Watching Episode 45
Tag: volcano
Episode 45
Photographing the Eruption
Crunchy
If I were to use one word to decribe a recent visit to the park it would be…
Crunchy.
The year and a half long series of eruptive episodes has been beautiful and exciting. Tall lava fountains every couple weeks that put the lava in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, drawing huge crowds and providing a spectacle for both tourists and us island dwellers alike.
A combination of several high lava fountains and our usual winter Kona storms has resulted in episodes of tephra falling across the main sections of the park, closing both the park and the Mamalahoa highway.
The southerly winds brought about by Kona low pressure systems has sent the tephra northeast instead of the usual southwest. Instead of settling in the desolate and uninhabited Kaʻu Desert, tephra has instead fallen heavily across the park entrance area and highway, the visitor center, and the main caldera viewpoints. Tephra has reached beyond the part to impact Volcano Village, and even reached as far as Hilo.
Continue reading “Crunchy”Episode 45
Time for another volcano run.
I had skipped or even aborted going to several recent episodes as conditions looked bad. When Episode 42 looked imminent, I was packed and ready to go. Then I looked at the winds… From the south. I aborted before ever leaving the house. A good decision, it rained rock in the main section of the park and on the viewpoints, thus the park and the highway were quickly closed.
Episode 43 occurred in heavy rain, while episode 44 was a repeat of 42 with tephra blowing to the northeast, prompting the park and highway to be closed again. Based on the chatter, I think most of the volcano junkies on-island were feeling a bit of frustration.
With another eruptive episode looking likely, I put my boss on notice that I might just collect that day off I was owed. Waking to a 2 am alarm, I rolled over, grabbed the iPad and checked the USGS webcams… We have a go!!
Continue reading “Episode 45”Episode 9 Dawn
Stars over Lava
Stars over Lava
A Day Without Lava
Reading the data it really looked like Saturday would be the day, the USGS forecast was for Saturday, the online chatter agreed… Saturday.
The volcano does what the volcano does… The eruption started Sunday morning.
This time I had followed up on my bet, spending all day Saturday in the park. Arriving well before sunrise, not leaving until well after dark… missing the eruption, but still enjoying the day.
I spent some time on the north rim, the stars bright, Jupiter and Venus bright, it was going to be a lovely day.
Continue reading “A Day Without Lava”Kalamalu
When standing atop Puʻuwaʻawaʻa the scenery is breathtaking. Five massive vocanoes dominate the skyline… Haleakalā, Kohala, Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa, and the looming Hualālai immediately to the south. It is easy to overlook the smaller, overshadowed features of the landscape. Sitting for a while resting, rehydrating, and enjoying the view atop the grassy puʻu one begins to notice more details in the landscape.
A couple miles southeast of Puʻuwaʻawaʻa are a line of more modest volcanic features, dwarfed by the enourmous mauna but still significant, monuments of rock that tower over the surrounding ʻōhiʻa forest. These old vents are clearly arranged along a rift of some sort in a neat line trending north to south with the southern end pointing directly at the peak of Hualālai.
Continue reading “Kalamalu”