Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Lava, lava, lava. And steam!

We have set up residence in a little cottage in beautiful downtown Volcano, Hawaii, population approximately 2900.  This is a beautiful accommodation (see view through living room window) and it has the advantage of being one mile away from the entrance to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

Inside the park is the Kilauea Volcano, considered a “boisterous” volcano, the most active on the planet.  Its most recent eruption began in 1983 and is still going strong.  More on this guy soon.

There are a number of different hikes in the park, and we chose to start with one the guide book recommended, the Kilauea Iki Trail.  To sum it up quickly, you descend through about 400 feet of lush rainforest to a barren crater floor that is essentially the hardened top of a lava lake.   Trail warning signs are a little different here.

In 1959 a curtain of lava burst from a crack in the crater wall. Over the next five weeks, fountains of lava gushed from the vent in 17 different episodes, filling the lake with 86 million tons of lava.

Now here is where it gets hard to imagine.  Enough lava flowed to flood the crater, creating a lake that rose halfway up the crater walls.  Once the vent was covered, the lava fountain stopped, and the lava would drain back into the magma chamber, dragging along a whole bunch of other stuff with it.  The trail guide mentions a “bathtub line” of lava signifying the upper levels of lava.

At the main vent, a spatter cone formed, perched on the rim of the crater.  At times slabs of congealed lava broke loose and slid into the cone’s interior, leaving behind scratch marks in semi-molten rock.

Beyond the spatter cone, the lava started to level out.  The lake surface would cool rapidly, creating a cracked crust that would have cracks filled by molten lava below.  Then a new eruption would occur and the plates would be swallowed into the lake to melt again.

The final overturn of the lake left a surface that is almost eerie.  In places, the rock has mild swells in it, in other places the rock is almost flat, looking like a parking lot paved by an inept paving crew.

To dispel any ideas of this place being dead, steam holes abound, leaving white deposits of calcium sulphates and silica. 

At the end of the trail, we had a chance to walk into the Thurston Lava Tube.  This one was well lit, but it was hard to take pictures that could convey the feel to it.  The tube was at least twelve feet high, and it dripped water and plant roots from the ceiling.  The walls were smooth because lava flowed through these suckers at about 2000 degrees F.

A little side trip at the end of the day led to some steam vents on the side of a hill.  There were a couple of ones right at the parking lot, although you could wander further through the area to see more.

The plant life here was fascinating.  Dry grasses and low shrubs were prevalent, and then some small flowers caught my eye.  Orchids!  All over!

I haven’t dwelt on any Hawaiian legends (of which there are many) but one of the most important figures was that of the goddess Pele, who is associated with fires and volcanoes.  The Hawaiians still make offerings to her for various reasons, and you can see some gifts by the steam vent.

Finally, before this drags on too much further, we made a trip to the end of the Crater Rim Drive to see the Kilauea Caldera.  We could see the caldera spouting Vog in the distance. 

To our surprise, we got our first look at real look at magma in one corner of the caldera.  Parks staff were excited in that the lava lake was much higher than usual, for normally no one would get a glimpse like this.  Wow!