to watch.

The video in the various sequences is accelerated anywhere from 2-5x in order to show the fascinating motion of the lava. Some of the frames look pretty scary when I realize that I was standing just a few feet in front of flowing lava. Reality was not as scary, the lava was moving quite slowly compared to what is shown in the video.

Enjoy...

Flowing Rock from Andrew Cooper on Vimeo.

At its worst, the brushfire at Pohakuloa was pretty bad. Not surprising given the mix of strong tradewinds and tinder-dry conditions. I have seen a few photos taken by friends on the first day of the fire showing the huge column of smoke. But the video below shows just how bad the fire was below that column of smoke.

Many descriptions call it a tornado, but that is rather inaccurate as the forming conditions are nothing like a true tornado. This is actually the same sort of conditions that form a dust-devil. But would you call this a fire-devil? Seems appropriate...

When we came through this morning the situation had clearly improved. The brush fire that had burned hotly, closing Saddle Road and creating a pall of smoke to cover the island, was contained and burning itself out. There was still a haze of smoke, a few desultory plumes from burning trees, but the inferno was gone. Pictures and messages from friends from the first day reported an intense fire, no surprise with the tinder dry conditions that exist on the south and west slopes of Mauna Kea.

Sections of Saddle Road were still closed, we were diverted onto one of the old sections. Thus further from the fire, all I got were a couple poor photos taken from the moving vehicle on the way to work on the summit.

The newspapers are reporting the apprehension of a suspect in connection with this fire. But that just leaves the question... Why? What would make someone start this fire, with the destruction of valuable habitat for endangered species. With the scarring of such a landmark as Mauna Kea?

The afternoon trip down the mountain showed the results of a day's hard work by nearly every firefighting asset on the island. Helicopters were still shuttling water, but much of the smoke was gone. What was visible were hillsides spotted with bright splotches of white. A spot of ash to mark each mamane tree destroyed. The fire had not spread up the slope as badly as we had feared from the first reports, instead restricted to the low slopes between Saddle Road and the steeper mountain face.

There is always a danger that a fire might escape the fire breaks and flare up again. But the crews sitting on this one are experienced and will hopefully be able to take action if that occurs. Let us hope this one is over.

At 3am on a Sunday morning Saddle Road is a lonely place, no traffic. A full Moon lights the saddle and the looming peaks of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, a sublimely beautiful sight with the stars and bright Jupiter overhead. A 2am alarm clock led to an early departure half an hour later. But why? To see the lava of course, not much else would disturb an otherwise quiet Sunday morning. With a house guest in from off island and reports of a very active flow at the end of highway 130, the plan seemed like a good idea until the alarm clock went off.

Reaching the lava was easy, we simply walked out the highway 130 right-of-way to what was left of the Kalapana highway 137 intersection. To get there we crossed lava that was only a few days old, hot underfoot with bright red to be seen in the deeper cracks. The parking area we used on previous visits was still there, but now cutoff by the advancing flows. Just a few feet off the road there were multiple breakouts amongst the burning brush. Our way was lit by the full Moonlight and the glow of a small tree going up in a sheet of flame.

I scouted ahead, checking the route across the flow to the visible breakout, a couple times deciding that one way or another was a bit iffy. The smell of sulfur permeated the air along with the smell of woodsmoke from the burning brush. The gals were very nervous crossing the hot flows, expressing their concerns. All of that disappeared when we came face to face with the flowing lava. It became worth the risks and the 2am wake-up as wonder overcame the fear.

The lava was on a small rise, filling a good sized depression in the week old flow we stood atop. As it crested the edge we watched it spill over a small slope creating small rivers of gold and orange. Fifty meters to the west another tongue burned through light brush outlined with small flames. For two hours we moved back and forth along the face of the breakouts, shooting stills and video. As memory filled we handed cards back and forth to keep the cameras going. The brightening dawn created constantly changing light conditions, while the lava activity stopped and started at the breakout, offering new things to photograph every few moments.

The flow is advancing towards the east. Talking to Bryan Lowry of Lavapix.com we learned that a house burned just a few hours earlier as the lava finally reached it. The smoke of burning trees and brush could be seen all along. Behind the group of homes in Kalapana Gardens as tongues of pahoehoe moved closer to other structures.

In the bright morning light we headed back to the vehicle, sticky and sweaty despite a cool, brisk sea breeze. Curiosity satisfied and memory cards full, a short drive to Hilo and a hearty breakfast was now a more pressing plan.

Loco Moco is a traditional Hawaiian breakfast dish... Sausage, SPAM, ground beef or other meats served with eggs on top of a large helping of rice, everything covered in a rich gravy. Many local eateries are famous for serving a good mok. Hawaiian Style Cafe in Waimea serves an assortment of loco mocos, guaranteed to satisfy the most demanding appetite.

The specials menu featured something new. I know SPAM is a Hawaiian favorite, but the Internet Loco Moco with SPAM, SPAM and more SPAM is taking it a bit too far!

I had the Korean Pork.

Dally Team Roping is simple... The first lasso around the head, the second around the rear hooves. If only one hoof is caught the team suffers a five second time penalty. As soon as the calf is held firm by both riders the time is scored.

