Kilauea in Action-And I Have Been Part of It!

Kilauea's current eruption provides amazing views online

Here’s an image from the recent eruption of Kilauea. When I visited during an earlier eruption, it wasn’t like this—but it became very personal!

On a visit to Hawai’i years ago, Greg and I head to Volcanoes National Park, where Kilauea is erupting. We want to get as close to the action as possible. Little did we know how close we’d actually get!

After passing through the lush tropical forest on the high slopes of Kilauea, we drive down the side of the volcano, seeing how living things take over the barren blackness of hardened lava after eruptions.

Here you can see a lava flow that’s relatively recent, with a few small plants beginning the work of taking back the forest. You can see the abrupt edge of the flow and the established forest beyond, as well as signs of volcanic activity in the background.

The road loops across the broad southern side of Kilauea, crossing lava flows from different years, older ones with some vegetation. The lower portions of land, formed from later eruptions, consist of bare dark lava with scattered plants growing in bits of soil. After lava cools, wind and rain begin to work at it, slowly breaking down the rock. Seeds lodge in cracks and sprout into plants whose roots also help break down the rock.

Here’s the beginning of life taking over the lava-covered land. If you look closely, you can see some tiny plants over by the right side of the image, as well as the larger one in the foreground.

The lava on Kilauea’s slopes consists of two types. One is “aa” [ah-ah], which is relatively cool and flows slowly. It creates a rough, irregular surface.

Pahoehoe [puh-hoy-hoy] lava comes out of the ground hotter and more liquid, so it flows evenly, cooling into complex folds and coils of rock.

In the foreground is a crack in the aa lava where ferns are growing. Behind this is a area of loops of ropy pahoehoe.

The road ends abruptly, where the lava had flowed across it into the ocean. We park the car and find a ranger organizing a group to walk across the cooled lava to a place where it is still flowing. Soon we’re off, carefully picking our way along the lava, following our leader. She tells us about this particular eruption, how this lava is actually flowing under the ground through a lava tube that leads to the ocean, then descending like a waterfall into the sea.

As the molten lava enters the sea and hot meets cold, clouds of mist rise up and are blown across the land. Credit:Wikimedia: Brocken Inaglory (https://sites.google.com/site/thebrockeninglory/)

We all want to see this dramatic process, when super hot molten rock meets the cool water. The ranger lets us inch closer but warns us to be very careful. Then, as we reform the group a short distance away from the drama, a sudden gust of wind picks up the ascending cloud and drops it right on top of us. Suddenly we’re immersed by the dense cloud, so dense that we can’t even see our fingers in front of our faces. We smell and taste the acidic sulfuric moisture and feel the wetness enfold us. We blink and blink as our eyes sting from the acidic air. Our leader cries out “Don’t move, don’t move!!” As if any of us would dare.

Then the breeze catches the cloud and we are suddenly free to see again, but damp and itching. As we start to scratch the guide yells “Don’t scratch! The itch is from tiny shards of glasslike lava, and if you scratch, you’ll just drive it into your skin. You can shower when you get back to where you’re staying.”

It’s late afternoon as we carefully pick our way back across the vast blackness of lava. Only our guide knows which way to go to get to our vehicles, so we follow her closely. I know that in the tropics the sun “falls” quickly, giving in to darkness after it drops behind the sea. I see that this day is quickly fading away. There is no trail. The possibility of making a misstep as we pick our way through the deep blackness of lava and darkening sky or just head across more lava and not to the parking area, is daunting. Fortunately our guide finds a safe way to go and we arrive at the lava’s edge—cold, wet, and itchy, but safe.

Still itching, we drive on to Volcano House Hotel and Restaurant near Volcano Village. We don’t want to lose our meal reservation, and the timing won’t allow for a shower and clothing change before dinner. So we head straight to the restaurant after checking in and enjoy a hearty and tasty dinner, resisting scratching and looking forward to itch-relieving showers later.

For a webcam of the current eruption go to:

current eruption

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