Category Archives: Parks

Two Step

Two Step

There are seasons in Hawaii. Summer is hotter, and wetter on the dry side of the Big Island. But let’s be honest, there are many people who live through freezing winters and boiling summers, sun-free winters and sun-seared summers. They believe Hawaii has summer year-round, and not just any summer, but a pleasant summer where it’s warm and sunny but not inhospitably so.

For those people, and in response to this week’s Sunday Stills challenge on the theme of ‘Summer,’ I give you a typical summer shot of people getting ready to go snorkeling, or just exiting the water. The photo was taken at Two Step, next door to Pu’uhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park — in February. Bwahahahahahaha.

For more information about Pu’uhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park, visit https://www.nps.gov/puho/index.htm.

See more Sunday Stills responses here.

Large orange sulphur butterflies mating

Large Orange Sulphur Butterflies mating

While on a hike south of Pu’uhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park, I saw this pair of large orange sulphur butterflies. They were flying around, joined together, before settling on this seed pod. I assume they were mating, though this discrete view is the only one I had of them.

To see what was going on on the other side would have involved thrashing around in some nasty-looking brush. This would have added to the usual assortment of lacerations that I seem to acquire on a daily basis, and would undoubtedly have caused the butterflies to take to the air again. So I let them be.

Dead tree in the lava

Dead tree in the lava

The twisted remains of a dead tree lie, under heavy skies, on an old lava field at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

For more information about Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, go to nps.gov/havo/.

Posted in response to this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge ‘Twisted.’

 

Someone’s having a bad feather day

Hawaiian Coot with misplace feather

Hawaiian CootThis Hawaiian coot looked surprised to discover a wayward feather in its otherwise immaculate plumage (above). Several attempts to corral the unruly feather failed, leaving the bird with a distinctly grumpy look (middle photo). But a solution was found (below). Time for a stylish V for Victory lap around the pond.

Posted in response to this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge ‘Liquid.’

Hawaiian Coot with two misplaced feathers

Lava lake and morning sky

Lava lake and morning sky

A little over a week ago, I posted photos here of the lava lake at Overlook vent, in Halema’uma’u Crater at the summit of Kilauea Volcano. Here’s a photo of the crater as early morning light illuminated the scene. Around that time the lava was repeatedly spilling out onto the crater floor.

Perhaps you’re wondering if anything has changed in the short time since then. If so, the answer is yes. The lava lake has disappeared, dropping more than 500 feet below the level of the crater floor. Exactly how far its fallen is hard to find out because the people who monitor it have been busy with other things.

On Monday, after a period of increased seismicity, the crater floor of Pu’u O’o vent, the other active vent on Kilauea, collapsed sending a huge ash plume into the sky. When the ash cleared all the lava had disappeared from the vent. This coincided with ominous rumblings and grumblings east of the vent, along the East Rift Zone. Small earthquakes shook the ground. Cracks appeared in paved roads. Lava was believed to be bubbling underground.

On Thursday morning, a magnitude-5.0 earthquake caused another collapse at Pu’u O’o crater. On Thursday afternoon, around 5 p.m., lava erupted in the middle of the Leilani Estates subdivision in the Puna district. A fissure appeared in the ground and molten lava bubbled forth, shooting into the air. This lasted around 2 hours, then ended.

On Friday, yesterday, other fissures opened and poured forth lava, closed again, only for new eruptions to occur elsewhere, but in the same general area. Leilani Estates has been evacuated and is now patrolled by the National Guard. Dangerous sulphur dioxide hangs in the air. Will a full blown eruption occur in that area or will it shut down and appear somewhere else? Nobody knows. People who had to leave their home on 20 minutes notice don’t know when they’ll be able to return or whether there will be anything to return to.

Up here, on the northern tip of the island, there is no danger, though two earthquakes, a magnitude-5.4 around 11:30 a.m. on Friday, and a much more noticeable magnitude-6.9 around 12:30 p.m., were definitely felt. By the time you read this, chances are everything will have changed. That’s the unpredictable, unexpected and often unlikely life, living on an active volcano.

Posted in response to this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge ‘Unlikely.’

 

Lava lake rising

Kilauea lava wall of flame

Kilauea lava lake lines

Kilauea lava morning

The Overlook vent, in Halema’uma’u Crater at the summit of Kilauea Volcano, has been active since 2008. The level of the lava in the vent goes up and down, mostly 100 feet or so below the crater floor.

Last week, I was looking at the daily activity report and saw that the level was just 30 feet or so below the crater and lava was again visible from Jaggar Museum for the first time since April, 2015. My wife and I had visited during that previous viewing window and thought we’d like to do so again, particularly if the level rose until lava spilled onto the crater floor.

Next day, the level had dropped 40 feet. So much for that. The day after, it was back up 30 feet. We decided to monitor the situation. The lava kept rising, and over the weekend spilled out beyond the vent. Then it went down again. Then it came up again. Etcetera, etcetera.

On Monday, the lava spilled out over the crater floor and we thought about going early Tuesday, but the level dropped and we decided to wait. Tuesday morning, lava was spilling out. We decided to definitely go Wednesday morning (yesterday).

As noted in the previous post here, the issue is that the volcano is about 100 miles from where we live, a two-and-a-half to three-hour drive. Last time we got up at midnight to begin the journey. This time, we gave ourselves an extra hour’s sleep, trading that for breakfast at Ken’s in Hilo at 3 a.m..

So alarms went off, coffee was made, and tiramisu eaten (breakfast of champions), and we hit the road. Happily, the trip over was made under a mostly clear, starlit night and we rumbled into the Jagger Museum parking lot right on schedule at 4:30 a.m.. This time we were better prepared with actual warm clothing. With clear skies and a moderate breeze, it was chilly, especially for Hawaii.

There were already several people there, but not as many as in 2015, so it was easy to find a good viewing spot. Alas, we didn’t get to see lava spilling out because, as I learned later, the volcano had begun a mild deflationary phase (going down) after spilling out in even earlier hours of the morning.

Still, it was worth the journey. For a while, the lava lake was quite active, bubbling away and throwing up spatters in several different areas. One of the things I like about the lava lake, when it’s visible, is that the surface is mostly dark, but it’s cut through by ever-changing lines of bright lava. Sometimes, lava will burst forth from these lines in a frothing hotspot. Other times, a line might disappear as activity moves elsewhere.

These photos show activity along the crater wall (top), a hotspot on the edge of the pool (second photo), morning light seeping in above the volcano (third photo), an active hotspot in the center of the lava lake (bottom).

Posted in response to this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge ‘Lines.’

Kilauea lava lake