


Halemaumau Crater, at the summit of Kiluaea Volcano, underwent profound changes during the 2018 eruption. When lava drained from the summit vent, the crater floor experienced a series of collapses, radically changing the appearance of the crater and its surrounds.
I had seen this area from the air and posted about it (here). The middle photo was taken during that flight and shows where a section of Crater Rim Drive slid into the crater. When I last visited the park, I got a different view of this.
The recently reopened Byron Ledge Trail has good views across the crater. In the top photo, the chunk of road is clearly visible with its white line running down the middle of it. The bottom photo shows the longer view across the crater with the road in the distance. In the center of the photo, equipment used to monitor the volcano’s activity, can be seen. The tree in the foreground is an ‘ōhi‘a lehua with its brilliant red flowers. It’s an early colonizer of new lava flows and all those little dark spots on the main crater floor are ‘ōhi‘a lehua trees, mostly still shrub-sized at this time.
Pingback: Kilauea Volcano erupts again | Graham's Island
Really amazing to see how much the landscape changes in a volcano environment. Is the NP back open again?
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is open and most areas are accessible again. The visitor center is closed, as are most other facilities, but most of the trails are open. There’s an area in the back country that I want to go to, but it’s still closed, not because of damage, but because of fire danger. Not enough rain there if you can believe that!
LikeLiked by 1 person
The remnants of road with white line still visible bring some sense of scale to the size of the changes caused by the eruption.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, it’s been interesting to be able to go back to the park and see those changes. Most of these areas were closed because of the eruption and then the virus.
LikeLiked by 1 person