Simple doesn't mean easy...

Waimea's paniolo heritage was on display at the 2010 Parker Ranch Rodeo. Skills and pride on the line in traditional rodeo events, the same skills that have made Hawaiian Paniolos famous throughout the world.

Traditional Hawaiian events are featured, different than events seen at mainland rodeos. Po'owaiu Roping, where the calf is secured through the use of an amana, a forked pole into which the rope is dropped after lassoing the calf. A well trained horse holds the calf against the amana while the paniolo ties the calf around the neck to secure it. Always a lot of fun is the Junior-Senior Ribbon Mugging... A father-son, or often a father-daughter team, retrieves a ribbon from a calf's tail and then runs hand in hand to a barrel to score their time.

Under a beautiful blue summer sky the paniolos and horses race after cattle. Ropes thrown through swirling dust, hooves and hats mixing as the timer decides the winner. A lot of fun to watch, even us non-cowpokes are caught up in the excitement, cheering on as a calf is caught and the flag drops. Little matter if the time is slow or fast, it is always a great show.

Our first bunch of bananas is now ripening in the garage. Following the advice of fellow islanders, long experienced in bananaculture, I waited until the fruit were plump and the first hints of yellow appeared. I also took the advice to put down a drip pan under the hanging bunch, very good advice it turns out, the bunch continues to drip sticky sap.

The fruit took a surprising amount of time to ripen, it has been over six months since this bunch appeared, a vast length of time for me, I am used to much shorter growing season. I now understand that is typical, particularly through cooler weather. There are several other stalks that have reached the same height as this one when it produced the bunch, so I am looking forward to additional fruit starting this year.

I am also looking forward to eating the result of this first bunch, hopefully the quality of the fruit from the starts I was given justifies the effort. There will be enough here to give away more than a few bananas, time to repay those who have bequested bananas on us.

Pāhoehoe requires temperatures upwards of 1100°C (2000°F) to flow. Its moments are dictated by the unusual properties of liquid basalt and seem quite odd to one who is used to watching less viscous materials flow.

The last few weeks have seen more traffic trouble than usual in Waimea. It is for a good cause however, a few months of construction will hopefully allow traffic to flow just a bit more easily through the town.

Slowly the crews are working their way along the highway. Huge chunks of asphalt are broken away as machines excavate the margins of the roadway. The old pavement must be removed so the that the subsurface can be excavated and replaced with rolled rock, creating a base that can support the weight of heavy traffic.

The widening of Mamalahoa highway continues through Waimea from the hospital to milepost 56. The new section will be two lanes with a new turn lane to allow a smoother flow of traffic and better access to the many businesses in this area.

Despite having to work around continuous traffic, distinct progress is being made. There is no available route onto which the island belt highway can be diverted. The highway must remain open during construction. Work is nearly complete in front of Keck headquarters and the hospital. The main effort is rapidly moving east.

Widening the main highway will ease the usual congestion through town, but will not solve the problem, only a complete bypass route will do that. But with the bypass tied up in political limbo, a little widening is better than nothing.

It is everyone's dream encounter with a volcano... To stand in front of an advancing lava flow, seeing the red rock coming at you, close enough to feel the furnace-like heat and appreciate the mesmerizing flow. This was also on my to-do list, one of the things I wanted to see or do in my lifetime. Was on the list, in the past tense.

I had been near lava several times, but no closer than 20-25 meters, amazing to see, but disappointingly short of the experience that could have been. I love visiting the volcano, the volcanic terrain is endlessly fascinating. Pele is never predictable, the volcano is constantly changing. You never know what you will encounter in a visit. Living on the island has given me the opportunity to try several times, it was just a matter of timing and planning to make it happen.

The public viewing site at Kalapana opens each afternoon at 2pm and stays open until 10pm. Workers try to keep visitors safe and well clear of the dangerous conditions that an active flow field can easily create. But they also keep you quite a ways from the flow fronts and breakouts, often degrading the experience. The balance between safety and experience is difficult, understandably the county policy is to err on the side of safety.

For those prepared to take the risks, and those who have more experience with the behavior of lava flows, it is possible to get much closer to the lava.

As the big front-end loader approached my borrowed trailer with a full scoop I expected the operator to carefully dump just enough for a load. No... he dumped it all. The trailer disappeared in a cloud of dust and an avalanche of shredded mulch. As the cloud cleared, I saw that the trailer was nearly entirely buried. The loader operator cheerfully called out to me, and with a smile he asked if I wanted another scoop.

"Umm... Uh... I don't think I need any more. Thanks!?!" A little shocked, I gazed at the pile of mulch hitched to my vehicle and wondered how I was going to get it out, profoundly glad I had remembered to bring a shovel.

You can just hear it from the house, a distant thump and rumble, softened by distance into a barely discernible sound. It is the sound of heavy artillery, a reminder that not all of the world is a peaceful place, that war is a part of the human experience.

PTA has been quite busy for the past several weeks, with the rumble of artillery, bright aerial flares lighting the sky at night, and military helicopters overhead, coming and going from the range.