The current eruption at Kilauea has been marked by a succession of eruptive events followed by pauses. The more recent of these events have consisted of the volcano putting out some small flows, succeeded by fountaining events with the fountains reaching up to 1,000 feet. I’ve been itching to go down and see this, but the fountaining often hasn’t lasted long. My challenge has been to hear about the activity early and at a time when I can go down. This has not been going well!
Last Sunday, after lunch, I sat down to check my emails and saw the daily USGS update for Kilauea. Apparently, it was stirring again, the 21st episode of the current eruption. I went to the video webcam and saw that it was doing more than stirring. It was launching fountains of lava into the air. Scrolling back on the webcam I discovered that the fountaining had started only 20 minutes earlier.
The 20th episode had been the shortest so far, at 4.5 hours of fountaining. My drive to Kilauea is more than 100 miles, but I figured that even if this was another short one, I’d have an hour or two to see the activity, so I jumped in the car and headed over. I left at 1:30 p.m. and got to the park around 3:45 p.m., finding it under a layer of cloud. The weather had gone downhill since I left and the park was a zoo, cars everywhere, edging around or parked in improbable spots.
Miraculously, I found a parking spot on the north rim of the crater and walked out to see what I could see. The answer was, not much. The weather wasn’t helpful, but the problem, which I suspected might be the case, was that the active vent was close to the north rim and so the activity was largely obscured. The prime viewing area would be a spot on the south rim, but one that was farther away, and low clouds were scudding through the crater. Would anything be visible? There was only one way to find out.
I drove around the crater rim to the other side and found a similarly chaotic parking situation. The park isn’t designed to accommodate parking demands on the scale it was experiencing. Luckily, I found a spot, not that far from the trail I had to take. The trail is actually a road that’s been closed since the summit crater became active in 2008. It’s definitely not usable by vehicles, especially since 2018 when a section of it slid into the crater. The road is still visible on its little island, just a few hundred feet below the rest of it!
The walk in isn’t far, about a mile or so. There was a fair amount of foot traffic, both coming and going. When I got to the viewing area, even though there were quite a few people there, it didn’t feel too crowded. There was a decent view of the erupting vent, a little over a mile away, but it was sadly affected by mist blowing through the crater.
I found a spot, took photos, watched the weather. It looked like it was clearing, then looked like it was getting worse. I was keenly aware of the drive home and that I had to go to work the next day. At one point I decided I’d give it another 15 minutes and if it didn’t improve, I’d head for home. 10 minutes later the clouds had blown through, the sky brightened, and the active vent was clearly visible. The only downside was that the sun was slowly sinking behind the active vent, so the lighting wasn’t the greatest. But I wasn’t complaining.
The visual treat of seeing the activity was wonderful, but there’s also the noise of the eruption, like being next to a busy airport. The fountains of lava in the photos are probably around 400 feet high.
I left the viewing area a little after 6 p.m. and headed for home, getting there around 9 p.m., by which time the activity had already ceased at Kilauea. It ended around 8:30 p.m.. Currently, the eruption is again paused, though the USGS expects the next episode to begin within a few days.
Also posted for Jo’s Monday Walk. A short walk, but well worth doing! See more responses here.
Graham's Island 
Wow, that’s a sight I’d love to see!
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I hadn’t seen this kind of vigorous fountaining before so I was very motivated to go down. I’m glad I did.
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I’m glad that Jo shared this on her walks. What an amazing spectacle. Good for you doing that long drive and I am so glad that you got such fantastic photos at the end of it. It’s not every day you see a volcano erupting – though in your case perhaps it is!
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Thanks Jude. It’s not an everyday sight, that’s for sure. The current eruption is not like anything I’ve seen before. Hours of fountaining followed by days off. I’d been trying to get down there for ages, but it was totally worth going.
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Pingback: Jo’s Monday walk : Mérida | Still Restlessjo
very creative post
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The volcano did all the work!
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:0)
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That’s fabulous Graham. Thanks for taking the time and a bit of driving about to get the best photos for us.
Did you take any videos?
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I did take a couple of videos. They’re hand held so not the greatest and I have no idea how to post one.
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You will have to have a you tube or similar site and do a link
ie – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAX8Ipiat1Q
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That’s what I thought, but I’m not on You Tube and the videos aren’t good enough to motivate me to join!
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Wow! What a walk, and yay the weather cleared in time
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Timing is everything! I was lucky, but I’m glad I went even if had not cleared out.
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Wow, Graham, you really took us with you that time. I had no idea the eruptions were noisy, as silly as that might sound. Your photos are silent, in the movies there’s a short bang and we listen to the actor’s dialogue. Your photos are great- thank you. It does seem a very dark red. Where does the lava flow? Back into a crevice of the crater?
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It’s a bit darker because I was shooting into the sun and stopping it down so everything wasn’t washed out. The lava stays within the crater, filling it up. Back in 2018, the crater floor collapsed, but subsequent eruptions have been filling it in again. Currently, it’s probably a thousand feet or more above what it was in 2018!
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Absolutely awesome! Thanks so much, Graham. I was on tenterhooks xx
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Thanks Jo. I was wondering if I was going to really see anything and then it all cleared out! Madame Pele was in a good mood I think.
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Incredible to witness! xx
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It was.
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Wow and yikes! The story reminds me of both a thriller I recently read (Pompeii) and of my eternal quest to see the Northern Lights, which always occur when I’m sleeping and then I later see amazing pictures of them right above our house…
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You have to set an alarm! I’d love to see the northern lights, but that’s not likely here, though I think they’ve been more visible where I used to live in Washington State.
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Wow! Your pictures are stunning! What an experience!
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Thanks Julia. I was thrilled it all came together. There was another episode today that has already ended!
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