Inside the Thurston lava tube (about 500 years old)
Hi there,
In December we travelled to the Big Island to check out a live volcano up close. We learned LOTS of interesting things... The Big Island is actually made up of 5 volcanoes, 4 of which are not currently active. The tallest, Mauna Kea is nearly 14,000 feet above sea level, but the base of the mountain lies more than 18,000 feet below sea level making it almost 32,000 tall!... That's significantly taller (by nearly 2800 feet) than Mt. Everest! (In November when I was on the Big Island for the birth of my nephews, I drove up to the snow line. Boy was that strange to touch snow the same day I laid on the beach in 80 degree weather! Did you know people ski and snow board up there?!)
Above the Kilauea Caldera
Kilauea holds the title of being the world's most active volcano. It has been erupting continuously for the past 25 years! During our visit in December the live flow had moved further down the mountain. We spent a few days at the top exploring the old flow and learning about volcanoes before we ventured toward the live hot stuff! Even though it was a cold rainy day, we found many steam vents around which we warmed ourselves.
Hiking along the Ka'u Desert trail
Steam vents
In December the only way to reach the active flow was by helicopter. For me, the most memorable part of that flight was my door opening as we leaned into a turn right over the vent. Logic told me I was strapped in, but survival instinct left me white knuckled clutching the dash. I could really feel the heat and had less than no interest in becoming a human marshmellow!
Hot lava!
Thoughtfully, the pilot flew us out to an old flow... landed the copter... and securely fastened my door before completing our flight. The bonus was an unscheduled tour over a 1980's subdivision cut off by the earlier flow. All that remained were about 15 homes surrounded by a desert of black hardened lava. That's a real bummer of an investment!
The end of the road...
Shaka from our pilot
(Check out the video below)
1 comment:
Sounds like a fun trip! I love the big island. When I was there in 2000 I hiked to the tip of Mauna Kea. It was totally weird to start off the hike in shorts and a tank top and end up in pants with fleece and a hat a gloves at the top! The astronomy stations up there are also cool.
See you Sunday! Aunt TJ aka Tonya
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