Monday, April 26, 2010

Molten pahoehoe reaches County viewing - spills spectacularly over pali





Click on any image to open a larger view window

Hawaii Civil Defense made a good call moving the County viewing area containers and huts further east on highway 130 the other day because on Sunday afternoon lava broke out of the adjacent kipuka forest with a mission and had reached the edge of viewing trail by late in the evening. I think Pele wants to touch the sea again. The photos below were taken there at dusk.

Lava Viewing Summary:
The place to be Monday afternoon and evening will be the County viewing area. There should be a large area of expanding pahoehoe lava directly below and west of the latest designated viewing area, which is a short walk off the end of highway 130. Bring you tripods! The viewing area is open to the public between the hours of 2:00 PM and 10:00 PM; last car allowed in is 8:00 PM – seven days per week.

(I am working on some new lava videos but meanwhile, if you haven't seen this one, check it out-- turn your volume on ;)
Video of the molten lava flowing down the Pulama Pali: (double click it to open in a new window)

Taken a few mornings ago, this is a seven-minute video of lava burning the forest in the kipuka. In this short movie, shot April 23rd at dawn, you will see trees fall into the molten lava and burst into flames. The last few minutes shows a lava breakout pour down into ferns. Throughout the movie you will here the crackling of fires, thumps of small methane gas explosions, at least five varieties of birds chirping and one croaking buffo toad.

No comments:

Post a Comment