This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Colors of Lava and Black.’ See more responses here. I thought a collection of colorful lava fit the bill. These were taken on two of the trails in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, the Kau Desert Trail and the Puna Coast Trail.
Finally, some red lava erupting from Kilauea volcano. I posted a few days ago (here) about the pressurized situation at the volcano when I visited last week. This is a screen shot from one of the live webcams at Kilauea (here). This most recent eruption began a little after three yesterday morning and ended around 6 hours later. I missed it by a week!
I was down at Kilauea Volcano this past weekend, checking out the state of the volcano. Since December 2024 there has been a series of 54 episodes of the current eruption. Episode 55 was expected about three weeks ago, but changes in the volcano have not produced another fountaining episode. Instead, there have been lots of small earthquakes, signs of lava movement underground, and a continuing build up of pressure. The volcanologists aren’t sure what to expect next, so some areas and trails have been closed for safety.
Two changes really struck me on this visit. First was that the crater viewing area at the Jagger Museum was open again. This closed after the 2018 draining and collapses in the crater, which rendered the museum unsafe. Now the museum is gone, having been removed over the past few years. However, the viewing area is still there and they’ve done a nice job of redoing it into a perfect space for volcano watching.
The second thing, which can be seen in these photos, is just how much the crater has filled in since the 2018 collapse. The crater floor was 1600 feet lower after that event, but now is back up to where it was before, and the active area is reaching the level of the rim!
I was hoping something dramatic would happen during my visit, but was disappointed. In the meantime, the rumblings continue.
Anyone who has visited Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, and driven down Chain of Craters Road to the coast, likely ended up taking a photo of Holei Arch, which is near the end of the road.
Anyone who visits that spot in the future will not do that, because the arch is no more. It collapsed while the park was closed during the passage of Tropical Storm Nolo. The exact time of its collapse isn’t known. It was there on Wednesday, September 23, but gone by Sunday evening on September 27.
The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 745. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.
Baby goat and Myna Bird.A Devil Scorpionfish.Brush fire at Lapakahi State Historical Park.A Spinner Dolphin leaping from the water.A diver down flag.Looking out through a window at Pepeiao Cabin in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
This Gold Dust Day Gecko was exploring a Pink Ginger moments before it was chased away by a Coqui Frog resting in the flower. Can you spot it?
The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 245. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.
A kayak fisherman paddles by.A couple of boats ply the waters off the South Kohala coast.A blue helicopter at rest.A gulch at Kalopa State Park.Hiking down the Hilina Pali Trail at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.Tzatziki enjoying the shade at Pana’ewa Rainforest Zoo & Gardens.
The firehose of lava from Pu’u O’o vent during an eruption in 2017.
The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 243. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.
The top photo and the first gallery are photos that haven’t run on the blog before. I don’t know why I never ran the top one, though I had a lot of good photos to choose from that day.
Tropical foliage.A Catatante ‘Pacific Sunspots’ orchid at Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden.Tree trunks at Kalopa State Park.Nishimura Bay on the Kohala Coast.A view of Mauna Kea from Hualalai.Dappled light on sandy ridges off the Kohala Coast.
The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 241. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.
A Hapu‘u fern.I call this Guard Dog Rock!Ranger Dean points out bathtub rings in Puapo’o Lava Tube in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. A drying mud puddle.An Ironwood tree.An Assassin Bug!
A Japanese White-eye feeds at a Japanese Aloe flower.
The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 237. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.
A bee approaches a Japanese Aloe flower.A Nene wondering if I’m a chiropractor!Hawaiian beet webworm moth (spoladea recurvalis).A view of Kohala By The Sea.Looking down on the fern canopy on the way to Thurston Lava Tube in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.A hen with a bevy of chicks near Honokohau Harbor.
