Hawai’i – Page 2 – A Darker View

…and pau.

The Kilauea eruption that started one week ago today is pau. To translate that from Hawaiian to English… Done.

The eruption had notably waned over the last couple days, comments on social media and webcam video indicating sluggish spatter within the small cones that had built up over the last week around the fissures. Last night numerous small bits of glow were visible all across the crater floor, but no fountaining was in evidence.

Today’s USGS Volcano Observatory report is clear… “The Kīlauea summit eruption that began on September 10th stopped yesterday, September 16th, and is unlikely to restart.”

So we wait for the next one, any bets?

Erupting lava in the first hours of the September 2023 eruption of Kilauea

Photographing the Eruption

Photographing the September 2023 eruption at Kilauea

In the News

My Facebook post describing a last moment mission to the volcano caught the attention of one of our local reporters. Result? An interview and a little piece about volcano viewing carried on several of the local media outlets. Nothing serious, they are just trying to capture the event of the moment and the local response. Perhaps something positive in the face of all the tragic fallout from the Lahaina disaster that fills the local news. Not my first time in the news, but the first time in a while, it is always fun…

The First Few Hours

Watching the recent and repeated eruptions in the Kilauea caldera has made an interesting bit of info clear… The first few hours are the most spectacular.

Months of inflation Kilauea had stored large quanities of gas and built up a considerable amount of pressure, enough pressure to lift the megatons of rock above the magma chamber and cause the entire summit region to swell outwards.

Beween eruptions USGS geologists and armchair vulcanologists like myself keep an eye on the tiltmeters as the pressure in the volcano builds, awaiting the time that accumulating magma and increased pressure bursts through the overlying rock to begin a new eruptive cycle.

At 15:13 HST Sunday afternoon that moment came.

Rainbow Falls

Fiddlehead

Taking a Walk

A long weekend? Cloudy enough to preclude a night with a telescope? May as well take a walk.

There are a few great hikes around the island, but often I just do not feel like driving very far. Thus I head out to Puʻuhinai again, one of my favorite local hikes just outside the village.

Recent rains have turned the landscape green and lush. Everywhere there are signs of flowing water, even along many of the old ranch roads, the downpours have been intense lately. The mauna have had snow all year so far, a reminder of a very wet winter rainy season.

Stars over Lava

The glowing pit of Halemaʻumaʻu with the new lava lake, the stars of Crux and Centaurus overhead

Kahuku Unit

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park has been growing. A few years back the park service purchased much of the old Kahuku Ranch and a couple years ago opened this new unit to the public. Like the main area of the park the Kahuku unit is also a product of the eruptions that shape the island, yet with a totally different character.

There is an extensive trail system through the new unit, the old ranch roads converted to walking trails. In addition to the ranching history a visitor can explore the volcanic landscape

On our recent visit we walked one of the easiest trails in the park, the Palm Trail. This two mile loop trail starts near the visitor station and crosses both recent lava flows and rich forested kipukas. Along the way passing relics of ranch history, fences, gates, and an enigmatic diamond D carved into the rock.

Volcano Nights

With my folks on island it was time for another volcano run. We executed a plan I have used a few times before… Booking a night or two in Kilauea Military Camp right on the caldera rim. Two nights this time.

The drive from Hilo was wet, heavy rain much of the way. The park was much the same as we ran from the car to the visitor center in another downpour.

Photographic conditions were just bad, high winds had a constant blowing mist over the caldera. I never set up the little telescope this time, not wanting to subject it to the damp abuse it stayed safely in the case. Instead I simply used a long telephoto on the camera, something I could tuck into my jacket when the mist swept over.