Hawaiʻi on Fire

Daybreak reveals the onlookers gathered at the Jaggar Museum viewing point.
Daybreak reveals onlookers gathered at the Jaggar Museum viewing point in April 2016 (Original post here).

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Iconic Places and Spaces.’ See more responses here.

I wasn’t sure what to post for this, but Kilauea is about as iconic as anything on the island, so I thought I’d post some photos from volcanic activity that I’ve seen since I moved here. Captions on the photos with a link to the original post.

Kilauea lava pours into ocean as people watch from the cliff
Lava from the Pu’u O’o vent reaches the ocean in July 2016 (Original Post here).
A lava breakout from the Kilauea lava flow.
A hike to the July 2016 flow revealed surreal scenes like this one (Original post here).
Lava from Kilauea Volcano’s Pu’u O’o vent enters the ocean as if from a firehose.
This fire hose of lava was a short-lived feature of the 2016 flow (original post here).
In April 2018, lava in Halema’uma’u Crater spilled onto the crater floor. (Original post here).

28 thoughts on “Hawaiʻi on Fire”

    1. Graham's avatarGraham Post author

      I love going down to see what’s going on. Not much happening lately, but it’s only a matter of time before there’s a new eruption.

      Like

  3. The Snow Melts Somewhere's avatarThe Snow Melts Somewhere

    Why would someone even want to go so close to the lava? Must be the same people who go skiing on melting ice with water underneath, ie. our sea here in Helsinki. You can literally see waves a couple of meters away and people are just pretending it’s safe

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Graham's avatarGraham Post author

      Well, I like to get close to the lava, but there are limits. These photos are from a few years ago and the parks service has stepped up its restrictions since then. Of course there are always people who ignore the restrictions, but these days those who do tend to get cited and fined.

      Liked by 1 person

    1. Graham's avatarGraham Post author

      Some of these were surreal and kind of dangerous, but one can get very close to active lava under certain circumstances. The first time I visited, I walked to an active flow, stayed behind the barriers, and was only 20 feet from lava oozing around!

      Liked by 1 person

    1. Graham's avatarGraham Post author

      Jaggar was a great viewing spot, but probably won’t reopen. It was greatly damaged in the 2018 events. The fire hose was awesome. I saw a video of it and it looked like a photo. The flow was so consistent I had to look at the edges to see flecks of moving lava that showed the whole thing was in motion! I went down there the same day.

      Liked by 1 person

        1. Graham's avatarGraham Post author

          The most recent activity has been best seen from a viewing area on the other side of the crater, an easy walk on the old Crater Rim Drive, from the Devastation Trail Parking lot.

          Liked by 1 person

    1. Graham's avatarGraham Post author

      Seeing the people walking on the active flow (the third photo) was bizarre. It was all very casual. The fire hose was one of those things I was super lucky to see. I saw video of it one morning, went down in the afternoon, and it disappeared the next day after a cliff collapse!

      Liked by 1 person

    1. Graham's avatarGraham Post author

      Frankly, I’m surprised more people don’t get injured or killed. These days, access is more restricted and controlled, but people still feel compelled to get closer and closer…

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    1. Graham's avatarGraham Post author

      It was fun going through some of the old photos. I feel lucky to have seen some amazing activity. I saw video of the fire hose one morning, visited in the afternoon, and a cliff collapse caused it to disappear the next day! Kilauea is not currently active and hasn’t been for three months or more. It keeps teasing activity, but then settles down again. My guess is something will happen within the next few months. My brother’s visiting in April, so I’m hoping something will be going on then!

      Liked by 1 person

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