Sunday, January 09, 2011

Lava Hunting on The Big Island of Hawaii

Over Christmas break, Eric and I took a trip to the other side of our island to check out Volcano National Park. The park itself was quite crowded (the holidays are a busy time for tourism in Hawaii). We drove around the park, and hiked a bit, but weren't able to spot any lava. The next day we stumbled upon the lava fields at Kalapana while trying to find a black sand beach. To our surprise and delight, there was fresh lava flowing!


It was absolutely mesmerizing to watch this molten rock meandering down the cracks and crevices left by earlier floes.

Curious, Eric tossed some dried twigs in the lava's path. Of course it ignited immediately- the lava is around 1400 degrees. You could feel the heat of it radiating on your face and hands even from ten feet away. The air was shimmering with hot air and gasses.

Eric loved this. We stared at it for ages.

The lava cools into beautiful patterns and the minerals rise to the surface of the rock making it sparkle and shine. These minerals must erode away quickly because I've never noticed so much shine in the lava rock where we live in Kona.

This was a great adventure that I would highly recommend to visitors to the Big Island. Have you ever visited Hawaii? What was the most memorable part of your visit?

4 comments:

R. said...

Awesome! We visited the park last May, but didn't see any flowing lava. It's a 'must do' for our next visit.

Did you have to hike far to reach it?

The Fab Miss B said...

It wasn't far to hike that day, but of course it all depends how it's flowing when you visit. It took us about 20 minutes to reach it on foot.

Artsnark said...

that is very cool - thanks for sharing

Katherine said...

this is so amazing! btw, found your blog by looking at your wedding cake toppers, will def be ordering a pair! they are too cute and very unique! do you typically have them around long? if not ill order sooner than later (:

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